|
|
|
THE ALCOY AREAOne of the biggest Moors and christians celebrations in Spain...televised nationally...
If you stand with your back to the Mediterranean any where on the Costa Blanca, and look inland you will see mountains, some close, some distant. Some residents know what lies beyond, many don't, and many think there is a primitive world of donkey tracks and rocks. In actual fact it is a very green world with varying types of terrain, modern cities and good roads. Consider Alcoy, 300 years ago, it was a wealthy city of textile manufacturers, while Benidorm was a poor fishing village. Alcoy still is a modern an up to date textile area, the centre of the textile trade for Spain. For me this is where Spain really starts, as opposed to the cosmopolitan tourist zones of the Costas. Alcoy, known as the city of bridges, is also a city of contrasts, between the historic and the modern, known internationally as the home of the 'Moors and Christians Fiesta'. The Plaza España, the historical hub of Alcoy is surrounded by classic architecture, the Parish Church of Santa Maria and Ayuntamiento were designer by the famous architect Santiago Calatrava. There are many walks around the narrow streets of grand old buildings. Details of which can be found in the town hall.A short way along the main N340 is the town of Cocentaina, another urban area built under Moorish influence. The old part is centred around the originally Moorish Palace of the 13th. century which was renovated and extended by Ximén Perez de Corrella in the 1440's. He was made a Count by king of Aragon Alfonso XIII for his services as a soldier. Adjacent to the Palace is the church of the Clarisas Convent with it's striking renaissance interior. A walk around the narrow twisting streets of this Medieval quarter is quite fascinating. A few more kilometres further along the N340 you come to Muro de Alcoy on the southern slopes of the Mariola mountain range situated between the Agres and Serpis rivers. Again of Moorish origin with a medieval quarter. As the rest of the towns in the area it is concerned with the textile trade. Alqueria de Asnar between Cocentaina and Muro takes it's name from the Islamic, meaning a place occupied by a clan or family. Asnar was the family name of a Lord who drew up the village charter in 1662 when the Moors were finally expelled. The village is now centred around a paper recycling plant. Mountains dominate this region, between which there is much agriculture, cherries being an important crop, discovered to be viable not long ago as they are ready approximately two weeks before the rest of the European crops.There are several mountain ranges in this area, the highest of which is the Aitana range with a peak of 1558m. Nearby is the Serrella range with it's unusual pinnacle rock formations. All these mountain zones have now been designated nature reserves. Dotted around this whole area are small villages all with different characters but all with friendly inhabitants. The highest being Alcolecha , which is closely linked with historically with the neighbouring village of Penáguila, both of which have Moorish and historic buildings. Just above these villages is the Aitana Safari Park with lots of space for their collection of wild animals, the most impressive of which I think are the Tigers. This whole area which welcomes tourism is too large and too busy to be spoiled by it. Now over 2000 English have settled here and live happily in a normal, peaceful , Spanish environment.
Cocentaina
Towns and local Villages Alcoy/Alcoi
Population: 60465 Altitude: 562 Location: Distance
from the capital: Access
road: Gastronomy:
Monuments: Arts
and Crafts: Picturesque
Spots: Museums: Festivities: Excursions: The Old town Moors and Christians
Concentaina Cocentaina COCENTAINA , is located in the shores of the rio Serpis, This is on the slopes of a Mountain range called Mariola-Pico de Montcabrer: 1390 m. altitude. Head of the region of the Comtat, with 24 municipalities covering 378.9 Km2, and a population of more than 25,000 inhabitants. Distance to Valencia 110 km and 60 km of Alicante. One communicates with these capitals through state highway N340, with daily regular lines to Valencia (train and bus) and to Alicante (bus). Through the new A36 motorway The area has now become very accessible from Alicante. It has a climate of transition between the mediterraneo and the continental
one. The greater one indicates of precipitations is registered in the months
of September, October and November and in the months of March and April.
