Logbook · 9 places

What to see and do in Callosa de Segura

What to see and do in Callosa de Segura (El Baix Segura, Alicante): 9 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 2 Monuments · 1 Nature · 1 Activities · 2 Historical milestones · 2 Food and drink

When to go to Callosa de Segura: festival calendar

August: Festivities of San Roque de Callosa de Segura (August 5-16)

How far each place is from the centre of Callosa de Segura

Festivities of San Roque de Callosa de Segura 650 m

Towns near Callosa de Segura

What to see in Cox 1.9 km · 3 places
What to see in Redován 2.5 km · 3 places
What to see in Rafal 3.3 km · 2 places
What to see in Granja de Rocamora 3.4 km · 3 places
What to see in San Isidro 6 km · 2 places
What to see in Benejúzar 6.1 km · 4 places
What to see in Albatera 6.3 km · 3 places
What to see in Bigastro 6.8 km · 2 places

Spain › Valencian Community › Alicante › El Baix Segura › Callosa de Segura

What to see and do in Callosa de Segura

Callosa de Segura
Village
Callosa de Segura is a municipality and city in the Region of Valencia, in the Alicante comarca of the Vega Baja del Segura, with 19,988 inhabitants (INE 2025) over 24.8 km². Its name may derive from the Arabic al-qal'atu (the castle) and lawša (rock), as in Callosa de Ensarriá. It broke away from Orihuela in 1579 and received the privilege of royal town from Philip IV in 1638; Ferdinand VII granted it the titles of Fidelísima (1808) and Ilustre (1825), and Alfonso XIII raised it to city status in 1925, when the hemp from its market gardens employed almost the whole community. Synthetic fibre brought down that industry of espadrilles, ropes and nets in the 1960s, and its former 1929 slaughterhouse now houses an archaeological museum with pieces from the Neolithic to the Roman period.
Archpriest Church of San Martín Obispo
Monument
Renaissance temple of the 16th century in Callosa de Segura, declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) on 14 November 1980, which has given the municipality the nickname “Vatican of the Vega Baja”. It follows the hall-church model of three naves of equal height, with saucer vaults over classically inspired columns. The main façade, with late Gothic features, displays the coats of arms of Charles V and of Callosa, a symbol of the town's wish to separate from Orihuela. An 18th-century renovation added the central dome and Rococo decoration, while the bell tower, from the 17th century, preserves five bells restored in 2009. Inside is kept a silver reliquary image of Saint Martin, a 16th-century work by Miguel de Vera.
Smoky Cave
Nature
The Cueva Ahumada is located on the sunny slope of the sierra of Callosa de Segura, in the comarca of El Baix Segura, and is one of the main tourist and environmental destinations of the municipality. Its surroundings feature sports facilities for climbing and hiking, including the Via Ferrata de Callosa de Segura, the largest in the Valencian Community and the second largest in Spain, with a hundred-metre bridge and sections of difficulty between K3 and K5.
Festivities of San Roque de Callosa de Segura
Activity
The festivities of San Roque, patron saint of Callosa de Segura, commemorate his apparition, according to legend, in the early hours of 16 November 1409 in a pen situated among the ruins of the town's old castle-fortress. He appeared to four shepherds who, on going up together with the authorities, found the image of the pilgrim engraved on the stable gate; since then it has been venerated on the altar of the hermitage built on that site. The festivities include the traditional carrying of the Farolico de Venancio lantern up the mountain and parades of Moors and Christians commemorating the Reconquest. In 2009 the 6th centenary of the apparition was celebrated, declared a Jubilee Holy Year by Pope Benedict XVI, with the relic of San Roque's arm, venerated in Rome, brought to Spain for the first time.
Antonio Ballester Ruiz Archaeological Museum of Callosa de Segura
Monument
Housed in the former municipal slaughterhouse of 1929, it brings together the archaeological collection donated in 1980 by the town's official chronicler, with pieces ranging from the Neolithic to the Roman period.
The hemp of Callosa de Segura
Historical milestone
From the eighteenth century the hemp grown in the market gardens sustained Callosa: espadrilles, ropes and nets came out of its workshops. Synthetic fibre sank the sector in the sixties, but the town reinvented itself as a great producer of ropes and nets.
Callosa de Segura, royal town and city
Historical milestone
Callosa emancipated itself from Orihuela in 1579 and Felipe IV granted it in 1638 the privilege of royal villa, with its own jurisdiction. Later, in 1925, Alfonso XIII raised the town to the category of city, when hemp gave work to almost all the residents.
Stirred cod
Food and drink
Desalted and shredded salt cod that is stewed with potato, garlic and paprika and stirred until it binds into a thick cream. It was a fast-day and Lenten dish in Callosa de Segura and it is still prepared in the houses and in some restaurants.
Almendraos and relentaos
Food and drink
Christmas sweets of the town: the almendraos are pastries of ground almond and sugar baked in the oven, and the relentaos are left out overnight so that the damp softens them. They are made in workshops and in the houses of Callosa de Segura.