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The marks left by the fascinating history of Spain can be seen all over the Alicante
province, which, thanks to being a key frontier in both the Christian reconquest of the peninsula from Moorish control, and in the struggle for dominance between Castille and Aragon, has an amazing total
of 120 castles - many of which are lit beautifully at night, making a twilight drive around the region quite spectacular.
One of the finest is in Biar, built in the twelfth century to mark
the border between the warring Castillian and Aragones kingdoms, it changed hands many times and saw action right up to the Spanish war of succession in the early eighteenth century. It is now a
national monument and can be visited (see the Tourist Information on Avda de Villena, 2 - 965 811 177).
Close by, and also a fine example of the same period is in Villena - the town was taken by the Christian Spanish in 1239 and the castle became home to King Ferdinand´s son Manuel, who used the town as his base in the ongoing wars. The castle itself was built by the Moors, probably around an original Roman fortification, in 1172. As with the castle at Biar, it is possible to visit (Tourist Information, Plaza de Santiago, 5 - 965 803 804).
The turbulent history of the region means that stately homes could not be built as everything needed to be protected with fortification, even the local palaces.
A good example of this is in Elda, where the original Moorish fort was added to with the temple of Santa Maria and a residential palace, eventually occupied by the Coloma family. The castle is only partly restored and visits need to be arranged through the local Museum (Museo Arquelógico Municipal).
With so many castles to see, we could go on all day - the hilltop perches of the castles at Monóvar, Petrer and Sax, the beautiful castles of Castalla and Ibi, the palace, tower, castle,
and crumbling walls of Elche, the fortifications in Alicante itself ... there is a truly astonishing amount of history in this corner of the Mediterranean.
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