Village
Altura is a municipality in the comarca of Alto Palancia, on the border between Castellón and Valencia, nestled in the Sierra Calderona and watered by the Palancia river, a natural route between Aragón and the coast. It covers 129.47 km² and has about 3,850 inhabitants. On its territory stands the Charterhouse of Vall de Cristo, founded in 1385, one of the most important religious centres of the former Kingdom of Valencia, which held the lordship and economic control of the comarca until the disentailment of 1836. Next to it, the sanctuary of the Cueva Santa remains a place of pilgrimage due to devotion to its Virgin. The urban centre, two kilometres from Segorbe, sits in the Palancia valley between 400 and 380 metres, at the foot of Montmayor, the municipality's highest peak at 1,017 metres.
Activity
Altura celebrates its patronal festival in the second half of September, in honour of San Miguel Arcángel and the Virgen de Gracia, with a week of bullfighting events, and Santa Cecilia around 22 November, led by its Unión Musical y Cultural.
Monument
The Charterhouse of Vall de Cristo is a Carthusian monastery in the municipality of Altura (Alto Palancia, Castellón), founded in 1385 by Prince Martin of Aragon, later King Martin the Humane, thanks to a bull of Clement VII, and which controlled the region until the disentailment of 1836. It was one of the most important ecclesiastical centres of the former Kingdom of Valencia, visited by several popes and with an estate that came to include villages, factories, farmhouses and dwellings throughout the kingdom; Martin I himself granted it the lordship of Altura and Alcublas in 1391. Among its residents were Bonifacio Ferrer, its prior major, Saint Ignatius of Loyola and the antipope Benedict XIII. The church of San Martín was begun in 1386, and the main cloister and the Great Church, both Gothic, were finished in 1428.
Monument
The sanctuary of the Cueva Santa, in the municipality of Altura (Castellón), is found on the northern slopes of the Sierra Calderona, twelve kilometres from the municipal capital, next to the road linking Altura with Alcublas (Valencia). Built inside a natural cave, it houses the image of the Virgin of the Cueva Santa, patron saint of the diocese of Segorbe-Castellón and also of towns as far away as Beniarrés, Santa María de Dota (Costa Rica), Piacoa (Venezuela) and Bochalema (Colombia), as well as being the patron saint of speleologists. It is one of the most important religious symbols of the Archpriesthood of Segorbe and of the Comunitat Valenciana, and numerous miracles are attributed to it, among them that of the Berro spring in the town of Altura.
Monument
The church of San Miguel Arcángel stands on the plaza de San Miguel, in the centre of Altura's walled precinct. It is a neoclassical temple of Corinthian style whose construction began in 1783 and was blessed in 1789, although its bell tower, of hexagonal plan, was finished somewhat later, the work of Matías Llorenç and Francisco Marzo; its dome, of blue and white ceramic tile, collapsed in 1880 and was rebuilt in 1884. It has a plan of three naves with transept and dome, covered with a barrel vault decorated with paintings by Vicente Izquierdo from the mid-19th century. It preserves an 18th-century organ in poor state of conservation and a major altarpiece by Juan Miguel Orliens, from the 17th century, gilded in 1642-43, coming from the Charterhouse of Vall de Cristo.
Nature
This side of the Sierra Calderona Natural Park occupies 1,686 hectares of the municipality of Altura, in the Alto Palancia district, to which are added other protected areas such as a special protection area for birds and a site of community importance. Its highest point is the pico Montmayor, at 1,017 metres, along with other elevations such as Peña Rubia (922 m), the Alto del Rejo (834 m) and the cerro de la Segadiza (915 m). The terrain, very dry and without permanent watercourses, is crossed by a network of ravines and ramblas divided between the basins of the Rambla de la Torrecilla, to the north, and the Rambla de la Escarihuela, to the south. It is crossed by the Vía Verde de Ojos Negros, fitted out for hikers, cyclists and people with reduced mobility.
