Village
Biar is a municipality in the comarca of L'Alt Vinalopó, inland in the province of Alicante, at 700 metres above sea level, with 3,657 inhabitants, surrounded by pine woods and olive groves on the foothills of the Sierra de Mariola. Settled since prehistoric times, its present-day core arose in the Andalusi period; after the Christian conquest it passed to the Kingdom of Valencia through the Treaty of Almizra and played a border role against the lordship of Villena. The name may derive from the Arabic biʿar, wells, or the Latin apiarium, place of bees, from its former honey production. It preserves the castle, one of the finest examples of military architecture in the province, along with the church of the Assumption, several hermitages and the medieval quarter. Half of the municipal area is forested, criss-crossed by footpaths.
Monument
The castle of Biar, from the 12th century, crowns a hill overlooking the town and is one of the finest examples of military architecture in the province of Alicante; declared a Historic-Artistic Monument in 1931, it forms part of the Route of the Castles of the Vinalopó. It had little relevance in Muslim times and gained importance as a border fortress after the Treaty of Almizra, in the time of James I; it lost its military function in the Early Modern period and was even used as a cemetery before being restored from the late 20th century onward. It consists of an enclosure with four semicircular towers and the keep, square in plan and 17 metres high, with ribbed Almohad vaults among the oldest in Spain and the Maghreb, comparable to those of the Atalaya Castle in Villena.
Nature
The natural surroundings of Biar, in the comarca of L'Alt Vinalopó, are made up of a range of mountains that encircle the municipality like an amphitheatre, with peaks such as the Reconco (1,206 m), the Fenessosa (1,210 m) and the Penya la Blasca (1,150 m). Half of the municipality's 98.17 km² is forested with large pine woods, crossed by the PRV-55, PRV-155 and PRV-35 routes, one of the town's main tourist attractions. Olive groves cover about 4,000 hectares, 41% of the municipal area, making Biar the largest oil producer in the province of Alicante. Among the protected notable trees are the Plátano de Biar and the Pi de la Tosquera.
Activity
In Biar's Moors and Christians festival, the Ball dels Espies stands out, a dance in which hundreds of couples dressed in period costume bid farewell to the figure of Mahoma before it is taken to neighbouring Villena.
Monument
The Biar aqueduct, known as the pointed-arch aqueduct, stands next to the town's castle, in the Alicante comarca of L'Alt Vinalopó. It dates from the 15th century and was built to carry irrigation water. The nearby castle does preserve a testimony to the town's Andalusi past: an Almohad-period vault, one of the oldest of this style in Spain, within a fortified enclosure dating back to the 13th century.
Monument
A hermitage in Biar dedicated to San Roque, one of the town's patron saints. It stands next to the old Royal Gate of Xàtiva, in the district it gives its name to. The feast of San Roque is celebrated on 16 August, with the traditional dance Las Parrandas, a jota also danced at other patronal festivities in Biar.
Nature
Reservoir in the municipal district of Biar, surrounded by the Sierra de Mariola, within the comarca of L'Alt Vinalopó.
Activity
The Moors and Christians festivities of Biar, which re-enact the town's reconquest and are held from 10 to 13 May in honour of the Virgen de Gracia, are among the oldest in the Valencian Levante. More than 500 bonfires are lit in the surrounding mountains and more than 2,000 festival participants take part; one of the events unique to the festivity is the Ball dels Espies, in which hundreds of couples dressed in period costume dance a traditional dance, and the image of the Mahoma de Biar is taken to the festivities of Villena. Alongside these celebrations are those of San Roque, on 16 August, with the dance Las Parrandas, and the Assumption of Mary, on 15 August, which gives its name to the village's parish church.
Nature
El Plátano de Biar is a centuries-old London plane tree located in the town centre of the Alicante municipality, on the promenade that bears its name, on the way to the sanctuary of Our Lady of Grace. It stands about 26 metres tall, a little over six metres in diameter at a height of one and a half metres, and about 30 metres across the crown; it is estimated to be 250 years old, and its great growth is due to having grown for centuries beside orchards and an irrigation channel, in a setting that is now entirely urban. It is the oldest and stoutest specimen of its species in the Valencian Community and one of the largest in girth in all of Spain, for which reason it is protected by the Valencian Monumental Tree Heritage law and stands within a fenced urban garden. Now mature, it is sickly and weakened by the continual pruning it has undergone.
Monument
18th-century snow well in excellent state of preservation in Biar, today used as an exhibition venue. Inside, the snow was packed down until it turned into ice, which was stored and used during the summer months.
Activity
Traditional dance of the Moros i Cristians festivities in Biar in which hundreds of couples in period dress bid farewell to the figure of Mahoma before it is taken to Villena.
Historical milestone
The fortress withstood for five months the siege of Jaume I, who employed siege engines brought from the north, and capitulated in February 1245. It was the last stronghold taken in that campaign and remained as the limit of the kingdom of Valencia according to what had been agreed at Almizra.
Historical milestone
Since the Middle Ages the pottery workshops of Biar have supplied jugs, wash-basins and large storage jars to the inland comarcas, using the clay of the municipal area and the firewood of the sierra. There are still kilns that fire in the old way and sell piece by piece.
Food and drink
Thick syrup obtained by boiling grape must down, in which pieces of pumpkin, melon or fig, hardened beforehand in limewater, are candied. It was prepared in September to preserve the fruit and is taken as a dessert or spread on bread.