L’ Alcoià
L’Alcoià — known in Castilian Spanish as La Hoya de Alcoy — is the name of one of the nine comarcas, or administrative districts that make up the province of Alicante. Located inland, among the mountains, and far away from the usual tourist beach postcard scenes, 70% of the area occupied by L’Alcoià is environmentally protected. Of particular note are its natural parks, the Sierra de Mariola and the Carrascal de la Fuente Roja, both of which offer an abundance of hiking trails. In addition, the comarca is the site of one of the Valencia Autonomous Region’s densest hydrographic networks, as it is home to the sources of the Serpis, the Montnegre and the Vinalopó, three of the major rivers that traverse and supply the province of Alicante.
The abundance of water goes some way to explain the tremendous historic and artistic heritage that has characterised the comarca since time immemorial. So, while the La Sarga Cave Paintings (declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1998) transport us back to the eastern Spain of prehistory, the El Puig Archaeological site allows us to glimpse the customs and way of life of the Iberian people who settled here just before the arrival of the Romans.
L’Alcoià is made up of 8 municipalities, of which the capital, Alcoy, is the most popular with tourists. This picturesque town is located 54 kilometres from the city of Alicante, and has a population of over 100,000. Its historic quarter boasts a fascinating architectural heritage encompassing styles from the medieval to the Modernist. Two good examples are the Casa del Pavo, a flagship of Valencian Modernism, and the Na Valora tower, a precious vestige of the thirteenth-century town wall.
Meanwhile the town’s buzzing nerve centre, the Plaza de Espana, is home to such iconic monuments as the Alcoy Town Hall, the Lonja de San Jorge exhibition centre, the Santa María Archpriest Church, and the Calderón Theatre. This same square is also the setting, during the third week of April every year, for the Moors and Christians Festival, a very popular local celebration to commemorate the liberation of the city in 1276 by the King of Aragon, Jaime I [James I]. Nor should visitors miss the Alcoy Archaeological Museum with its ethnographic collections, or the Refugios de la Guerra Civil, underground shelters built during the Spanish Civil War (1936 – 1939) to protect the population from the constant bombardments.
If you have time, you could always tour the comarca’s other municipalities. For example in Ibi, one of the highest municipalities, you could try the ice cream in the La Ibense ice-cream parlour, which is the most original ice cream, because this is where the ice was obtained to produce it. In Bañeres, on the other hand, you could visit the Castle of Banyeres de Mariola, which stands on a hill at an altitude of 830 metres. You could stop off at Castalla to enjoy typical Alcoià cooking, with stews such as la borreta, based on potatoes, spinach, cod and eggs. Lastly, in Penáguila, you can visit the Sierra de Aitana — and within it, the Aitana Safari, the only attraction in the Valencia Autonomous Region where you can drive through an authentic African-style landscape.
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