Village
Les Useres is a municipality in the comarca of l'Alcalatén, among ravines and mountains of the serra de la Creu, with population scattered in masías (farmhouses). It has an Iberian origin, as shown by the tools and pottery found at the Vila Vella, declared Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection); under Muslim rule iron extraction and irrigation began, until Ximeno II d'Urrea conquered it for Christendom and Jaime I granted the lordship of the Alcalatén in 1233. In 1839, during the Carlist Wars, General O'Donnell defeated commander Ramón Cabrera, the Tiger of the Maestrazgo, here. Its parish church, dedicated to the Transfiguration, laid its first stone on 9 November 1613 on the ruins of the castle. The economy is based on grapevines, olive trees, carob trees and cereal crops.
Monument
Parish church of Les Useres dedicated to the Transfiguration of the Lord, with a Valencian Gothic plan and a polygonal apse, whose first stone was laid on 9 November 1613 over the ruins of the village's castle.
Activity
Les Useres celebrates its patronal festival during the first week of August, as well as San Antonio Abad on 17 January and the centuries-old pilgrimage of the Peregrinos de Useres to the sanctuary of Sant Joan de Penyagolosa, on the last Friday of April.
Nature
The Sierra de Espadán Natural Park, declared in 1998 and the second largest in the Comunitat Valenciana at 31,180 hectares, reaches the municipality of Les Useres, where the GR-33 long-distance trail makes the village a reference point halfway between Castellón and the sanctuary of Sant Joan de Penyagolosa. The range, with peaks exceeding 1000 m such as the Rápita (1106 m), stands out for its springs, shady ravines and cork oak groves.
Activity
Els Pelegrins de les Useres is a pilgrimage that covers about 25 kilometres between Les Useres and the sanctuary of Sant Joan de Penyagolosa. It is a 14th-century tradition repeated on the last Friday of April: the pilgrims, a company of thirteen local men, pray for water, the harvest and against plague, and walk the route in silence, broken only by the singing of ancient medieval compositions. The route, with more than 1,000 metres of accumulated elevation gain, crosses the municipal districts of Les Useres, Llucena, Xodos and Vistabella del Maestrat past hermitages, farmhouses, castles and springs, and is completed over two days: the ascent, with a mass stop at Sant Miquel de les Torrocelles, and the descent the following day. The route has been declared a Natural Monument since 2007.
Monument
The parish church of Les Useres, dedicated to the Transfiguration of the Lord, is a Renaissance-style temple from the early 17th century, built over the remains of an old castle that has since disappeared, the work of master builder Esteve Ganaut. Its vaults still preserve Gothic elements, inherited from an earlier construction phase.
Monument
Hermitage located on a square in the center of Les Useres (L'Alcalatén, Castellón), listed as a Bien de Relevancia Local (heritage protection category at the local level). Built in the 17th century by Pablo Fabro, with clear Italian influence, with ashlar walls, a round-arched doorway surrounded by voussoirs, an oculus above the door and barred windows on either side; it is topped by a single-bay bell-gable with the figure of Christ. It houses the image of the Christ of the Agony, patron saint of Les Useres since 1864, in whose honor festivities are held during the first two weeks of August, with religious ceremonies and street bull-running.
Curiosity
The high-altitude woodlands of the comarca of L'Alcalatén, especially around Les Useres, are an area for growing and gathering truffles.
Nature
A stretch of the GR-33 long-distance footpath between Les Useres and Xodos, which opens up nature tourism in the comarca of L'Alcalatén.
Monument
The Vila Vella de Les Useres, in the old town of the Castellón municipality, is a site declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection), where utensils and pottery have been found confirming an Iberian origin for the settlement. On this same site a castle once stood, on whose remains the church of the Transfiguration was later built, which today marks the site of the former fortified settlement.
Monument
A hermitage located on the plaza de Loreto, within the urban centre of Les Useres itself, in the comarca of L'Alcalatén (Castellón), one of the municipality's historic hermitages alongside those dedicated to Christ, San Antonio and Santa Waldesca. The original building dates from the 17th century but has not survived: it was replaced by the present construction, in neoclassical style. It is a small chapel attached to nearby houses, with a rectangular façade opened by a wide round-arched doorway and topped by a brick wall belfry for a single bell, with a wrought-iron cross and pinecone ornaments. Inside, with a terrazzo floor and painted plinths, the altar holds the image of the Mare de Déu de Loreto. It is listed as a Bien Inmueble de Relevancia Local (a local-level heritage protection category in the Valencian Community).
