Village
Xodos is the smallest municipality in the comarca of L'Alcalatén, in Castellón, situated on the eastern slope of the Penyagolosa peak, one of the highest in the Valencian Country, at 1063 metres. The village sits on a rock, on a crag more than seventy metres high; within its municipal territory are the tossal del Marinet, at 1466 metres, and the Penyagolosa itself, at 1815 metres, where the Llucena river is born. Of Arab origin, it formed part of the Tinença de l'Alcalatén and, from the 13th century, of the lordship of the Urrea family, who granted it a settlement charter in 1254 under the fuero of Aragón; it later passed to the Counts of Aranda and the Dukes of Híxar. At the top of the village remains of the castle, from the 11th century, and the church of Sant Pere, from the 16th century, are preserved. It has 120 inhabitants (2022).
Nature
The side of the Sierra de Espadán Natural Park lying in the municipal district of Xodos, the highest municipality in L'Alcalatén.
Activity
Xodos's main festival is in honour of Sant Cristòfol, starting on 14 August, coinciding with the patron saint to whom the village's hermitage is also dedicated.
Curiosity
Of Arab origin, Xodos belonged to the domain of Alcalatén; after the Reconquest, King James I granted its lordship to the Aragonese nobleman Ximén de Urrea, who issued a charter of settlement in 1254.
Activity
The residents of Xodos make a pilgrimage to the sanctuary of Sant Joan de Penyagolosa, at the foot of the peak of the same name and within the Penyagolosa natural park, on a route of about seven kilometres accompanied by traditional chants. The sanctuary, declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection), is arranged around a square and an interior arcaded courtyard containing the oldest quarters of the complex; its church, with a single nave, bears at its foot a stone doorway dated 1706. The image of Sant Joan presides over the temple, a carving from the 12th-13th centuries badly damaged by the fires suffered throughout its history, of which a copy is kept to ensure the survival of the original.
Monument
An old mill on the edge of Xodos, next to traditional fountains such as els Possos and l'Argivello.
Monument
The hermitage of San Cristóbal stands on top of the hill of the same name, northwest of Xodos (l'Alcalatén, Castellón), and is listed as a Bien de Relevancia Local (a local-level heritage protection category in the Valencian Community). It is a simple building on a quadrangular plan, five metres long by four wide, with rubble and stone walls and a single-bell wall belfry; the whitewashed building has the door's voussoirs painted red. Inside, of great austerity, is kept a retable with the image of San Cristóbal, one of the town's patron saints, paid for in 1938 by mossén Joan Tomás i Porcar, a native of Xodos. Its feast is celebrated from 14 August with a pilgrimage in which a banner almost five metres tall is carried.
Monument
Medieval castle situated at around 1,063 metres above sea level in Xodos (L'Alcalatén, Castellón), atop a cliff with a 70-metre drop, from where it watched over the upper course of the Alcalatén river and the natural pass between Aragón and Burriana. It was conquered by James I in 1233; in 1254 Ximén de Urrea granted Xodos a founding charter under Aragonese law, and the lordship later passed through the counts of Aranda to the dukes of Híjar, who held it until 1818. Small in size, it preserves the square keep and remains of a wall with two towers, as well as the gate-tower known as El Callis, with three pointed ashlar arches in good condition. It has been listed as a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) since 2011.
Monument
Hermitage in Xodos with a panoramic viewpoint over the Peñagolosa area.
Monument
El Portal de Xodos is a tower built into the village's old wall, which Ximén d'Urrea had fortified on the rock after granting it a founding charter in 1254. The settlement came to be completely walled, but of that defensive enclosure only this tower survives, the keep, which stands today as the main vestige of Xodos's medieval fortifications.
Nature
Peak of 1,467 metres in the municipal district of Xodos, next to the Peñagolosa Natural Park and the starting point for hiking routes.
Activity
The hermitage of San Cristóbal, atop the hill of the same name northwest of Xodos, is a simple building with a quadrangular plan, five meters long by four meters wide, built of rubble masonry and stone, with a gabled roof and a single-bell wall belfry; it is whitewashed except for the voussoirs of the door and window, painted red. Inside is preserved a retable with the image of the saint, from 1938, funded by mossèn Joan Tomàs i Porcar, a native of Xodos. The patronal festivities in his honor begin on 14 August — they were formerly held on the Monday following the second Sunday of September — and during the celebrations a pilgrimage is organized up to the hermitage, in which a banner nearly five meters tall is carried.
Monument
18th-century Gothic church in the upper part of the village, listed as an Asset of Local Relevance, which preserves a 16th-century Gothic cross and an image of the Virgin and Child in polychrome wood.
Monument
Walled precinct and castle located at the highest point of Xodos, listed as a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection). Of Arab origin, the settlement was once completely surrounded by walls, of which today only the keep survives, along with a tower set into a stretch of the wall known as "El Portal". After the Reconquest, King James I gave the territory to the Aragonese noble Ximén de Urrea, who granted Xodos its founding charter in 1254.
Nature
Crag beside the church square in Xodos, at 1,070 metres above sea level at the foot of the Penyagolosa, from which the Mediterranean can be seen on clear days.
Historical milestone
Ximén d'Urrea granted in 1254 a settlement charter to the place under the fuero of Aragon in order to attract colonists to a frontier plateau; the village, walled and perched on the rock, remained tied to the seigneury of Alcalatén.