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.
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".
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 Granadella area is located in the westernmost zone of Xàbia and has its own private history with the construction of the Granadella Castle, a small fortification built in the 18th Century, with an exterior wall face lined with “tosca” sandstone which was occupied by a small garrison of three men and two bronze cannons.
This extensive space, made from concrete and granite, was created between 1992 and 1995 by the Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava, and was designed to simulate the skeleton of a huge animal. It was inaugurated in 1997 and has hosted a number of cultural and social activities. The main vault of this subterranean hall, finished in an immaculate white, is supported by a series of parabolic arches, a typical feature of Calatrava’s work. The hall is accessed from Plaça d’Espanya, the main square of Alcoi, via a system of hydraulic doors which open onto two stairways, which when closed are disguised by barred trapdoors. Once inside the hall, at the main entrance the visitor finds himself at the tail of the animal, while at the opposite end there is the head. It is worth highlighting the wonderful natural light that illuminates the hall through the ceiling, along with the fact that it follows the contours of Plaça d’Espanya, including the slight slope of this Town Square.
The Christian foundation of the Villa of Alcoi took place in 1256, and in 1305 its first urban expansion was started. This newly developed urban site was called in the 14th century Pobla Nova of Sant Jordi or Vilanova of Alcoi. The old quarter of Alcoi was protected by a wall and several towers, of which the Tower of l'Andana (in the Plaçeta de les Xiques), the Tower of N'Aiça and the Tower-Gate of the Riquer have survived. The latter was also the door of entrance into the town from the old road of Castilla or Madrid. At the beginning of the 18th century, during the War of Spanish Succession, a bastion was built next to the Tower of N'Aiça. Some years later, all these towers were adapted for housing and a wider door was opened on the wall of the Puríssima road to allow the access to carriages from Saint Roc road. This new door received the name of Arc de Sant Roc.
This house, built in 1873, was commissioned by industrialist Rigoberto Albors Monllor, who donated to the town what today is the Square of Pintor Gisbert. The construction of this house coincides with the beginning of "El Petrolio", a famous uprising by workers aiming at an improvement of their wages and working conditions, which unfortunately ended up tragically. In Classicist and Eclectic style, this is a three-storey building with a basement and an attic. Of special interest are the big balcony, with a stone balustrade, and the prominent cornice, with a balustrade and a clock.
Day by day, as a jealous guardian of the people, with the vibrant sound of the bell that gets into our minds by printing new strength and essence reminds us of the time of relentless work, media transformation, maturation and progress. Its history dates back to 1887, being mayor D. Francisco Rico Lucas, when he remembers asking a project for a tower architects of Alicante D. José Guardiola Picó and D. Enrique Sánchez Sedeño. In 1889 a new watch is bought in Madrid, for 11,000 pesetas. (Present), which would consist of machinery, three bells (large classic, and two smaller hemispherical), four areas, weights for rope and a floor for support campanile. It is wound with a crank, pushing weights hanging from two separate wire rope (as is done with a cuckoo). Weights are three: 500, 200 and 100 kilos; The big one is for hours, the median for the quarter, and lower the clock keeps running.
The windmills of “Les Planes” district have ruled this scenic viewpoint since the first Building in the 14th Century. Years later, it was followed by another ten towers, whose ruins, currently without blades or roof, can still be observed in this exceptional corner of the coast although in different conservation levels. The windmills had to withstand the impact of the intense “llebeig", the warm southwest wind which blows in a practically steady basis in the Trencall de la Plana area. Today no longer in use, the windmills have sturdy mechanisms made of Kermes Oak wood which served to move the heavy circular millstones.
This tower is one of the few testimonies that have survived from the medieval walls built around La Vila, or first enclosure of Medieval Alcoi. Its construction was carried out throughout the second half of the 13th century. The tower’s basement, its entrance door and its four corners, made of blocks of stone are worth mentioning. The tapial (mould of two parallel panels used to build walls) was used in its construction. The tower was restored in 2002. Its strategic location guarantees a superb overview of the river Riquer and the area of the Tints.
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