Village
Chiva is a municipality in the comarca of Hoya de Buñol, in the province of Valencia, the largest in area in the comarca, with 17,951 inhabitants. The terrain is rugged, with the sierra de los Bosques or de Chiva and the sierra de Brugal to the northwest, where the Santa María peak, 1138 metres high, is the highest point; the town sits at 271 metres, in a flatter area. The fires of 1990 devastated much of the sierra, now being reforested. Remains from the Metal Ages and from Iberian and Roman times have been found in the municipal area. Conquered from the Muslims around 1246 by James I of Aragon, it kept much of its Muslim population, which in 1519 opposed the Germanías, whose supporters demanded their forced baptism. Chiva preserves its castle and the hermitage of the Virgen del Castillo.
Monument
Castillo de Chiva, a medieval fortress of Muslim origin built on Roman remains, with rammed-earth (tapial) walls, which formed part of Valencia's defensive system and controlled communications with the interior. It had three lines of defence and stands on an elongated platform atop the hill. Today it is in ruins, though stretches of wall and a rammed-earth tower survive. On its upper part the hermitage of the Virgen del Castillo was built in the 18th century, reusing remains of the fortress, next to the spot where, according to tradition, the image of the Virgin was found in 1609. It is listed as a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection), with the code RI-51-0010536.
Activity
El Torico de la Cuerda de Chiva is a popular bull-running festival held in Chiva, in the comarca of La Hoya de Buñol, organised by the local Peña Taurina together with the town council, and declared a Fiesta de Interés Turístico de la Comunitat Valenciana (a regional tourist-interest designation in the Comunitat Valenciana) in 2019. Its origin goes back, according to oral tradition, to the passage of transhumant livestock through the municipality's droving trails, although the oldest document mentioning it dates from 1648. The festival is held four days a year, at 7:30 in the morning and 6:30 in the evening, along an open route: the 17th, 18th and 19th of August, considered the traditional days, and the 25th, with the special closing run. It uses a single rope ending in the badana (leather strap).
Monument
The Torreta de Chiva, on Olivera street, was part of the old walled precinct of Chiva (Valencia) and has been a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) since the year 2000. Rectangular in plan, with a facade and height of about 12 metres and a depth of 6, it lacks battlements and its smooth walls are of rammed earth over ashlar blocks, except for one made of earth with lime, gravel and sand. It has a ground floor, where the remains of an old round arch widened for the passage of carts can be seen, and two upper floors with walls tiled in 19th-century Valencian ceramic tiles, one dated 1878. It is located in the Bechinos quarter, with its medieval layout, and although some accounts attribute it a Visigothic origin while others place it between the 11th and 13th centuries, its Islamic building technique makes it difficult to pin down the dating.
Activity
Chiva venerates the Virgen del Castillo, popularly known as 'la Morenica', the patron saint to whom the hermitage located next to the castle ruins is dedicated, at 371 meters of altitude, from where the view over the Ribera and the Mediterranean can be seen.
Nature
The Sierra de Chiva is a municipal natural site of more than 5,500 hectares in the municipality of Chiva, in the comarca of La Hoya de Buñol, whose vegetation, marked by various forest fires, has regenerated with Aleppo pine, holm oak and flowering ash. It is home to birds of prey such as Bonelli's eagle, Montagu's harrier and the peregrine falcon, as well as several endangered bat species that inhabit its caves. The site preserves a notable archaeological and ethnological heritage, with sites such as the Alhóndiga cave, the Barranco Grande cave and the Cofia cave, whose rock art is declared a World Heritage Site, as well as the Nevera de Chiva and the old Morrongos bullring.
Monument
Hermitage dedicated to the patron saint of Chiva, popularly known as 'la Morenica', standing beside the castle ruins at 371 metres above sea level, with views over the Ribera and the Mediterranean.
Historical milestone
Chiva was the setting for one of the largest battles fought in the comarca during the Carlist Wars, an episode that shaped the military history of its castle as a frontier stronghold.
Monument
Parish church that preserves a notable artistic heritage of frescoes and paintings on canvas and panel, in a municipality that also had a now-vanished Franciscan friary dedicated to San Luis de Tolosa.
Historical milestone
The town and its castle passed into Christian hands around 1246 during the advance of Jaume I over the lands of the interior. The Muslim population remained as Mudéjar and later Morisco, and only the expulsion of 1609 altered the composition of the residents at root.
Historical milestone
In the district of Los Felipes 600.2 liters per square meter were measured on 29 October 2024 in a single day, one of the highest figures recorded in Spain. The water came down the ravine, destroyed homes and severely damaged the Modernista building of La Mutua.