Cabezón de Oro

Parks and Nature

The Cabezon de Oro (in Valencian, Cabeçó d'Or) is a mountain range located in the province of Alicante and the main peak of the sierra, belonging to the municipal districts of Jijona, Relleu and Busot. 1210 meters above sea level. Through it several hiking trails of varying difficulty. The ancient spa of Aguas de Busot, now in ruins, was filled with hot springs. In spite of what its name would literally indicate, "Cabezón de Oro", or of the old gold mine that would exist in the place, the word Gold does not make reference to the ore of the gold, but to the water. In fact, during the Al-Andalus period, the Arabs kept the Iberian word "Ur" to refer to this mountain, which means "Water", since water flowed inside it (Cuevas de Canelobre). After the conquest and Christian repopulation, it was transliterated phonetically (and not semantically) to the Valencian "Or" and to the Castilian "Oro". Thus, "Cabezón de Oro" would come to mean something similar to "Cabezo de Aguas". There is a local popular legend, probably of Mudejar origin, in which the intelligence of the Christian conquerors is ridiculed because they believe that there is gold in the place, when in reality it is water.