Monument
The hermitage of Santa Waldesca, or Ubaldesca, is located on the street of the same name, in the centre of Les Useres, among modern buildings, and is listed as a Bien de Relevancia Local (a local-level heritage protection category in the Valencian Community). It was built in the 17th century and has been remodelled on several occasions; it is the only hermitage dedicated to this Italian-born saint in Valencian lands, since another, from the 15th century, near San Mateo, has disappeared. It is believed the devotion reached Useres through the medieval wool trade between the Maestrazgo and Tuscany, together with a relic of the saint that prompted the hermitage; its confraternity was founded in 1789. It is a simple, whitewashed building, with a single-bell wall belfry cast in 1750, and it preserves 1934 paintings depicting the saint's life. Its feast day is celebrated on 28 May.
Monument
The church of the Transfiguration of Les Useres, a 17th-century Renaissance building with elements of Gothic vaulting, stands on the remains of an old castle; an inscription records that the first stone was laid on 9 November 1613, under the direction of the master builder Esteve Ganaut. It follows models used by Valencian Gothic architecture in the 15th century: rectangular plan, polygonal apse and side chapels between buttresses. The ashlar facade has a two-tier doorway with columns and niches holding sculptures of Saint Michael, Saint John the Baptist, Saint Vincent Martyr and Saint Vincent Ferrer, crowned by a bust of Saint Peter. The upper tier, with Ionic pilasters and a broken pediment, frames a relief of the Transfiguration, the church's dedication.
Monument
The hermitage of Sant Antoni is a vernacular building from 1622 located in Les Useres, in the comarca of L'Alcalatén (Castellón). It is one of the hermitages most cherished by the town's residents, and inside it holds the image of Christ that gives it its devotional character.
Curiosity
Els Pelegrins de les Useres is a religious tradition dating from the 14th century, celebrated every last Friday of April in Les Useres, consisting of a pilgrimage of about 25 kilometers to the sanctuary of Sant Joan de Penyagolosa, on the mountain of the same name. The procession is made up of thirteen local men who walk in silence, broken only by the singing of ancient medieval compositions, praying for water, the harvest, and protection against plague. The route, which crosses the municipalities of Les Useres, Llucena, Xodos, and Vistabella del Maestrat, is covered in two days: the ascent, with a stop at Sant Miquel de les Torrocelles, and the descent the following day. It was declared a Monumento Natural (Spain's protected natural area status) in 2007 for its ecological value, and it forms part of the GR-33 long-distance trail.
Historical milestone
On 18 July 1839, during the Carlist Wars, General Leopoldo O'Donnell defeated the troops of the Carlist Ramón Cabrera at Les Useres (Castellón). The victory earned O'Donnell the title of Count of Lucena, under which he went down in Spanish military history of the period. The episode remains one of the most remembered events in the town during the 19th-century Carlist conflict.
Nature
Recreational spring of Les Useres, with picnic areas and a source of abundant flow all year round, one of the most visited among the many springs of the district, a network that also includes the Font de la Ponsa, the Font de les Murtes, La Presola and La Font Jordana.
Curiosity
Small settlements in Les Useres that grew out of clusters of farmhouses scattered across the land, evidence of the comarca's traditional dispersed settlement pattern.
Historical milestone
James I handed over in 1233 to the Aragonese noble Ximén d'Urrea the castle and the territory of Alcalatén as a reward for the conquest campaign; thus was born the seigneury that would order the comarca for almost six centuries.
Food and drink
A stew of kid meat cut into pieces, cooked slowly with garlic, bay leaf and wine, an emblematic dish of the village that is ordered from the butcher for festive meals and pilgrimage festivals.
Activity
Every July the village devotes a fair to the wines made with grapes from the district, in a comarca where the vine coexists with the almond and the olive on dry-farmed terraces; it is accompanied by sweets such as les orelletes.