Logbook · 8 places

What to see and do in Tibi

What to see and do in Tibi (L'Alcoià, Alicante): 8 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 2 Monuments · 1 Nature · 2 Activities · 1 Curiosities · 1 Historical milestones

When to go to Tibi: festival calendar

July: Festivities of Santa María Magdalena de Tibi (July 21-25)

How far each place is from the centre of Tibi

Towns near Tibi

Spain › Valencian Community › Alicante › L'Alcoià › Tibi

What to see and do in Tibi

Tibi
Village
Tibi is a municipality of the Alcoià comarca, in the interior of the province of Alicante, set on a hill between the Maigmó and the Mitjorn crag, with 1,634 inhabitants. Facing the village stand the remains of a 10th-century Arab castle, declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection), of great border importance during the Reconquista after remaining, from 1244, within the Crown of Aragon under the treaty of Almizra. Through its territory flows the río Verde or Monnegre, which three kilometres on forms the Tibi reservoir, one of the oldest dams in Europe, with a capacity of about two million cubic metres, which still irrigates the huerta and the metropolitan area of Alicante. The surroundings are suited to hiking, with routes along the río Verde and the climb up the Maigmó to the Balcón de Alicante.
Tibi Reservoir
Monument
The Tibi dam was built by order of Philip II, with works beginning in 1580 under the direction of Juan Bautista Antonelli; after being halted with only six metres raised, they resumed nine years later and were finished in 1594. The dam, a curved arch with a 107-metre radius, reaches 46 metres in height and 65 at the crest, and once held between 4 and 5.4 million cubic metres, today around 4.3 cubic hectometres, intended for irrigating the Alicante huerta. At over 40 metres high it was, in the 16th century, the most important dam in Europe, a record not surpassed until the Enlightenment. It suffered serious damage in 1697 and did not work again until 1738. It remains, even today, one of the oldest dams in Europe still in use.
Festivities of Tibi
Activity
Tibi's patronal festivities, held since the 15th century between the 20th and 25th of July in honor of Santa María Magdalena, include the traditional Entrà de les Vaques on the 21st, declared of local tourist interest, and the procession and floral offering of the main day, the 22nd.
Castle of Tibi
Monument
Fortress of Muslim origin, probably from the 10th century, with masonry curtain walls and a square-plan keep.
Mount Maigmó (Balcony of Alicante)
Nature
Mount Maigmó, in the municipality of Tibi, with the viewpoint known as the Balcony of Alicante and views over the provincial capital. It reaches 1,296 metres in altitude and stands out for its almost symmetrical silhouette, topped by a conical peak crowned with cliffs, making it one of the emblematic mountains of the province of Alicante. On its summit the geodesic marker of the Instituto Geográfico Nacional was erected in 1982. The mountain range it belongs to also extends across the municipalities of Castalla, Agost and Petrer, and forms part of the Protected Landscape of the Sierra del Maigmó and the Sierra del Cid.
Tibi, border of the Treaty of Almizra
Curiosity
After the Treaty of Almizra of 1244, Tibi passed to the Crown of Aragon as a frontier fortress facing Castile, being handed over to the Navarrese knight Sancho de Lienda.
Festivities of Santa María Magdalena de Tibi
Activity
Patronal festivities of Tibi in honour of Santa María Magdalena, celebrated from 21 to 25 July, with the release of young cows through the streets of the town centre closed off with barriers, the entry of the peñas, and religious processions.
Breach and reconstruction of the dam
Historical milestone
The dam raised at the end of the sixteenth century to irrigate the huerta of Alicante burst in 1697 and carried away part of the wall, leaving the fields of the plain without irrigation. The repair works dragged on for four decades and the reservoir did not fill again until 1738.