The cave paintings, from more than 5000 years ago, belong to the Neolithic period. It is located in the municipality of Altea, on the southern face of the Sierra de Bernía. The paintings are barely noticeable but you have to keep them for being a unique record in the area. That is why they are behind a protected fence. According to the information panels, what you see is a series of seven horizontal and parallel zig zag. Their meaning is unknown to us although it is believed that these figures could evoke the water and waves it causes when it is in motion. In the upper part there are three human figures of bitriangular body that raise their arms towards the head or towards the sky These anthropomorphs are associated with women, since in Neolithic art the female figures are always represented wearing skirts. Above them are arranged symmetrically, two sun-shaped motifs and, on the sides, sets of zigzags and dots. In the lower face two human figures are observed with the body constituted by a wide bar, the circular head and the arms resting on the waist. Its shape, lacking feminine attributes, could indicate that it is men. Next to them you can see several sets of geometric patterns such as bars and dots and, at the top, four sun-shaped figures. The existence of astral type motifs “suns” and the figurative representation of water (zigzags and points), lead us to think that this narration could be related to the observation of astronomical and meteorological phenomena
The Orcelitano Casino was founded in 1864. Two years after its foundation, the Círculo Orcelitano, a social institution created in 1848, became part of its structure. The building of the Casino, from the 19th century, began its construction on March 2, 1887, and it would not be until October 29, 1891 when the definitive move was completed, from the old Casino building located in the Calle de los Hostels, to the new building. The casino, as a cultural and recreational entity, celebrated the high society festivals and, among them, highlighted one that involved both Floral Games and the presentation or presentation in society of young women from an economically and socially wealthy family: the Orange Blossom Festival, during Easter, at the proposal of Manuel Martínez Ros, President of the Casino, in 1964.
A Renaissance watchtower, which was part of the coastal defensive system developed during the 16th and 17th centuries to defend the coast from the attacks of Barbaresque pirates. Although there are documents proving the existence of three towers in the natural park’s limits, the Gerro tower, a Renaissance fort (16th c.) is the only still remaining. It is one of the coast’s most outstanding towers. It has a circular shape, shaped like a truncated cone divided in 2 parts featuring a King Charles V coat-of-arms, supported by three cantilevers. The tower owes its name to its strange shape as a “pitcher or gerro” (a valencian language word for jar or pitcher). SITUATION How to get there: from the last regular bus tine in les Rotes Road (next to Restaurant Mena) we follow the road towards the east some 50 metres up to Via Làctia Street. Going up this street there is a fence that forbids vehicles from passing to the access way to the path leading to.
It is a tower built at the beginning of the 16th century, located at one of the entries to the town. This tower has undergone many variations in its structure, especially from the middle of the 19th century, when it was integrated as a part of a two-storey house. It is unknown which family it belongs to, but we know that the building is characterized as a country building of low nobility rank, possibly typical of a knight and associated to agricultural properties and to the means of communication between Bocairent and Banyeres. It is a square building with an approximate height of 18 m. It was built with externally uncoated masonry walls. The corners, cornices and lintels of holes and arches are made of ashlar masonry.
Is located at the foot of the castle and was built to commemorate the spot where the old hermitage of Saint George was set. It was devoted to Saint George, but today it no longer exists. It was the oldest hermitage in Banyeres, as it can be inferred by taking into account its location, so its construction may very well date back to between the 13th and the 15th centuries. There are only a few remains: one of its corners. According to photographic evidence it can be assured that by the end of the 19th century or in the early 20th it was still standing. This hermitage was also known as the one of El Conjurador because of the ability that the Saint had to conjure storms and evils before the pleas of the people gathered around his image. The current monument is located in a viewpoint overlooking the mountain and it allows the visitor to admire the natural environment that surrounds the town.
It is installed in a stately building built in 1857. It has the uniqueness of having some curious arcades in the ground with a corridor that serves the small square "dels Portxins".
This baker’s attests to the importance of bread as a staple in the time when it was constructed. It is of Arab origin and medieval characteristics documented as far back as the beginning of the 16th century. It is said to be one of the oldest in all of the Valencian Community and is a true architectural gem. Nowadays it is still fully functioning. It is well-known for its typical Jijona buns such as tonyetes (almond, flour and cinnamon), doblades which are only made for All Saints’ Day, cupcakes (madalenas) and tortadas (almond tortes) as well as a long list of other puddings and sweet dishes. The local bakers and confectioners make buns, sweets and other delicacies for all the visitors who would like to try the traditional Jijona confectionary.
