Village
Gestalgar is a municipality of Los Serranos, in Valencia, with 587 inhabitants, Spanish-speaking despite being in this Valencian-speaking comarca for historical reasons. It sits next to the Turia, which runs through a gorge except in the fertile plain near the town center, at the foot of the great rock of the Peña María, from which springs a fountain that supplies the village. The mountainous municipal area extends across the sierra de Chiva to the summit of the Burgal, at 1,107 meters, and is dominated by the Murones castle, of Arab origin and dating from the 12th century, and by a fortified manor house whose tower preserves old dungeons. In the Las Clochas ravine, Neolithic rock art was discovered in 1979, and 472 moriscos were expelled from the town in November 1609.
Monument
Castle of Arab origin, probably built in the 12th century during the reign of Ibn Mardanish, known locally as Los Murones and situated atop a crag above the left bank of the Turia river, next to the town centre of Gestalgar. It was built in rammed earth and, after the Christian conquest, was modified to adapt to artillery; its lords soon abandoned it when they moved to palatial residences in the village. Today two circular defence towers survive, along with the remains of the crenellated keep and a cistern in the former parade ground, as well as three escape tunnels towards the town and the orchards, now sealed; the perimeter wall has almost entirely disappeared. It has been declared Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) since 2001.
Monument
Fortified house and former residence of the lords of Gestalgar and of the seigniorial bailiff, with a tower surrounded by private houses whose ground floor houses several dungeons. Its exact chronology is unknown, although several dates have been proposed. It belonged to the Montpalau lineage, which held the lordship for about two centuries: Baltasar de Montpalau repopulated the town with Christians after the expulsion of the Moriscos in 1609 and was made count by Philip IV; countess Francisca Felipa de Monsoriu owned it during the War of Succession (1705-1707), and Josefa Dominga Catalá de Valeriola was the last feudal lady, between 1800 and 1814.
Monument
The parish church of Gestalgar (Los Serranos, Valencia), dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, is a Baroque church: construction began in 1736, reusing parts of the earlier, more modest Gothic building, and the façade was completed in the late 18th century to a design by the architect Antoni Gilabert. In 1794 two altarpieces by Vicente Marzo were approved, and the bell tower was added after 1805, with bells cast in 1827. Inside, a mural of the Holy Trinity and four paintings of the Evangelists, attributed to Ribalta, are preserved.
Nature
Peña María is a natural water spring that emerges through a fissure in the rock of the massif, formed by the passage of the Turia river at its foot, in Gestalgar. Together with the Fuente Grande, it supplies the population with water. Nearby is the Fuente del Morenillo, a small spring that decants into a waterfall in the shape of a chorrador.
Nature
Cueva de los Diablos, a natural cavity in Gestalgar formed by water seeping onto the rock, which has given rise to singular formations and may hold fossil remains. It lies at 900 metres above sea level, on the slope of the Peña Roya. In the past, shepherds used it as a shelter for livestock.
Curiosity
Neolithic schematic rock art found in two shelters in the Las Clochas ravine, between the peaks of Santa María and El Brugal, in the municipality of Gestalgar (Los Serranos, Valencia). The paintings were discovered in the summer of 1979 by José Antonio del Valle and later catalogued by the specialists Martínez Valle and Guillem Calatayud in 2006.
Curiosity
On 25 November 1609, 472 Moriscos from Gestalgar were expelled, boarding three French ships from the port of Denia, following the forced conversion of previous years. The lord of the place, Baltasar de Montpalau, found himself with an emptied town: before the expulsion he had been assigned 270 hearths in the Caracena census, although other estimates put the maximum at 150 houses. Montpalau repopulated Gestalgar with Old Christians and, on 30 May 1611, granted a settlement charter to 53 families, but recovery was slow: in 1646 the village had only 76 houses.
Activity
Gestalgar celebrates the feast of San Blas and the Santas Reliquias on the 3rd and 4th of February, in addition to its patronal festivities from the 14th to the 17th of August (Asunción, San Roque and the Virgen de la Piedra) and the Santos de la Piedra on the 30th of July.