The tower of the Moor or of the Cabo Cervera is a coastal watchtower built on a hill located on Cape Cervera in Torrevieja, Spain. It is located in Cabo Cervera about five kilometers from the center of Torrevieja on the coastal road towards La Mata and about a hundred meters from the coast. Its plant is circular, with a trochoconical shape and is built with masonry. It has undergone several repairs throughout history, between the last two stand out: the one made in 1960 and the other in 1994. The first corresponds more to the original construction, had a spiral staircase to reach its top. In the restoration of 1994 the previous remains are modified and a crenellated tower is built, in which the shield of the city of Torrevieja stands out.1 It is declared as a Cultural Interest Property in 1985.
The city of Xàbia was protected and surrounded by fortified walls since 1874, the year which marked the definitive demolition of the defensive walls now surrounded by the present day ring roads. Hundreds of years previously, the early historical city centre of Xàbia possessed a defensive wall fortification since the beginning of the 14th Century of which now hardly any evidence remains. The detected ruins in this sector of the Avenida Príncipe de Asturias, the old ring road known as the “muralla de arriba” (upper wall), correspond to the wall, three buttress embankments which formed a type of barbican or rampart built at a relatively recent time in the early 19th Century; probably when the “new doorway” or Portal Nou was opened (18th of May 1805), or perhaps as a consequence of the Napoleonic war. These wall-faces, which have only conserved a 40/50 cm height today, are made with limestone masonry which were crafted with lime-based mortar, which used the local “tosca” (sandstone) blocks in the front section of the buttress embankments. The modern architectural intervention has consisted in consolidating and protecting the original work, which have raised the wall-faces approx. 60 cm to make them more visible.
Visitors to Castell de Castalla will discover one of the main and best preserved fortifications in the province of Alicante; which in turn is part of the Patrimonial Ensemble of Castell de Castalla. The castle, declared BIC with the category of Monument, has three parts that allow to know the evolution of the fortification (erected in the 11th century by the Muslims and deeply reformed in the 14th and 15th centuries by the Christians); as well as who were the first settlers of the hill on which today the castle is based (occupied since the 2nd millennium BC). These parts are: the Palau, which is accessed through an intricate defensive system; the Pati d'Armes with its wall paintings, rooms and the cistern in very good original condition; and Torre Grossa, from which you can contemplate spectacular views of the Foia de Castalla and the mountains that surround it. Schedule: Guided visits: January April: Tuesday - Friday 16:30 h. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays 12:30 h. April-September: Tuesday - Friday 5:00 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays 12:30 h. In addition, on Sundays from May to June a visit at 11:00 h. May-September: Night visits Friday and Saturday at 22:00 h. and 23:55 h. July and August: at 11:30 h. October December: Tuesday-Friday 16:30 h. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays 12:30 h. Price: € 3; € 2 for retirees, Carnet Jove, students, groups (30 p). Free up to 8 years old. All visits will be made prior reservation at the tourist office: 966561018. Groups (30 p) can make your visit any day and time prior reservation in the turism office
The Castle of Biar dates from the 12th century. It is included in the route of the Vinalopó castles, is one of the great attractions of Biar, declared a National Monument in 1931, nowadays BIC, it has an Almohad vault dating from the 12th century. Around a central patio the interior of the castle was organized, being arranged a whole series of dependencies destined to assure the defense as well as to give shelter and service to the warden, his family and the garrison. In the 15th century, the surveillance room or guardhouse is described; the house of fora, used as haystack; the palau nou that housed the warden's family; the rebost or storeroom to store provisions; the cuina or kitchen with its large fireplace; the house of forns or oven; the stable; the capella or church under the invocation of Santa María Magdalena and Santa Quiteria; dining room. All this chaired by the so-called Master Tower used to store the arms and accoutrements of the castle. These units, roofed by roofs with curved tile water, would allow rainwater to be collected for storage in the cistern excavated in the rock that is still preserved. After the Christian conquest of Biar by Jaime I in February of 1245, the castle maintained a great importance in the defensive system of the Valencian southern border, given the outstanding strategic situation from the political and military point of view of Biar against the kingdom of Castile . The castle of Biar, was declared a National Monument on June 4, 1931. It is located on a rocky hill at 750 m altitude, is of Muslim origin and is located chronologically in the mid-twelfth century. Its structure, which is maintained, retains a double walled enclosure, and crenellated with its corresponding passage, with four cubes on the outside and three inside, arranged around the large Maestra or Tribute Tower, free, square plan and three floors. The tower, 19 meters high, is built with lime mortar and sand, (tapial), inside retains the oldest example, in vaults of Almohad style. It was conquered by King Jaime l the Conqueror in the month of February of 1245 after a siege that lasted six months, in this assault was used the "Fonevol," war machine for the throwing of stones. His last Warden according to the Llibre D'els Fets, was MUZA-ALMORABIT. Schedule: Wednesday Friday: 10:15 a.m. to 2:00 p.m .; 4:15 to 6:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays: 10:15 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. It opens on Mondays for groups by appointment. € 1 Adults and children from 6 years old.
