Village
Enguera is the largest municipality in the Canal de Navarrés comarca, in the province of Valencia, with a territory of 24,170 hectares at 318 metres above sea level, on the sierra that gives it its name, a transition zone between the Iberian and Baetic mountain systems. It is a Spanish-speaking municipality. The sierra de Enguera, covered in Mediterranean forest of pines, holm oaks, mastic trees and strawberry trees, rises above a thousand metres in places and holds deep ravines and springs, among them the natural areas of Umbía-La Plana, the Barranco de la Hoz and the Barrancos Carrasca-Gatillo. The territory has been inhabited since the Mesolithic, between 8,000 and 5,000 years ago, and preserves Iberian remains from the 4th to the 1st century BC on the cerro de Lucena. It has 4,807 inhabitants.
Activity
Enguera celebrates San Miguel and the Virgen de Fátima at the end of September, and San Gil on 1 September, with the distinctive blessing of fennel ('sangil'); it also celebrates San Antón around 17 January.
Nature
Mountainous transition zone between the Iberian System and the Penibaetic System, in the municipality of Enguera, within the comarca of La Canal de Navarrés. The massif forms a large limestone plateau that hosts notable wildlife: Iberian wild goat and mouflon, spread from the Muela de Cortes National Game Reserve, along with wild boar, foxes, genets and wildcats. Among the birds of prey, the Bonelli's eagle, the eagle owl and the peregrine falcon stand out. The absence of natural predators has caused a marked overpopulation of goats and mouflon in the area.
Curiosity
The capture of the castle of Enguera by Castilian troops led King Jaime I of Aragon to break the Treaty of Cazorla with Castile.
Curiosity
Over the course of history the villages of La Canal de Navarrés passed through the hands of noble families such as the Vilanova, the counts of Cervellón, the counts of Oliva, the dukes of Gandía and the Borja.
Curiosity
After the conquest by James I, Enguera, in the Valencian comarca of the Canal de Navarrés, passed from Islamic to Christian rule through the Treaty of Almizra, signed on 26 March 1244, which incorporated the town into the Crown of Aragon. The king then granted it to the Military Order of Santiago for its defence and resettlement, which brought in Aragonese settlers and expelled the Muslims who did not submit. The Order held the lordship of Enguera for three and a half centuries, until Philip II obtained papal authorisation in 1569 to sell the territory, a sale that was carried out in favour of Bernabé de Borja on 17 December 1575.
Monument
16th-century Mannerist church listed as a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) in the Monument category; its central body was completed in 1645 and the bell tower was built between 1661 and 1737, after suffering damage in the 1748 earthquake.
Monument
Former convent that forms part of Enguera's rich religious heritage, along with the hermitages of San Antonio de Padua, San Cristóbal and San Rafael scattered around the municipality.
Curiosity
Hamlet of Enguera with a distinctive landscape of white houses and pine woods, which preserves traditional features and archaeological remains that enrich the municipality's heritage.
Nature
Iberian settlement of the 1st century BC next to the hamlet of Lucena, one of the most remarkable pre-Roman heritage sites in the municipal district of Enguera.
Monument
Fortress of Muslim origin from the 11th and 12th centuries, built on a rocky promontory that commanded the surrounding territory and was one of the most important defensive strongholds in the comarca.
Historical milestone
The earthquake of 23 March 1748, with its epicentre at Montesa, ruined much of Enguera's housing and churches. Fernando VI allotted royal aid to the rebuilding, which reordered the villa and coincided with the take-off of its cloth manufacture.
Historical milestone
From the 18th century Enguera lived off wool: the spinning, weaving and dyeing of cloth employed a good part of the residents and made the villa the main industrial centre of the comarca, an activity that lasted well into the 20th century.
Food and drink
A Sunday and pig-slaughter dish throughout La Canal. It is baked in an earthenware casserole with chickpeas, sliced potato, tomato, blood sausage and pork rib, and carries a whole head of garlic in the centre. In Enguera it appears at festival meals.
Food and drink
Mountain stew of potato, flaked salt cod, seasonal vegetables, garlic and paprika, slow-cooked and bound with olive oil from the comarca. It was a fasting-day and winter dish, and it is still on the menus of Enguera's restaurants.