Only 10 minutes away from the development of El Mirador de la Axarquía, this is a spa of sulphuric waters at the ambient temperature. It consists of a tank, the origin of which has been associated to the Moorish period.

During the Moorish domination, hamlets like Mondrón and the Baños de Vilo existed in what is now the urban centre, and the water from these baths was used for medicinal purposes. At that time Periana was probably a farmhouse that grew into a series of defensive fortresses, one on the hill of Santana and another more southerly in a place called Pereiro, the origin of the town's present-day name.

But it was not until the end of the 18th century, in 1761 to be exact, that the area became an independent municipality. Until then it had been under the jurisdiction of Vélez, and in an even earlier period, of Riogordo. With independence came the conversion of the hermitage into a parish church.