Logbook · 9 places

What to see and do in Benimantell

What to see and do in Benimantell (La Marina Baixa, Alicante): 9 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 2 Monuments · 3 Nature · 1 Activities · 1 Curiosities · 1 Historical milestones

When to go to Benimantell: festival calendar

October: Festivities of Octubre de Benimantell (third Sunday of October)

How far each place is from the centre of Benimantell

Church of San Vicente Mártir de Benimantell 50 m
Guadalest River 6.3 km

Towns near Benimantell

What to see in Beniardà 1 km · 2 places
What to see in Castell de Guadalest, el 1 km · 6 places
What to see in Benifato 1.7 km · 3 places
What to see in Confrides 5.1 km · 9 places
What to see in Castell de Castells 5.5 km · 3 places
What to see in Famorca 6.9 km · 3 places
What to see in Callosa d'en Sarrià 8.1 km · 6 places
What to see in Fageca 8.2 km · 3 places

Spain › Valencian Community › Alicante › La Marina Baixa › Benimantell

What to see and do in Benimantell

Benimantell
Village
Benimantell stands at an altitude of 547 metres on the spurs of the Sierra de Aitana, in the Guadalest Valley, only one kilometre from the touristy Guadalest. It was a hamlet of Muslim origin until the Christian conquest of the mid-13th century, and after the expulsion of the Moriscos in 1609 it was repopulated mostly by Christians from Aragon; it formed part of the marquisate created in 1543 by Charles I for the lord of the valley, a seigneury that the expulsion left without hands or income. It reached 1,012 inhabitants in the mid-19th century and today has around 548. It lives off dry-farming, almonds and olives, and tourism linked to Guadalest and Benidorm. Its town centre, overlooking the valley, preserves narrow streets such as the steep Trencacames and the parish church of San Vicente Mártir (Saint Vincent Martyr).
Guadalest River
Nature
The río Guadalest rises at the Puerto de Confrides pass, between the Sierra de Aitana and the Sierra de la Serrella, at about 900 metres altitude, and gives its name to the Valle de Guadalest, where Benimantell, Confrides and El Castell de Guadalest are situated, within the La Marina Baixa district. With a course of 24.9 km and a basin of 123.4 km², it has an irregular Mediterranean regime, with floods between autumn and spring and low water in summer. Its waters are regulated by the Guadalest reservoir, built for irrigation and to supply water to the coast in response to tourist demand. Already within the municipality of Altea, the Guadalest joins the río Algar before flowing into the Mediterranean.
Millennial olive trees of Benimantell
Nature
Specimens of thousand-year-old olive trees scattered across the municipality of Benimantell, along routes leading to old ice houses and castle ruins. That castle, now in ruins, was defensively aligned with those of Guadalest and Alfofra, in the same comarca of the Marina Baixa.
Remains of the castle of Benimantell
Monument
Ruins of a medieval fortification in Benimantell, aligned with the castles of Guadalest and Aljofra.
Church of San Vicente Mártir de Benimantell
Monument
Parish church of Benimantell with a curious tower topped by an octagonal lantern with a glazed indigo roof, located in the main square next to the village town hall. As early as the 19th century, Pascual Madoz's dictionary recorded the existence of this parish, dedicated to San Vicente Mártir, then served by a priest of ordinary provision.
Guadalest Reservoir from Benimantell
Nature
The Guadalest reservoir, visible from the town centre of Benimantell at 547 metres above sea level, on the foothills of the Sierra de Aitana, collects the waters of the río Guadalest, a tributary of the Algar. It is a concrete gravity dam 94 metres high and 236 metres long at the crest, with a capacity of 13 cubic hectometres and a water surface of 86 hectares.
Morisco origin of Benimantell
Curiosity
Benimantell, of Muslim origin and dependent on Guadalest, was resettled by Aragonese Christians after the expulsion of the Moriscos in 1609. The alquería had come under Guadalest's jurisdiction after the Christian conquest, in the mid-13th century. During the 18th century the population grew notably, and by the mid-19th century it already had more than 200 houses, documented since 1846, and around 1,012 inhabitants.
Festivities of Octubre de Benimantell
Activity
Benimantell's October festivities dedicated to the Santísimo Sacramento, in a village of Morisco origin repopulated by Aragonese Christians after the 1609 expulsion, which overlooks the valley and the Guadalest reservoir from 547 meters.
The marquisate of the valley
Historical milestone
Carlos I granted in 1543 the title of marquis of Guadalest to the lord of the valley. The marquisate grouped together the places of Morisco vassals spread over the slope of Aitana, and the expulsion of 1609 left the whole seigneury without hands or rents.