Village
Chella is a municipality of the Canal de Navarrés comarca, in the province of Valencia, with 2,452 inhabitants (INE 2025), on a mountainous territory whose main heights are Muntot (417 m) and Gallinero (657 m), crossed by the río Sellent. The Barranco del Lobo preserves small caves with flint and pottery that document continuous occupation from the Mesolithic to the Metal Ages. It was left depopulated by the expulsion of the Moriscos and was resettled under the 1611 settlement charter of Carlos de Borja, whose families reorganised the irrigation of the Sellent and set out the town's present layout. It preserves the barrio de la Peña, with steep, irregular streets and of Morisco origin, and every 3 February it bakes torticas de cacahuete for Saint Blaise, with peanuts from its own irrigated land.
Monument
Parish church of Chella rebuilt in the 18th century, one of the main religious buildings in the comarca of La Canal de Navarrés. It was raised in neoclassical style with a Latin-cross floor plan after the earthquake of 23 March 1748, which destroyed the previous temple; the works were completed in 1763. Its bell tower has its corners facing the cardinal points and retains the original 1789 bell, called María de Gracia. It has even been investigated whether the design of its dome could be due to Gaudí, though that possibility remains unconfirmed.
Monument
Old manor house in Chella linked to the Counts of Buñol, a testimony to the comarca's noble past. In 1913 it was made a residence by Countess Julia Mercader, widow of the Marquis of Villagracia, after she married her steward, the Chella-born Bartolomé Granero, with whom she moved to live in this manor house.
Monument
Hermitage in Chella dedicated to San Nicolás de Bari, within the comarca of La Canal de Navarrés.
Monument
The remains of the castle of Chella, one of the historic strongholds of the comarca of La Canal de Navarrés, correspond to an old fortification of Muslim origin. They are preserved in the upper part of the village, in what is now the Peña quarter, alongside other Arab remains known as Los Castillets.
Nature
Waterfall 25 metres high located in the municipality of Chella, comarca of La Canal de Navarrés, on one of the first stretches of the river Sellent, whose waters rise in the foothills of the sierra de Enguera. It forms at the confluence of two ravines, the Matet and the Abrullador, which plunge together down the slope, giving rise to the falls popularly known as el Salto. It is one of the best-known and most visited natural spots in the comarca.
Activity
Every 3 February, the feast of Sant Blai, Chella bakes small peanut-and-oil cakes with the fruit of its own irrigated fields, a typical sweet accompanied by aniseed rolls and sweet-potato pastries.
Monument
The parish church of Chella, dedicated to Our Lady of Grace, was rebuilt in the 18th century after the earthquake of 23 March 1748 destroyed the earlier temple. The new church, in Neoclassical style with a Latin-cross plan, was completed in 1763 and has a bell tower whose corners are oriented to the cardinal points. It preserves its first bell, called María de Gracia, cast in 1789. Experts are currently investigating the temple's dome over the possibility that its restoration was the work of Antoni Gaudí, a matter still to be confirmed.
Monument
Structures of Arab origin in the municipal district of Chella, next to the remains of an old mosque.
Nature
El Abrullador is the spring located five kilometres from the village of Chella, in the Canal de Navarrés, which supplies the municipality with water. Its discovery in the 18th century made it possible to transform rain-fed land into irrigated orchards, which changed the area's farming economy. It remains today the main source of the village's water supply.
Nature
Zarzalet Ravine, in the municipality of Chella, where an old cave once used to shelter livestock is preserved next to a spring. In the northern part of the ravine there also remain the remains of what was once a spa of thermal and medicinal waters, now disused.
Activity
The festivities of Saint Blaise of Chella, in honour of Saint Blaise of Sebaste, patron saint of the municipality, are held on the second, third and fourth of February. On the first day the procession in honour of San Fumat takes place, starting at dawn, when the open-air dance ends: participants parade in costume holding a caliqueño, the region's typical cigar, in their hands.
Nature
Small cave with stalactites and stalagmites on the route to the Salto de Chella, next to an old 20th-century mill and the wetland known as El Paraíso.
Curiosity
The Barrio de la Peña is the historic core of Chella, located in the upper part of the municipality, of Morisco origin, with steep streets of irregular layout. In this area the remains of the old Muslim castle are preserved, around which the village's first settlement took shape.
Monument
Remains of an old spa of thermal and medicinal waters that enjoyed great popularity in Chella, in the Valencian comarca of the Canal de Navarrés. The ruins are still preserved in the northern part of the municipal district, within its natural areas.
Historical milestone
Chella was left depopulated after the expulsion of the Moriscos. In 1611 Carlos de Borja issued a settlement charter to repopulate it with Christian families, who reorganised the irrigation of the Sellent and fixed the layout of the old town preserved today.
Historical milestone
At the end of the 19th century phylloxera ruined Chella's vineyards and set off a strong migratory current towards Argentina. The crisis redirected local agriculture towards olive groves, almond trees and the irrigated crops that dominate the municipal district today.
Food and drink
Every 3 February Chella bakes torticas of peanut and oil, a sweet tied to the feast of Sant Blai, along with aniseed rings and sweet potato pastries. The peanuts come from the irrigated land of the river Sellent, a traditional crop of the municipal district.