Village
Costur is a municipality of the comarca of L'Alcalatén, in the province of Castellón, with 511 inhabitants. The earliest remains found, a Roman funerary slab and Arab coins from the time of the Saracen king of Zaragoza Omadedaulat (1109-1129), predate its incorporation, after the Christian conquest, into the Tinença del Alcalatén granted by James I to Ximén de Urrea in 1233; it later formed part of the county house of Aranda and, from 1798, of the estate of the Dukes of Híjar, until it separated from L'Alcora as an independent municipality in 1889. It preserves a stretch of Roman road at the Camí dels Bandejats, a church with a Romanesque baptismal font and ceramic chapels scattered around the village, and at festival time prepares l'almuderra, a pumpkin sweet.
Activity
Costur celebrates San Antonio Abad on the weekend nearest 17 January, with a bonfire, blessing of animals and the handing out of the rollo de San Antonio; its August patronal festival is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin and the Santísimo Cristo del Calvario.
Monument
Old lime kilns in Costur, part of the traditional ethnological heritage of the comarca of L'Alcalatén.
Nature
Agricultural landscape of the L'Alcalatén region, with fields of vineyards, almond trees, olive trees, carob trees and cereals. In the municipal area of Costur, which represents this landscape well, olive and almond groves have gradually gained ground over vines, fig trees and carob trees, crops that for centuries were the basis of the local economy along with livestock farming. Today agriculture has lost weight compared with other activities: most residents of Costur work in the tile factories of neighboring Alcora, although the patchwork of crops still defines the landscape seen when traveling through the region.
Nature
A group of traditional fountains scattered across the municipal district of Costur, in the comarca of L'Alcalatén.
Nature
An underground cavity in Costur with limestone formations such as stalactites, one of the lesser known natural attractions of this small municipality of L'Alcalatén.
Nature
The Tossal del Cabeço, the highest point in the municipality of Costur and reachable by footpath, offers views of almost the entire municipality and a wide stretch of land towards Peñagolosa, within the comarca of L'Alcalatén.
Monument
A small rectangular chapel with whitewashed walls and a pitched roof, reached by a Way of the Cross, on the Calvary of Costur alongside other ceramic-decorated chapels dedicated to San José and San Miguel.
Monument
The parish church of San Pedro Mártir, in Costur, in the comarca of Alcalatén, is a Catholic temple listed as a Bien de Relevancia Local (local-level heritage protection status in the Valencian Community). It began as a hermitage and reached its current status as a parish in 1785, becoming part of the archpriesthood of San Vicente Ferrer, in the diocese of Segorbe-Castellón, under the patronage of San Pedro Mártir de Verona. It is a building with a wide façade and small dimensions, with a three-nave plan, the central nave being the tallest, with sparse interior ornamentation in which the baptismal font stands out above all, of Romanesque origin, from the hermitage of San Salvador del Castillo de Alcalatén, along with a modernist bell of exceptional acoustics.
Nature
Cave of Costur with well-preserved stalactites and stalagmites, near the Cabezo, the highest point in the municipality with views of Peñagolosa. Caving can be practiced there, one of the activities offered by this site within the municipal boundaries.
Curiosity
Costur split from L'Alcora in 1889 to become an independent municipality; it preserves 11th-century Arab coins and a Roman gravestone.
Activity
Patronal festivities of Costur in honor of the Assumption of the Virgin and the Santísimo Cristo del Calvario, celebrated in August and considered the most important festivities in the town. They include an evening procession that brings together all the residents, as well as bull runs, dances, and communal meals.
Monument
Church in the centre of the village which preserves a Romanesque baptismal font, as well as small ceramic shrines dedicated to San José and San Miguel scattered around the municipality.
Curiosity
Costur gained municipal autonomy in 1889 when it separated from L'Alcora, having previously preserved finds such as a Roman gravestone and Arab coins of the Saracen king Omadedaulat of Zaragoza (1109-1129).
Monument
Stretch of ancient Roman road preserved along the Camí dels Bandejats, one of the archaeological remains that attest to the historic occupation of the municipal district of Costur.
Historical milestone
With the line of the counts of Aranda extinguished, the place passed to the dukes of Híjar along with the rest of the old lordship of Alcalatén; it would remain a hamlet of L'Alcora until the end of the nineteenth century.
Food and drink
A homemade sweet made with pumpkin that is prepared at the village festivities, alongside quince codonyat; among the savory dishes the arròs amb peres roges stands out, cooked with the local dry-farmed pears.