Logbook · 3 places

What to see and do in Catral

What to see and do in Catral (El Baix Segura, Alicante): 3 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 2 Monuments

How far each place is from the centre of Catral

Church of los Santos Juanes de Catral 50 m

Towns near Catral

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What to see in Daya Nueva 6.4 km · 2 places
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Spain › Valencian Community › Alicante › El Baix Segura › Catral

What to see and do in Catral

Catral
Village
Catral is a Spanish-speaking municipality in the Vega Baja del Segura, in southern Alicante, known as “the Gateway to the Vega Baja” for its position between Orihuela, Elche and Torrevieja, with 9,600 inhabitants (INE 2025). Its place name is uncertain, with Iberian, Latin (Castrum Altum) and Arabic hypotheses; Muslim rule ended around the mid-thirteenth century, when Infante Alfonso conquered it for Castile, which in 1255 handed it to the Order of Santiago. In 1741, its 152 inhabitants paid 12,499 pounds for the title of town and independence from Orihuela. The church of Los Santos Juanes, from the eighteenth century, was raised over a mosque and stands out for an oval dome over the crossing, unique in the comarca; the hermitage of la Purísima is the oldest monument in the Vega Baja dedicated to the Immaculate Conception.
Church of los Santos Juanes de Catral
Monument
Church of los Santos Juanes de Catral (Alicante), dedicated to San Juan Bautista, patron saint of the town. It stands where, in Muslim times, there was a mosque, destroyed in 1299 by royal order after the Reconquest so that a Christian temple in Mediterranean Gothic style could be built in its place, with a single nave with diaphragm arches and timber roof frame. The present temple, from the 18th century, was demolished again in 1760 and rebuilt until 1802 in a plain Baroque style with Neoclassical influences, with a Latin-cross plan, apsidal chancel and side chapels; it stands out for an oval dome over the crossing, unique in the whole comarca.
Hermitage of la Purísima de Catral
Monument
Considered the oldest monument in the Vega Baja dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, this hermitage is one of Catral's historic religious landmarks. It originated in 1555 as the chapel of the town's Holy Hospital, and the features it retains today follow Baroque and Neoclassical models from the late 18th century; its last restoration took place in 1998. Inside is venerated the image of the Purísima (the Immaculate), patron saint of Catral, the work of Valencian sculptors Rabasa and Royo, made in 1940 and canonically crowned on 19 December 2004.