Logbook · 7 places

What to see and do in Catarroja

What to see and do in Catarroja (L'Horta Sud, Valencia): 7 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 1 Monuments · 1 Nature · 1 Activities · 1 Curiosities · 2 Food and drink

How far each place is from the centre of Catarroja

Vivanco House-Palace of Catarroja 50 m

Towns near Catarroja

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What to see in Llocnou de la Corona 2.6 km · 4 places
What to see in Beniparrell 2.6 km · 4 places
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What to see in Sedaví 3.1 km · 3 places

Spain › Valencian Community › Valencia › L'Horta Sud › Catarroja

What to see and do in Catarroja

Catarroja
Village
Catarroja is a municipality of 30,604 inhabitants in the comarca of L'Horta Sud, in the province of Valencia, located next to the Albufera Natural Park, at an altitude of 10 metres and about 8 kilometres from the city of Valencia. Formerly known as Cataroya, it was in Muslim times an alquería that Jaume I granted in 1238 to the knight Pelegrí d'Atrossillo. Its old town centre is made up of three districts: La Barraca, of fishermen; the Centro; and El Arrabal, of craftsmen, especially broom makers. Amid orchards, rice fields and orange groves, on the shores of the Albufera, it is a traditional supplier of the main ingredient of all i pebre, a Valencian dish made with eel. Its Casa-Palacio Vivanco, today the town hall, belonged to the firm Viuda de Vivanco y Ortiz until 1914.
Albufera Natural Park (Catarroja side)
Nature
The area of rice fields and marshland of the Albufera Natural Park within the municipal boundary of Catarroja, in the comarca of L'Horta Sud, occupies 6.10 of the municipality's 13.16 km². Land reclamation works that began in the 18th century helped reduce the size of the lake and gain space for cultivation. The huerta and the marshland are the most striking features in eastern Catarroja, alongside the rice fields and the small buildings housing the water pumps. The rice cycle transforms this area: flooding occurs from spring to summer, and drainage begins in late summer for the harvest; it is precisely during that draining that the marshland receives the greatest number of bird visits as they migrate in search of food.
Festivities of Catarroja
Activity
Catarroja celebrates San Miguel, on 29 September, as its main patronal festival; San Antonio Abad on the Sunday nearest 17 January; San Pedro on 29 June, patron saint of the fishing quarter, with his image taken by boat to the Albufera; and the Santísimo Cristo de la Piedad in the week before San Miguel.
Vivanco House-Palace of Catarroja
Monument
A mid-18th-century building combining Neoclassical features with late Baroque ornamentation, built originally for the trade in farm produce and silk.
L'all i pebre de Catarroja
Curiosity
Catarroja is considered the birthplace of the traditional eel stew all i pebre, a dish linked to the municipality's historic fishing activity in the Albufera, although El Palmar also claims its origin. The name comes from Valencian and literally means garlic and paprika, the base of a sofrito to which irregularly chopped potatoes, olive oil, stock or water and fresh eel cut into pieces of four to five centimetres are added; it is also made with other fish such as grey mullet or monkfish. It is cooked in an earthenware pot, first frying the garlic and then the paprika, and is served hot as soon as it is made, since it does not keep well. Catarroja has held annual all i pebre competitions for decades.
Eel of the Albufera and mornell fishing
Food and drink
The eel of the lake is caught with mornells, net traps set in the irrigation channels and in the canals of the port. The distribution of the fishing stations by lot among the fishermen's communities explains why this fish is the basis of the local cooking.
International All i Pebre Competition
Food and drink
A competition that brings together each year cooks who prepare the eel in an earthenware dish with garlic, paprika and potato, just as it was made in the huts of the port. It has been held since 1970 and has fixed the recipe considered canonical for the dish.