Logbook · 7 places

What to see and do in Moncofa

What to see and do in Moncofa (La Plana Baixa, Castellón): 7 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 3 Monuments · 1 Nature · 1 Activities · 1 Curiosities

When to go to Moncofa: festival calendar

July: Festivities of Santa María Magdalena de Moncofa (July 21-30)

How far each place is from the centre of Moncofa

Watchtower of Beniesma 2.7 km

Towns near Moncofa

What to see in Chilches/Xilxes 5.1 km · 1 place
What to see in Nules 5.9 km · 12 places
What to see in La Llosa 7.2 km · 1 place
What to see in La Vilavella 7.6 km · 2 places
What to see in La Vall d'Uixó 8.7 km · 8 places
What to see in Almenara 9.6 km · 6 places
What to see in Les Alqueries 11 km · 2 places
What to see in Borriana 11 km · 5 places

Spain › Valencian Community › Castellón › La Plana Baixa › Moncofa

What to see and do in Moncofa

Moncofa
Village
Moncofa is a coastal municipality of La Plana Baixa, in the province of Castellón, 26 km from the provincial capital. In 1251 James I enfeoffed the castle of Nules and its lands to Guillem de Moncada, who in 1254 granted a settlement charter for the place of Moncófar to Bernat Mestre and 37 other settlers under the customs of Barcelona; the land was divided between the lord and the settlers until the dissolution of the seigneuries in the 19th century. Within its municipal area it preserves the Beniesma watchtower, predating the expulsion of the Moriscos and today partly submerged, and its coastline brings together the beaches of Grao, Masbó and Torre alongside the estanys, wetlands rich in flora and fauna. Its patronal festivities maintain the procession re-enacting the landing of Santa María Magdalena.
Hermitage of Santa María Magdalena de Moncofa
Monument
Coastal hermitage in Moncofa built in the 16th century, the object of great devotion among seafarers.
Parish Church of Moncofa
Monument
Parish church of Saint Mary Magdalene, patron saint of Moncofa, located on the plaza de la Iglesia, in the town centre, where remains of the old walls can still be seen. It was built between 1698 and 1796 on an earlier temple from 1329, in a style transitional between Baroque and Valencian Neoclassicism, with a basilical plan and side chapels dedicated, among other invocations, to the Immaculate Conception, Saint Isidore or the Holy Sepulchre. The high altar, from 1798 and Baroque in style, shelters the image of the titular saint beneath a coffered barrel vault. The bell tower, from the 18th century and refurbished between 1941 and 1944, houses four bells cast at the Germans Roses foundry in Silla, the largest of them, Santa María Magdalena, from 1941.
Watchtower of Beniesma
Monument
The Beniesma Watchtower was built before the expulsion of the Moriscos in 1609, in the seafront district of El Grao in Moncofa (La Plana Baixa, Castellón), next to Beniesma beach, as part of the municipality's coastal defence system. Vineyards and pear trees once separated it from the sea, but the rise in sea level has gradually swallowed up the building over the years. The town council demolished the stretch of wall that was still standing due to the risk of collapse, so that today only the foundations are preserved underwater, visible as submerged remains off the coast.
Lagoons of Moncofa
Nature
Wetlands of Moncofa, a reserve of flora and fauna with singular species, unique in the world. Thanks to their protection, these ponds have managed to survive the property speculation that has indeed affected other stretches of the nearby coastline.
Founding Charter of Moncofa of 1254
Curiosity
Moncofa received its founding charter on 6 January 1254, granted at Onda Castle by Guillem de Moncada, lieutenant of James I, who three years earlier had received Nules Castle and its lands in fief. The document benefited Bernat Mestre and thirty-seven other settlers, in accordance with the customs of Barcelona, and established a system of land grants in exchange for payments or a share of the harvest, which was maintained until the 19th century. The Chronicle of James I already placed the site, then called Mácofa, in the negotiations over the neighbouring castles during the Muslim period.
Festivities of Santa María Magdalena de Moncofa
Activity
The patron saint festivities of Moncofa are held from 21 to 30 July in honour of Saint Mary Magdalene, with the traditional procession of the landing of the patron saint, repeated for 500 years. The event commemorates the arrival at the village beach, then an old seaport, of the image of the saint from Marseille in the autumn of 1423, during the reign of Alfonso V the Magnanimous, an event considered miraculous that prompted the construction of an early hermitage. The festivities are rounded off with bullfighting spectacles, open-air dances and traditional religious acts.