At the beginning of the 40s, the town hall of Alcoy rehabilitated the building to be used for cultural purposes. On 18-7-1945 the museum was inaugurated under the name of Museum of Art and Public Library. Later, in 1958, it would be renamed Municipal Archaeological Museum "Camilo Visedo Moltó", in memory of its creator. In recent years the building has undergone a complete interior rehabilitation, as well as a notorious expansion (1985-1990). On the ground floor there is a changing exhibition room (90 m2), designed to show the latest research and findings. The current permanent museographic exhibition (192 m2) presents a selection of archaeological materials arranged thematically and chronologically. A specialized library is also open to the public. The museum has warehouses, a restoration laboratory, a drawing cabinet and an administration area.
El Portalet Palace was built in the middle of the 18th century. It receives its name to be located on the corner between the street of Labradores and known as Portalet de Capuchinas, now Calle de Santo Tomás, and whose name is due to the existence of a door, located at the end of the street, which allowed to cross the wall, that passed by the Rambla, to arrive at the Convent of the Capuchinas. Today the palace is the result of a multitude of reforms that its residents carried out over three centuries and is shown to us as a living testimony of the history of the city of Alicante. In the 19th century part of the building was managed by the Maisonnave-O'Connor family. At the end of the 19th century it was the headquarters of the Philharmonic Society, of the Federal Republican Party, and here was the writing of its newspaper La Federación. At the beginning of the twentieth century the building accommodated the Provincial Mercantile Montepio of Alicante, whose presence is due to the exquisite decoration of the interiors of the Noble Hall where this association organized a multitude of parties, charities, and conferences. Under the direction of this organization, during the first half of the 20th century the most important reforms were carried out in this house with the transformation of the interior spaces and the addition of the top floor. The current renovation has allowed the building to be recovered in all its splendor and three of its rooms have been museumized, one on the ground floor that houses an Interpretation Center of the building itself, another on a mezzanine floor with the Spanish Guitar Collection Romanillos-Harris, and, finally, in the other mezzanine, the exhibition "Monumental Alicante of Vila Nova a la Vila Vella" that runs through our Casco Antiguo, through seven historical buildings. The noble floor itself has a huge interest. Regardless of the self-interest of the building's visit, the noble room and the third floor hall, as well as the roof, can host cyclical activities and extraordinary activities of relevance in the field of culture, outreach and social relations .
Throughout history these lands suffered numerous attacks by pirates who landed on the coast and made raids and plundered the inland areas. The coastal watchtowers were built with the purpose of warning of the approach of pirates' ships, by communicating each other by means of fires and other signals. An example of this type of watchtowers is the sober 16th century defensive Tower of Horadada, which is located between El Puerto and El Conde Beaches. It owes its name to the holes which are inside the tower itself and which served to communicate the different rooms of it. The declaration of our tower as BIC (Cultural Heritage Property) by the Second Additional Provision to Law 16/1985 was an important point to be remember. Because of that, we think that it is a real honour to have it on our coast.
Hernandiano in the corner is the house where poet Miguel Hernández lived with his family. Us discover its beautiful facade, painted the traditional way with gray base, recercado doors and windows in dark ocher and light ocher wall. Inside the visitor can relive moments of the poet's life through its rooms: the room of Michael, the kitchen, the patio shed for goats and the garden, which is the famous Higuera so often I am inspired by his first verses.
El Cau is Mariano Ros's great little artistic project. A unique and wonderful outdoor place in the El Tabaià mountain range. This open-air museum is sculpted on the walls of an old quarry in Ferriol, one of the districts of Elche. From here the stone that was used to rebuild the church of Santa María was taken. Mariano Ros, retired shoemaker and mountain fan, spent years building and sculpting in stone a multitude of figures representing the life of the people of Elche. For eight years, from 2000 to 2008 (when he was forbidden to continue with his work because he was in the public forest), he dedicated himself to creating this emblematic, with the help of his friends Cándido, Vicente and Pere. Among all they made are numerous figures, among which the representations of the most emblematic monuments and icons of Elche stand out. Among all the figures carved in the rock we can find works that represent the Swamp (which was the other place we visited that same morning), the Palm Grove, the Lady of Elche, the Misteri, the Church of Santa María ... And much more. In this curious sculptural group we will also find other original works with which he wanted to pay homage to his family, to the women, to characters loved by the neighbors ... Some sculpted animals and, also some interesting construction, such as the Pyramid, the Tower of Ros or the Cau (a small room carved out of the stone. Hence its name. Cau means burrow). Without a doubt, it is one of those beautiful places to take photos in Elche that we must know. Next to a large stone table we find the refuge. Another room excavated in the rock, a little larger, that houses a table, several chairs and what seems to be some materials for the maintenance of the place. On the table there is a notebook that they have left so that visitors can leave their opinions. In addition to all his artistic work, various species of trees, shrubs and aromatic plants have been planted in El Cau. All native and typical of this arid terrain and the Mediterranean climate. The land on which this open-air museum in Elche is located is dry, arid and with very little water. El Cau is about 15 minutes by car from Elche. The path that takes us to the point where we can park the car is asphalt. So getting here is good and easy. It has no loss. Here we will see a sign carved in stone that indicates the direction we have to follow to get to the Cau. In Google Maps you can find the point where you can leave the car. From here, there will only be about 600 meters to reach El Cau. The path that leads from the place where we left the car to El Cau is quite short and easy to do, although it runs through a fairly stony area, so there is a lot of loose stone and it is also on a slope. Going up can cost us a little if we do it in the hottest hours. Keep in mind that it is a very arid area, so you should always carry a lot of water, do not forget your hat, sunglasses and good shoes. The route is very easy to follow since there are several signs drawn or sculpted in the rock, just walk and enjoy. It is worth climbing to the highest parts. Both from "El balcó d’Elx" and from the "Torre de Ros", the views are truly impressive.
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