Logbook · 8 places

What to see and do in Almassora

What to see and do in Almassora (La Plana Alta, Castellón): 8 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 3 Monuments · 1 Activities · 2 Historical milestones · 1 Food and drink

How far each place is from the centre of Almassora

Towns near Almassora

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What to see in Borriana 6.3 km · 5 places
What to see in Les Alqueries 6.8 km · 2 places
What to see in Borriol 11 km · 5 places
What to see in Betxí 12 km · 5 places
What to see in Nules 13 km · 12 places
What to see in La Vilavella 14 km · 2 places

Spain › Valencian Community › Castellón › La Plana Alta › Almassora

What to see and do in Almassora

Almassora
Village
Almassora is a municipality of the Valencian Community, in the comarca of La Plana Alta, situated by the mouth of the Mijares river, at about 31 metres of altitude and only 5 kilometres from Castellón de la Plana. Its name comes from Arabic and may derive from al-mahsura, "the enclosed one", or from al-mansura, "the victorious one". The flat-relief municipal territory sits at the crossing of two ancient communication routes, the river and an old pre-Roman road that ran parallel to the sea and linked with the Roman Vía Augusta; the low-lying lands, originally marshy, were converted into market gardens by Romans and Arabs. In 1312 its lordship was ceded by privilege to the Bishop of Tortosa, and the hermitage of Santa Quiteria served as a refuge and hospital during the 17th-century plague.
Festivities of Almassora
Activity
Almassora celebrates Santa Quiteria, its patron saint, on 22 May, with the traditional rice cauldrons, a carnival parade, traditional costumes and musical performances.
Hermitage of Santa Quiteria of Almassora
Monument
Hermitage located four kilometres from Almassora, upstream along the river Mijares, next to the bridge that bears its name. There is evidence of a church on the site as early as 1330, and documentation on this hermitage dates back to the first half of the 17th century; its present structure is dated to around 1683 and was rebuilt in 1726 by Josep Vilallave, with the works halted between 1701 and 1704 by the War of the Spanish Succession. It served as a refuge and hospital for the sick during the plague of 1647 and as a French military hospital during the Peninsular War, and was not restored to worship until 1829. It has a single nave of four bays with a polygonal apse and buttresses, a Baroque-style interior, and two paintings by Josep Mingol depicting scenes from the life of the saint; it has been restored in 1984, 1991 and 1995.
Medieval bridge of Santa Quiteria
Monument
The medieval bridge of Santa Quiteria, also known as the Roman bridge over the Mijares river, is situated between the municipalities of Almassora and Vila-real, next to the hermitage of Santa Quiteria de Almassora, and the Camino Real once ran across it. It was declared Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) on 16 June 2006, by singular declaration, and forms part of the protection area of the protected landscape of the mouth of the Millars river. It thus stands as a testimony to the medieval engineering of the Plana comarca, at the point where it divides between the Plana Alta and the Plana Baixa.
Remains of the Castle of Almassora
Monument
Remains of the historic structures of the old castle of Almassora, integrated into the town's urban centre. The castle, of Muslim origin, sits on archaeological remains from earlier periods, corresponding to the Iberian era and the Middle Bronze Age, revealing a continuous occupation of the site since prehistoric times.
The settlement charter of Almassora
Historical milestone
Three years after the conquest of the town by James I, the new Christian settlement received its settlement charter; in 1312 the lordship was ceded to the bishop of Tortosa, who held it for centuries.
The battle of the Mijares bridge
Historical milestone
Residents and Spanish troops fought in 1810 against the French forces beside the bridge over the river Mijares during the Peninsular War; a monument on the spot commemorates the fallen of that clash.
The rice cauldrons of Santa Quitèria
Food and drink
At the May festivities dedicated to the patron saint, large cauldrons of rice are cooked beside the hermitage and shared out among the pilgrims, a communal meal that has been repeated every year for generations.