Location: Distance
from the capital:
Gastronomy:
Arts
and Crafts: Monuments: Museums:
Excursions: Sporting
Diary:
BENILLOBA
Benilloba, a medium-sized village with wide twisting streets, is involved in the textile industry - a traditional trade in the Alcoià-Comtat area. This industry has enabled the village to remain unaffected by the migration trends that have profoundly changed other small villages in the region and, for this reason, has become one of the most important villages in the area. During the Moorish period the village was a farmstead of which only a few remains have been preserved. The village took part in the battles that took place during the late medieval period between the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon and halted the progress of the troops of the Castilian king Pedro I, The Cruel. Later on the village belonged to the Counts of Aranda and then the Counts of Revillagigedo, whose palace can still be seen.
Population: 7252 Altitude: 399 Location: Distance
from the capital: Gastronomy: Monuments: Festivities: Excursions:
TOLLOS Tollos is the smallest village of the province with only 42 inhabitants, a consequence of the emigration that entirely modified agricultural villages in the 1960s and 1970s. Located on the sunny side of the Sierra de Alfaro, it served as a refuge for the Moors during the Reconquest; it was also an estate of the Marquises of Guadalest and Ariza. Its main economic activities are the faming of dry crops such as peaches, almonds and olives.
Population: 42 Altitude: 773 Location: Distance
from the capital: Gastronomy: Monuments: Festivities: Excursions:
Benimarfull Passing by small villages of white houses surrounded by terraces and almond trees, the road from Cocentaina to Pego traverses the interior of the province, a narrow winding route that continually rises and drops. Benimarfull is a good place to stop - to eat, to explore its steep streets, and to visit the 16th century ochre and white Church with its elegant bell tower built in three sections. A typically agricultural village (407 inhabitants), Benimarfull grows cherries and almonds.
Population: 408 Altitude: 416 Location: Distance from the capital: Gastronomy: Monuments: Museums: Festivities: Excursions:
BENIFALLIM
Population: 148 Altitude: 734 Location: Distance from the capital: Gastronomy: Monuments: Festivities: Excursions:
BENILLOBA
Population: 933 Altitude: 520 Location: Distance from the capital: Gastronomy: Monuments: Festivities: Excursions:
PLANES Population: 815 Altitude: 472 Location: Distance
from the capital: Gastronomy: Monuments: Festivities: Excursions: Sporting
Diary: Property sales spain home page © 2005 property sales spain. All rights reserved |
Its
bridges and its position as an industrial pioneer of the Valencian Community
are the features that define Alcoy. Even though the Archaeological Museum displays
an Iberian figure depicting a spinner, it was in the second half of the 18th
century, at the onset of the Industrial Revolution, that the character of Alcoy
was set. The town participated in worker emancipation movements such as the
Ludite uprising and the anarchist movement during the 19th and 20th centuries,
in common with Barcelona. Its well-to-do industrial bourgeoisie enriched the
town's appearance with grandiose modernist buildings. The medieval village expanded
as a result of the thriving industry and several bridges were built over the
rivers that join together in Alcoy, giving rise to the distinctive suburbs of
the city. María Cristina is the oldest suburb, and the first encountered when
entering Alcoy from Alicante. The Canalejeas viaduct over the Molinar River
is a metallic structure that was a real innovation when it was built in 1907.
The last bridge to be constructed was inaugurated in 1987 to re-route the traffic
from the N-340, which used to pass through the modern district of Alcoy. The
Plaza de España was the main historical hub of Alcoy - the Ayuntamiento, the
Parish Church of Santa María and a multipurpose hall designed by the famous
architect Santiago Calatrava are all located there. Various walks around the
city start from this point. One of these walks takes you to the medieval neighbourhood
where you can see the old Ayuntamiento - today the Municipal Archaeological
Museum - and the Museum of the Fiesta, located nearby. The calle San Nicolás
leads into the first of the new extensions to the city and several modernist
buildings such as the Círculo Industrial and the Casa del Pavo can be seen here.