The ancestral home of the Rovira family (17th & 18th Centuries). The family crest is to be found on the façade on the top floor. The crown was removed from this crest during the Second Republic. The Rovira family originally procedes from Catalonia and came to the Kingdom of Valencia towards the end of the 12th century. There are records of this family in Xixona going back to 1421. Throughout modern times family members have been leaders in local civic life. However, some of the more exalted members of the family moved to the neighbouring town of Alicante. With the passing of time some of those in the family who resided in Xixona adapted to the changing times and became active in the growing cottage industry, turrón (nougat) making. At the end of the 19th century several companies had been created and were destined to play a major role in the economy of the town at the beginning of the twentieth century.
At the entrance to the Parque de L´Aigüera a very different monument greets visitors: The new Town Hall, colloquially known as the ‘floorscraper’. The unique structure has aroused the interest of many architects and a lot of people come to visit it. The building is like a bridge which acts as a doorway to the green zone ‘L´Aigüera’ park. It juts out horizontally and you can walk underneath it. This 'horizontal skyscraper' is supported by four pillars. The glass façade is covered with thick slats with the names and surnames of the over 60,000 inhabitants of Benidorm from the year when its construction was finished.
The bay of Calpe with the vigilant rock of Ifach has been a landscape admired and appreciated by the different cultures that have been part of this land since ancient times. The Roman site of Baños de la Reina in Calpe is an exceptional coastal enclave. Located in front of a bay with calm waters and sheltered by the Peñón de Ifach, it still submerges its rocky arms in the crystalline waters of Mare Nostrum today. The sea and salt were the basis and the sustenance of the ancient Roman colonists, giving rise to fluid commercial exchanges that there is evidence of. This activity produced a small population who built their houses on the coastal dunes, resulting in selective and diversified urban planning. After the passage of time and centuries of neglect, the popular imagination inherited the ancient legacy, identifying the pools as the “baths of the Moorish queen”, which is how the site got its name. The existence of some drainage passages, now closed, adds to the myth: these were the tunnels that reached a mysterious palace which the “Moorish queen” used to get to her coastal bath. This popular belief is also an important part of the cultural heritage of the site. The Baños de la Reina site consists of three parts: 1. Roman Vicus The Roman site of Baños de la Reina is a coastal enclave that is known for its magnificent architectural design and its mosaics, one of the most important collections of its kind in all of Roman Hispania. Although only 25% of its surface has been excavated so far, it is enough to discern the magnitude of this Roman villae fitted with all kinds of luxuries 2,000 years ago. The pools carved out of the coastal rock, used to supply fresh fish, led to the name of the enclave which is still used today. During the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, they constructed the first homes, a small thermal complex known as the “Muntanyeta thermal baths”, and an industrial area which features the construction of a unique waterwheel carved out of the rock that supplied drinking water for the area. At the end of the 3rd century AD, a luxurious villae with a circular patio was constructed, fitted with an extraordinary private thermal complex. Finally, it is during the 5th and 6th century when traces of conversion to Christianity appear in this key navegation point with the construction of a modest church with a baptistry with a Greek cross and an adjacent cemetery. 2. Muntanyeta Thermal Complex As a result of the remodeling of the coastal breakwater in 1993, the remains of this small 500 m2 thermal complex, known as the “Muntanyeta thermal baths”, were uncovered. Among the discoveries documented during its excavation, various pools had survived, as well as a natatio with cold water (frigidarium), which was accessed using three steps. Next to this were various ovens responsible for maintaining the appropriate temperatures in the hot rooms (caldarium) and warm rooms (tepidarium). The heating system developed by Roman engineers used hollow floors elevated by columns of bricks (pilae) and walls with air chambers made from ceramic tubes (tubuli) that facilitated the circulation of heat through the different rooms and kept them heated. Joining these areas was a room with a floor formed by spikes (opus spicatum), as well as other complementary spaces intended for recreation, which were richly decorated with grey marble plates from Algeria. 3. The Roman Fish Farms of Baños de la Reina The existence of large basins in the sea, carved into sandstone known as “pedra tosca”, and popularly known as the “baths of the Moorish queen”, led to the naming of the entire archaeological site. The complex, carved from the same coast, consists of a large rectangular tank with an area of 165 m2. Its interior was subdivided by natural stone walls, creating six pools with an opening in each one to connect them. Sea water entered through four canals, also carved from the rock, which allowed the free flow of water to all of the pools. These canals were covered with perforated gates, which allowed water to flow while preventing blockages and the escape of the fish inside. While these fish farms or piscinae are associated with the farming of live fish, we cannot rule out its possible use as an aquatic garden in order to observe marine beauty, just like other Roman villae in the Tyrrhenian Sea, where these facilities, which were expensive to build and costly to maintain, represented the power and social prestige of their owner.
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