Village
Onil is a municipality of the Alcoià comarca, in the north of the province of Alicante, situated at the foot of the sierra de Onil and known as the cradle of dolls, with 8,114 inhabitants. Its territory combines the sierra, a western spur of the sierra de Mariola, with the plain of the Pla d'Onil and the former Marjal, a wetland drained in the 18th century from which the río Verde rises, which downstream of the Tibi reservoir becomes known as the Monnegre. It preserves the Palau-Castell dels Barons, built in the late 15th century over an earlier fortress, and is the cradle of the Valencian toy industry: its Doll Museum brings together more than 1,200 pieces and recalls the origin of the Famosa brand.
Activity
Among Onil's festivals, the Nit dels Fatxos stands out, in which residents roll lit esparto-grass torches called fatxos through the streets, with a competition for the largest, smallest and most artistic.
Monument
Onil museum with more than 1,200 dolls, housed in the manor house of l'Hort, dedicated to local history and to the origin of the Famosa doll brand. The building is a late 19th-century mansion, an example of eclectic architecture, built by José María Payá y Alonso de Medina and declared a bien de interés cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection). Onil is known as the cradle of dolls: production began in the 1870s and in 1957 the merger of several workshops gave rise to Famosa (Fábricas Agrupadas de Muñecas de Onil SA); in 1970, 60% of Spanish doll production came from the town.
Activity
The Moors and Christians festival of Onil (Alicante), declared a Regional Tourist Interest festivity in 2023, begins on 22 April with the Nit de les Fogueres, when residents dine together around a bonfire. On the 23rd the Virgin of the Salud is received in procession and the floral offering is held; the following days include dances in the Plaza Mayor and night parades, the Nit de l'Olleta with its humorous parade, the main entry with mascletà and band contest, the embassy and the Ballà de les Banderes, and the parade of the Moors. The festivities end on 1 May, when, after the arquebus skirmish, the castle returns to Christian hands and the Virgin returns in procession to the hermitage amid fireworks.
Nature
One of the largest hedge mazes in Spain, free to visit, in the municipal district of Onil.
Monument
Church in Onil completed in 1778, with a baptistery decorated with biblical frescoes by the painter Eusebio Sempere, from the late 1940s.
Monument
The ruins of the Montserrat monastery of Onil (L'Alcoià), built between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, were attached to -or perhaps built upon- an earlier, primitive church. The building was conceived to house a beaterio, a community of religious women, but that foundation was never carried out: the monastery was never inhabited by any religious order and today survives in a ruined state.
Nature
Three springs traditionally irrigate the market gardens of Onil: the Font Major, at the foot of the hill within the town, which besides supplying the residents drives a mill and fertilises 70 jornales of land; the Font de Fabanella, at the western foot of the hillock of the same name, with water to irrigate 15 jornales; and the Font de l'Arcada, so called because it passes over an arch on the southern slope of the Montbari, with a flow similar to that of Fabanella. Rising at a considerable height above the basin, its waters allow the irrigation of fields that would otherwise remain dry.
Activity
The Nit dels Fatxos, one of Onil's most notable traditions alongside the Moors and Christians, is held every 24 December to commemorate the Nativity, although its origins as a fire celebration are clearly pre-Roman and it was only later associated with the Christian feast. The fatxos are made from green and dry esparto grass gathered a few days beforehand in the Sierra de Onil: the dry esparto is braided and bound with the green, forming a wheel or catherine-wheel that, once lit, rolls through the streets. At around seven in the evening on the 24th, a contest is held in the plaza Mayor with prizes for the biggest fatxo, the smallest and the most artistic. The tradition has spread, with variants and other names, to neighbouring towns, such as the Rodà de les Aixames of Jijona.
Historical milestone
The palace-castle of the barons of Onil was raised at the end of the fifteenth century over an earlier fortress, with courtyard, tower and chapel. It was a seigneurial residence for centuries and today houses municipal offices and collections on local history.
Food and drink
The domestic pig slaughter left sausages of its own: the blanquet, white and flavoured with cinnamon and pine nuts, the botifarra and the bull negre. They are eaten fried or boiled and are the basis of comarca stews such as the olleta and baked rice.