Village
Vallada, in the Costera comarca, stands 291 metres above sea level in the valley of the río Cáñoles (Cànyoles), flanked by the Serra Grossa and the Serra d'Enguera, the last link of the Cretaceous massif of the Caroche. Its castillo de Umbría, of Muslim origin, crowns the territory 520 metres above the valley. Conquered in 1244 through a capitulation between James I and the governor of Xàtiva, the town passed to the Crown of Aragon, and in 1289 King Alfonso III had it resettled, together with Montesa, with 120 families of old Christians; in 1319 James II granted the place to the Order of Montesa. Beneath its territory runs the Túnel del Sumidor, about 1,300 metres long with a 205-metre drop, considered the largest known gypsum karst cavity in the world.
Activity
Vallada celebrates its patronal festival from 18 to 27 August in honour of San Bartolomé, the Santísimo Cristo del Monte Calvario and the Virgen de Gracia, with a night-time fireball-horned bull; it also celebrates San Vicente Ferrer on the Monday after Easter.
Nature
A mountain range at the foot of which lie Vallada and Moixent, with distinctive geological features and flora and fauna, within the comarca of La Costera. It is a mountain chain some 50 kilometres long running from southwest to northeast between the comarcas of the Vall d'Albaida and La Costera, forming part of the Valencian Prebetic system alongside the valley of the río Cànyoles; its highest point is the pic de la Creu, at 903 metres, and the río Albaida cuts across it from south to north through the estrecho de las Aigües, in Bellús. It extends across Vallada, Moixent, Montesa, Canals and Xàtiva to the north, and Benigànim, Bellús, Ontinyent and Fontanars dels Alforins to the south. Fires have degraded much of its original vegetation, better preserved in the Alforins, where badgers and wild boar coexist.
Monument
Church of Vallada begun in 1564, with several construction phases completed by the end of the 18th century. Work on the present parish church was begun by the master stonemason Domingo de Gamieta, and after successive phases it was finally completed with the building of a chapel in the second half of the 18th century.
Monument
Umbría Castle, also called Vallada Castle, is a fortification of Muslim origin located at the site of La Peña, at 553 metres above sea level, with views over the valley of the Cànyoles river. It formed part of a network of defensive strongholds alongside Játiva, Montesa and Mogente. It has a pentagonal layout adapted to the steepest point of the hill, with two twin towers and a stretch of wall with a wall-walk and battlements on the western flank, the only accessible side. It was built with rubble masonry and rammed earth, and also preserved other towers, outbuildings and a cistern. It was partly demolished in the 14th century and suffered further damage in the 1748 earthquake. It is declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection), with the code RI-51-0010681.
Nature
Considered the most important karstic cavity in the world developed in gypsum materials, with some 1,300 metres of passages and a vertical drop of 205 metres, in the municipal district of Vallada.
Curiosity
Vallada received its charter of settlement (carta puebla) in 1244, when, thanks to the capitulation signed between King James I and the Andalusi alcaide of Xátiva, the latter ceded the smaller castle of Xátiva to the Christian monarch. In 1319 King James II granted a deed of donation to the newly created Order and Chivalry of Our Lady of Montesa, handing over to it the castle and town of Montesa together with the place of Vallada, which thus came under the order's jurisdiction.
Activity
Night-time spectacle of the patronal festivities of Vallada (Valencia), held from 18 to 27 August in honour of San Bartolomé, the Santo Cristo del Calvario and the Virgen de Gracia. Devices with balls are fixed to the bull's horns and set alight while the street lighting is switched off, so that only the animal's flames can be seen in the darkness. Alongside the toro embolado, the festivities also include young cows (vaquillas) and the toro ensogado (roped bull).
Historical milestone
In 1248 the qaid of Xàtiva, Abu Bakr, handed Jaime I the city's castle and received in exchange those of Montesa and Vallada, which he went on governing under Muslim rule. Pedro III incorporated them definitively into the Crown in 1277.
Food and drink
The grossal is the native olive of La Costera, cultivated above 350 metres of altitude in Vallada and Moixent. It yields extra virgin olive oils with notes of mountain herbs, milled in oil mills that remain active in the comarca.