Ciudad Quesada, Rojales, Alicante

Area information

Ciudad Quesada, Rojales, Alicante

La Costa Blanca (The White Coast) a stretch of over 20 km of golden coastline belonging to the Province of Alicante (Valencia), popular with Spaniards and foreignors alike it attracts thousands upon thousands each year. Rojales, and Ciudad Quesada (so named after its founder and developer Justo Quesada) enjoy a particularly beneficial location: ten minutes from the award winning beaches of Guardamar del Segura, thirty minutes from the two 'low-budget-serving airline airports' Murcia San Javier and Alicante, ten minutes from Torrevieja with its salt lakes and nature reserves, fifteen minutes from the dual patrimony town and famous palm tree park of Elche, thirty minutes from Murcia, to mention but a few.

Here's just a sample of some of the lesser known attractions Rojales and Quesada have to offer:

Cave Houses El Rodeo

A new kind of dwelling house excavated inside the bowels of the Earth began to flourish in Rojales during the last century.

Nowadays in four districts, these cave-houses are still functional, some remain as homes, others transformed into beautiful exhibition centres and tea rooms. They are located at the sides of several hills surrounding the south of the town and are Rojales' irreplaceable historical district and, undoubtedly, one of the most interesting in the Valencian Community. The surrounding park now hosting the annual medieval festival and a traditional hand craft fair on the first Sunday of every month.

As a curiosity, the visitor will be gratefully surprised with the House of the Shells. It is the masterpiece of Manuel Fulleda Alcaraz's patience and perseverance and is to be found in one of these districts, the Caves of El Rodeo.

Other monuments: Rojales Church, Cultural centre in Quesada, La Marquesa Golf Course and the Capitol Theatre in Rojales

History

To preserve the history and tradition of Rojales, the Town Hall has initiated the restoration and protection of its' traditional architectural monuments, and formed a number of museums and exhibitions for public information, such as El Museo de la Huerta (The Countryside Museum), the Archaeological museum and the art exhibition in the caves of Rodeo.

Gasparito Wells

The Gasparito Wells Built in the 1920s, these two huge subterranean wells excavated in mountain sandstone, were designed for the stocking of rainwater which was later sold.

The water merchants “aguaores" came from neighbouring villages to fill their skinbags and then carried them to their own villages to sell to the locals.

If you visit them, you will be surprised because the West Well has been converted into an exhibition gallery, whereas the East Well is still used for the collecting and stocking of water

Wind Mill

The wind mill is on a small hillock, east of the town, adjacent to the public park "El Ladrillar"

This construction is worth a visit because it is an interesting sample of popular architectural style of Southern Spain.

This monument, of which only the external closures stood, has been recently restored and fitted with the necessary devices to make it work

Rojales hydraulic irrigation system

The town's hydraulic irrigation system dates back to the Andalusian Muslim society, which set up a complete network to collect the waters of the Segura river flow.

The survival of this hydraulic system in the town facilitates an astonishing tour of the town around the three main axis: the Azud, the

Water Wheel and the Bridge, landmark features of the town's landscape and very important to the region.

A tour around the Azud (a 40 metre-long and 10 wide stonework dam built in the 16th century) demonstrates its function to raise the level of the river flow to divert the water to the major irrigation ditches and the Water Wheel.

Built at the end of last century, the Wheel serves as the nivelation lever between the river and the highlands on the right bank. It is protected by monumental stonework to stave damage from the river flooding.

The 18th-century Bridge of Charles III is one of most representative symbols of Rojales and is characterised by the excellent workmanship of the stone. It crosses the Segura river using three wide arches and is the finishing point of this route of great historical and artistic importance.