They constitute as a whole a defensive system of Andalusian origin formed by several enclosures murados to different height. Castle of Orihuela (BIC). Ninth-eighteenth century. It is a work of precalifal origin, which lasts with successive additions until the War of Succession, being destroyed in 1709. In it, several well-differentiated zones are distinguished functionally. The highest area is occupied by the Alcazaba, seat of political and military power, below it a line of towers delimits the albacar, enclosure with livestock functions as well as defensive, another series of towers are located around the seminary, where he was the original population. A whole series of walls and towers link the citadel with the walls of the city that ran along the river. Walls of the city (BIC). XI-XV century. They extend from the Monte de San Miguel to the Segura River. The walls of the city started from the albacar to encompass the original nucleus of the city (current seminar) and its subsequent expansion to the river. Currently there are several unconnected sections of the walls, two towers at the end of Calle Torreta, the Torre de Embergoñes, the Tower of Casa Casinello in Calle Soleres, the stretch preserved in the Museum of the Wall, under the Aulario del Campus of the Salesas of the Miguel Hernández University and several canvases and towers on the Monte de San Miguel, in the vicinity of the Diocesan Seminary. Puerta de la Olma or Crevillente. It is the only preserved remnant of the Cerca del Arrabal de San Juan. Ashlar work Entrance with a half-point arch and on it a guardian angel with a sword, representing the royal arm in the Valencian Cortes, accompanied by the quadribarrado shield, the Oriol Bird (emblem of the city) and an inscription that dates the door in 1558: “En lo ani de nostra redemcio MDLVIII se acaba aquest portal sent ivrats los molt magnifichs senors Melchor Groadellas Ivan Fernandes de Tvesta Frances Almodover Andre Manresa Ivan Miro”.
How P. Guichard affirms the castle of Ambra is one of the many Islamic castles of the Valencian territory that served as places of habitat and / or refuge in charge of the rural communities, with a non-feudal character and that were object of transformation and destruction after of the conquest. Old historians dated the construction of the castle between the 9th and 11th centuries, but the latest research and archaeological excavations date back to the early 13th century. The rubble of the castle rises on a rocky ridge formed by the northern buttresses of the Sierra de Mediodía, delimiting the Pego valley to the south. It rises to a height of 264 m above sea level and its construction is perfectly adapted to the rugged and rocky orography of the Ambra mountain. The castle did not participate actively in the conquest, but it did have importance in the subsequent Mudejar revolts capitanejades for el-Azraq. The year 1268 the castle was consigned to Arnau de Romero, Jaume I ordered that in the castle there should remain an atzembla and ten men. A year later he passed to Bonanat de Guía, who had it for a short time, passing 1260 to Pere de Berbegal, arxiprest of Daroca, guarding him with four men, to whom the king paid 150 salaries annually. In 1264 he passed the castle to Ade de Paterna for the debt that the child in Pere contracted with him. Charged the debt, the king gave in credit the castle to P. de Capellades. The 1271 passed in the hands, in the same circumstances, to Pere de Marcén. Finally, after being in the Saracens' mansion for three years, from 1276 the castle began to lose its military importance. It finished to lose its importance completely the castle when from 1280 it was begun to create the new town of Pego. After the second letter of settlement (1286) granted with better conditions than the first (1279), settlers from Barcelona begin to arrive that they are going to establish in a new walled town that has to be built on the old Uxola alqueria. The castle of Ambra is a late Islamic construction, that according to Javier Martí, begins towards the beginning of the XIII century, product of the fear of the Muslims before the threat of feudal conquest. What most relies on this statement is the lack of durability that the castle had (1220-1280). But the truth is, that the last excavations have not brought to light any remains previous to the chronology pointed. Established the chronology and durability of the castle, another of the important aspects is to know if it was inhabited or not, that is, if it served only as a military refuge or if there were rooms inside it. Approximately twenty houses existed with a staggered arrangement and taking advantage of the natural structure of the rock. The houses were of reduced dimensions and the work of mortar lime and limestone stonework of irregular size. They also had to have wood, although it was probably used later for the houses of the new village, since in the excavations no remains of this material were found. The remains of the wall of the enclosure show us the value of defensive architecture; the walls made of rammed earth, the foundations of Freemasonry and four cubes (towers) of rectangular plan in ixent reinforcing the wall. To the Southeast of the same one is the door of access