Logbook · 9 places

What to see and do in Serra

What to see and do in Serra (El Camp de Túria, Valencia): 9 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

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

How far each place is from the centre of Serra

Towns near Serra

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What to see in Albalat dels Tarongers 8 km · 6 places
What to see in Torres Torres 8.8 km · 7 places
What to see in Gilet 8.9 km · 8 places
What to see in Olocau 9 km · 5 places
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Spain › Valencian Community › Valencia › El Camp de Túria › Serra

What to see and do in Serra

Serra
Village
Serra is a municipality in the comarca of El Camp de Túria, in the province of Valencia, situated on the southern slope of the Sierra Calderona, within its natural park, at 330 metres of altitude. The Charterhouse of Portaceli, within its territory, was founded on 5 September 1272 by Bishop Albalat. Its origin goes back to an Arab castle, now in ruins, conquered by James I and later held by various lordships up to the Dukes of Montellano. It was a place of Moriscos, with 80 houses in 1609, and after their expulsion it was resettled that same year under a founding charter granted by Josep Folch de Cardona, which reduced its population to a quarter; by 1794 it already had 720 inhabitants, a figure that doubled over the 19th century to 1,371 in 1900. Today it has 3,767 inhabitants.
Sierra Calderona
Nature
A coastal mountain range shared by several municipalities of El Camp de Túria, with Mediterranean pine forests and outcrops of reddish sandstone (rodeno). Declared a natural park in 2002, it covers 18,019 hectares within a larger range of about 60,000 hectares that separates the basins of the Palancia river to the north and the Turia river to the south, and which, due to its closeness to Valencia -about 20 kilometres away-, is considered its main green lung. Its highest point is Montemayor, at 1015 metres, and the red sandstone ridges of Gorgo, Garbí and Picaio also stand out. It is the area of Spain with the highest number of electrical discharges per square metre, which means that a good part of its forest fires originate from storms.
Festivities of les Alfàbegues de Serra
Activity
Traditional festival in Serra in honour of the Mare de Déu d'Agost, with an offering of basil plants following Mediterranean tradition.
Charterhouse of Porta Coeli
Monument
The Cartuja de Porta Coeli is a Carthusian monastery founded in the 13th century, between 1272 and 1274, in the valley of Lullén, within the municipal district of Serra, on the initiative of Andreu d'Albalat, a Dominican and third bishop of the diocese of Valencia and confidant of King James I, who laid the first stone. Situated at the foot of the Penyes Altes and els Rebalsadors, in the Sierra Calderona, on land where three Morisco villages had previously stood, it received its first community, two monks and six lay brothers, coming from the charterhouse of Scala Dei; its name, meaning gate of heaven, refers to a passage in Genesis. It is the only charterhouse among those founded in the former Kingdom of Valencia that remains inhabited, and it preserves cloisters, a church and a historic scriptorium.
Tower of la Ermita y Ermita de Sant Josep de Serra
Monument
High on a hill above Serra stand side by side the medieval watchtower declared a Bien de Interés Cultural and the hermitage of Sant Josep i la Creu, a landmark on the village's walking routes.
The founding of the Portaceli charterhouse
Historical milestone
Bishop Andreu d'Albalat founded in 1272 in the valley of Lullén a charterhouse that became one of the most important in Spain and that received kings and papal envoys over the centuries.
The expulsion of the Moriscos from Serra
Historical milestone
In 1609, when Philip III's edict of expulsion of the Moriscos was published, Serra was a Morisco settlement with eighty houses; it was resettled that same year by a charter of settlement of 26 November, granted by Josep Folch de Cardona, and its population was reduced to a quarter. Recovery was slow: it was not until 1794 that it reached 720 inhabitants, a figure that doubled again over the course of the 19th century to reach 1,371 residents in 1900, more than a century after the expulsion.
The cherries of Serra
Food and drink
The cherry tree has become the dominant crop of the Calderona terraces; the May and June harvest gives a mountain cherry that is sold fresh and used in homemade liqueurs and preserves.
The February pig slaughter
Food and drink
The pig slaughter in the depths of winter is still a collective meal in the village, with black pudding, longaniza and fried meat, a custom that has been kept here as a seasonal gastronomic attraction.