Nature
The Fuente or Manantial del Berro, in the Paraje Natural del Berro of Altura, sprang forth on 25 March 1915, putting an end to a drought that had been afflicting the town for decades; popular belief attributed the discovery of the water to a miracle of the Virgin of the Cueva Santa. Since then, every 25 March the Fiestas del Berro are celebrated, culminating in the ceremony of the emergence of the Aguas del Berro, declared of tourist interest, in which the townspeople relive that day. The programme also includes the procession of Our Lady of the Cueva Santa, fireworks, musical performances and bullfighting festivities.
Nature
The Vía Verde de Ojos Negros is a former railway route, passable on foot or by bicycle, which also runs through the municipality of Altura. It follows the route of the old Ojos Negros-Sagunto narrow-gauge mining railway, which operated between 1907 and 1972; after its closure the tracks were lifted and the current path was laid out, 182.2 kilometres long between Ojos Negros (Teruel) and Albalat de Taronchers (Valencia), making it the longest greenway in Spain. It forms part of the Santander-Mediterranean Axis of the Natural Trails Network of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and is organised into three stages, the second of which reaches the Escandón pass, the highest point of the route.
Activity
The Fiestas del Berro of Altura, from 22 to 25 March, celebrate the birth of the spring of the same name in honour of the Virgin of the Cueva Santa. The tradition recalls the event of 1915, when, after years of searching for water, the townspeople gathered on the night of 24 to 25 March in the church to pray a novena to the Virgin asking that the spring flow, and that same night the water emerged. In its memory, the festive programme includes street parades, verbenas and folk events, fireworks, an offering of flowers to the Virgin and, on the 25th, mass, blessing of the waters of the fuente del Berro and a procession.
Activity
The sanctuary of the Cueva Santa stands on the northern slopes of the Sierra Calderona, 12 kilometres from Altura (Castellón), next to the road linking this town with Alcublas. It houses the image of the Virgin of the Cueva Santa, patron saint of the diocese of Segorbe-Castellón and also of towns in Costa Rica, Venezuela and Colombia, as well as being the patron saint of speleologists, to whom numerous miracles are attributed, among them the emergence of the Berro spring in Altura. The sanctuary is linked to the Charterhouse of Vall de Cristo, one of the great religious centres of the former Kingdom of Valencia, and is a focus of pilgrimage for the district and others nearby; at the end of April, thousands of people take part in the pilgrimage that sets out from Altura to the sanctuary.
Historical milestone
The Infante Martin, the future Martin the Humane, founded the charterhouse in 1385 thanks to a bull from Pope Clement VII, in the Cánava valley, where he bought several farmhouses that served as the basis for the monastery. In 1386 the first stone of the church of San Martín was laid, one of the few buildings still preserved today, and Father Juan Berga was confirmed as first prior. In 1391 Martin himself donated the town of Altura, together with that of Alcublas, to the monastery — a date some place in 1407 — making him lord of both towns. Figures who passed through the charterhouse include Boniface Ferrer, who rose to become prior general, Saint Ignatius of Loyola and the antipope Benedict XIII, the Pope Luna, who resided there, and it came to be one of the largest religious centres of the Kingdom of Valencia.
Historical milestone
The charterhouse of Vall de Cristo, in the district of Altura, was founded in 1385 by the Infante Martin of Aragon, the future Martin the Humane, by a bull of the antipope Clement VII, and became one of the most important ecclesiastical centres of the Valencian Community: it was visited by several popes, hosted major ecclesiastical gatherings and came to control towns, factories, farmhouses, lands and dwellings scattered throughout the former Kingdom of Valencia. Among its priors and residents were Boniface Ferrer, Saint Ignatius of Loyola and the antipope Benedict XIII. In force for six centuries, the Carthusian community was dissolved and its property put up for auction under the disentailment; in 1844 the monastery passed into private hands and its stones ended up scattered, leaving the complex in ruins.
Food and drink
A homemade sweet of irregular appearance made with flour, oil and sugar, typical of the village festivities; on the everyday table the olla de pueblo, the patatas a lo pobre and salads with oil from the district prevail.