to the enclosure, between the avantmural and the wall of the castle. The access consists of two doors arranged longitudinally interspersed between them a guardhouse. This body of guard allowed to make the guaita between the two doors during the night, as well as the rest of the walkers in their access to the castle. In the same bank of guard we can observe what could be a curious medieval game composed of eight holes in which one would have to face stones of different tamanys. In the excavations of the project "Transformations of the structure of medieval settlement in the lands of Marina", we also found in the door 5 bronze money from the reign of Jaume I (1238-1276). Inside the enclosure, next to the second tower of the wall a cistern or cistern of rectangular plant (12 x 3 m) realized in tapial that served to collect the water of the rains is emplaced. An avantmural or barbican closes the wall mural enclosure, also made in tapial although lower than the interior wall. It is endowed with an income in replec and three false cubes that adapt to the layout of the towers and the wall. Although the castle is in relatively good condition, the intense task of abancalament and the erosive action of atmospheric agents have severely punished the constructions.
Alicante sculptor work of Arcadi Blasco, built in 1990, and noted for its architectural uniqueness. It consists of two parts , one on the ground, symbolizing a boat, and the other offshore (currently on the sand of the beach), symbolizing a beacon (or mast). Tribute to the men of the sea, represents the union and dependence that our population and its people have historically with the sea , vital for life and economy of El Campello for decades
The rustic Villa Marco Estate dates from the middle of the 19th. Century and was very important in the agricultural area known as the fertile region of Alicante. At the beginning of the 20th. Century, it acquired residential character and a modern style with interesting colonial French art influences which differentiate it from the other estates which remain in the region. Its beautiful Versailles inspired gardens were created at the beginning of the 20th. Century under the auspices of Renato Bardin, honorary consul of France and owner of the estate at that time. Conveniently looked after throughout their history, they have experienced some modifications which have, however, respected their original morphology. The gardened area surrounds the house with pathways cut out of it and which are flanked with classical style cups and jugs The garden can be divided into five areas: the "Arabic garden" (originally used as an orchard) the "historical garden" where the most significant examples can be found, the "access garden" which was the carriage entrance, a small "Mediterranean garden" (with autochthonous plants) and a large pine area which represents the "Mediterranean forest". The gardens house two sculptures by the renowned Alicante artist Vicente Bañuls: "La Noche" and "La Marsellesa".
Between the 13th and 14th centuries, the rural community of Calpe was walled in order to protect it from Moorish attacks. Its coastal location meant that the community suffered from continuous pirate attacks, which is why Carlos V ordered that the walls be repaired in the 16th century. Those who lived nearby had to access the citadel through a single gate known as "El Portalet". The harshest attack took place in 1637. Berber pirates invaded the town without being seen. The guards were sleeping, so they climbed over the walls using ladders. During the attack, they took virtually every resident captive. Another of the most important attacks on the town, which is the origin of its patron saint festivities, occurred on October 22nd, 1744. After this pirate assault a project to fortify the town was started, and a second wall that surrounds the suburb and the old citadel was built. The "Torreó de la Peça" is named after a small fort destroyed in the 20th century that once contained an artillery piece.
Constructed during the Almohade era between the end of the 12th century and the beginning of the 13th. After the Christian reconquest of the 13th century the main compound area and the wall were erected. This work to improve the defences was due to the stategic character of the historic frontier of Jijona, which from the Treaty of Almiza in 1244 marked the boundary of the kingdom of Aragon with the kingdom of Castille until 1304 when conquest by James II brought the townships of the south of the Alicante province into the kingdom of Valencia. Until then it was a key element in the defence of the Valencian border. At the foot of the castle, in an easterly direction, the town of Xixona expanded. Throughout the Middle Ages the importance of the castle diminished and so to did repairs to it. The last major work on it was recorded in the 15th century and there were some further minor repairs undertaken in the 16th century. During the war of succession it served as a refuge for the population of Jijona, who supported Philip V. It was attacked by the Archduke Carlos’s troops (Austracistas) and almost completely destroyed. In 1708 Philip V conceded the castle to the people of Jijona by royal decree.
Download your Alicante guide!