Ontinyent area tourist information
Ontinyent information,
Historical information of ontinyent and the Albaida valley. ( Ontiniente )
Albaida Valley (La Vall d´Albaida) Ontinyent and Albaida
Sheltered by the Sierras of El Benicadell, Agullent, Mariola and Grossa, Albaida Valley is one of the most sun-filled regions in the province. It is reached along the N-340, and one returns to Valencia by way of Gandia by connecting with the 320, a regional road. Albaida lies on top of a hill which towers over the heart of the valley. Its 18C Archpriestly Church has a good collection of paintings by Segrelles. Also outstanding are the palace of the Marquises of Albaida and Segrelles´s Home-cum-museum.
At the southern end of the valley lies Ontiniente (Ontinyent), through which the Clariano flows. It is the capital of the region. Its old part is protected as a site of interest to history and art. It includes the 14C Archpriestly Church of Santa Maria. Bocariente (Bocairent) lays 96km from Valencia. Its centre is a crowded complex of houses on a very steep hill. At La Cova de la Sarsa and other places, remains of the Upper Palaeolithic Period have been discovered. Also remarkable are "Les Covetes dels moros". The economy of the region is linked to the textile industry, and Bocairente is the only place with a monument to the blanket. At the other end of the valley, glass making and wrapping lass jars are the main activities in Beniganim, Ayelo de Malferit, Montaverner and Olleria. In the last village, there is a Gothic Archpriestly church with a 16C Ecce Homo.
Ontinyent information.
The city of Ontinyent is 382 M.s of altitude, in the western part of a valley surrounded by mountains, in the province of Valencia (Spain).
This area (Agullent-Benicadell mountain ranges to the south and the Serra Grossa to the north) makes up the region of the Vall de Albaida of which Ontinyent is its capital.
The original city extended to the right margin of the Clariano river. At the moment the city occupies both margins of the river because of the strong growth of the last fifty years.
To lose yourself in the Vila
When you enter Porta de Sant Roc, one of the old entrances to the population, constructed in 1256, The sounds of the horseman who used to live here still resonates within these medieval walls, whose mountainous areas becam borders between kingdoms.
In the center is the gothic church of Santa Maria (century XIII) where Jaime I went to hear mass after reconquering Ontinyent, and there you will find its imposing tower, the highest of the Valencian Community, rising more than 71meters.
To enter the Vila is to lose yourself in centuries of history.
At the lower end by the pavement of the Callarís stroll around here to feel the influence of the Islamic Moores and the horsemen de la Cruz between the walls of the Palau of the Duquessa d' Almodòvar, where it was the old Islamic palace, the house of Mossén Vidal (century XVIII)
The Ontinyent river
Ontinyent has grown next to the river. The Pont Vell continues being a vestige by which whole generations have lived their life depending on the passage of water.
Streets with chairs outside the houses where the locals still sit and chet. testimony to the influence of generations gone by.