Village
Petrer is a municipality in south-eastern Spain, in the province of Alicante, which together with Elda forms a conurbation of nearly 87,000 inhabitants and is the main urban centre of the Vinalopó Mitjà. It was a settlement of Morisco vassals of the Count of Elda and was left almost depopulated by the expulsion of 1609; in 1611 the lord granted a charter of new settlement that distributed the houses of the outlying quarter among Christian settlers. On the walls of its old Arab fortress, cave-houses inhabited until the 19th century survive. Its name may derive from the Latin petra, perhaps because it stood on a paved stretch of the Via Augusta. After centuries tied to footwear and leather goods, its economy has diversified toward wine, tourism and bridal fashion.
Monument
The fortress of Petrer (Alicante), of Muslim origin and built in the late 12th or early 13th century, has a polygonal plan with rubble masonry and ashlar at the corners, with Romanesque features and Arab influences. It retains a large two-storey square tower, whose basement was a cistern in Islamic times, and a large vaulted hall that was the setting for the feudal lord's festivities. Taken by the Moriscos during the revolts of 1265, it was reconquered shortly afterward when Alfonso X of Castile called on the help of James I of Aragon. Its original function was strategic, controlling the passage between the Castilian plateau and the Mediterranean coast. Declared a Monumento Nacional (Spain's former national-monument heritage designation) in 1983, it now hosts chamber concerts, exhibitions in its tower and civil weddings.
Activity
The Moors and Christians festival of Petrer honours San Bonifacio Mártir, patron saint whose feast day is 14 May; it is celebrated from the Thursday to the Monday of the weekend closest to that date and has been declared a Fiesta de Interés Turístico Nacional (Spain's national tourist-interest festival designation) since 1966, with records documented as early as the 17th century, specifically from 1614, and rules already set out in a municipal edict of 1822. It traditionally began on 14 May itself, until, in the mid-1970s, it began to be held on the weekend closest to that date. The festival is structured into two sides, Moorish and Christian, each divided into five comparsas grouping filaes of between eight and fifteen people bearing allegorical names.
Monument
The Casas-Cueva of Petrer, considered the town's typical monument par excellence, are dwellings excavated in the late 19th century inside the castle wall. Today they function as a museum that recreates their use as family homes, with a stable temperature of around 20 degrees all year round and a collection of everyday objects from the 19th and early 20th centuries showing how the families who lived in them used to live.
Monument
Church of Petrer begun in 1779, which replaced an earlier, smaller parish church whose main door opened onto the start of the calle Mayor rather than onto the plaza de Baix. The new church, of rectangular plan, was designed by Francisco Sánchez with the backing of the Count of Puñonrostro; to build it on what was then the plaza Mayor, adjoining houses were demolished and the church was oriented towards what is today the plaza de Baix. During the Civil War it suffered serious damage: several people entered the church, destroyed much of the furniture, pews and images, and threw the three main statues of the saints from the roof into the square, where they remained unreplaced for years until their later restoration.
Monument
The Aqueduct of San Rafael is a construction of the 14th-16th centuries in Valencian Gothic style, located in Petrer (Alicante), over the Rambla dels Molins, a tributary of the Vinalopó river, next to the district that takes its name from it. It supplied water to the neighbouring town of Elda. Of the six original arches, three survive, on four pillars with a truncated-conical ashlar base, with pointed masonry arches and U-shaped ceramic channelling. It was declared a historic-artistic monument of local interest in 1981 and is a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection), with the category of monument.
Monument
El Poblet is a former small palace in Petrer (Alicante), declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) in 2019 with the category of historic site by decree of the Generalitat Valenciana. It has 2,393 square metres built on an estate of more than seven hectares, with gardens and a baroque-style fountain. In early 1939, during the Civil War, it became the last secret seat of the government of the Second Republic, with President Juan Negrín residing there, under the code name Posición Yuste, from where the exile to France was organised. It belongs to the Diocese of Orihuela-Alicante, which, together with the town council, intends to turn it into a museum open to the public.
Nature
A sierra 1,147 metres high, between the districts of Petrer, Novelda, Monforte del Cid and Agost, whose horizontal summit is known as the Silla del Cid for its saddle-like shape. The north face is steep, with walls and crags; Aleppo pine predominates along with kermes oak and esparto grass, and it is home to rabbit, wild boar, Barbary sheep and mouflon. Legend has it that the Cid leapt on horseback from the summit, leaving his hoofprint marked in the rock.
Activity
The EuroStrings Festival de Petrer is the Spanish venue of the European EuroStrings guitar festival, under the name of European venue José Tomás Villa de Petrer, which it shares with cities such as Tampere, London, Sarajevo and Tallinn. It is held in summer and brings together guitarists from different parts of the world who give masterclasses and offer chamber concerts at the Teatro Cervantes, the Casa de la Manzana Cultural and the chapel of Petrer castle. It coincides with the Semana de la Guitarra, which attracts international tourism to the municipality, and is the only competition of its kind among Spanish municipalities.
Curiosity
Tradition tells that El Cid, riding Babieca and finding himself cornered by the Muslims, cleared an impossible leap over the void in the range that now bears his name, leaving the mark of the feat kilometres away.
Historical milestone
Petrer was a place of Morisco vassals of the count of Elda and was left almost empty by the expulsion of 1609. In 1611 the lord granted a charter of new settlement that fixed rents, shares of the crop and the distribution of the houses of the suburb among the Christian colonists.