El Club · El Castell de Guadalest

Casa Orduña and Castle is a heritage site in El Castell de Guadalest, in the province of Alicante, formed by the old manor house of the Orduña family and the fortress of San José, integrated in the historic center of the municipality. It is a tourist-cultural resource that combines noble residential architecture with medieval defensive architecture, today it can be visited as an essential part of the local heritage. The Orduña House, also known as Casa Gran, was built after the great earthquake of 1644, although the sources consulted link it to the long period of influence of the Orduña family in the government of the valley. It currently serves as a museum and preserves the housing typology of the local elites of the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The fortress of the complex is the Castle of San José, of Islamic origin and dating from the eleventh century, built on the rock in the highest position of the municipality. The heritage interest of the complex lies in the relationship between the stately residence and the fortress, linked to the historical fabric of the village, declared a historic-artistic site in 1974 and later declared a Site of Cultural Interest. The very location of the building, attached to the surroundings of the castle and the old fabric of Guadalest, explains its value as a testimony of the stately and defensive organization of the enclave. As for the style, the Orduña House does not present a single stylistic ascription clearly highlighted in the sources, so it should be described with caution as a historic manor house of modern times; however, the fortress responds to a military work of medieval Islamic tradition. The complex is precisely located in El Castell de Guadalest, Alicante, at the coordinates indicated.

The Guadalest Reservoir is a regulation reservoir located in the Guadalest valley, next to the town of El Castell de Guadalest, in the province of Alicante. The file of the Confederación Hidrográfica del Júcar places it on the Guadalest river, with an area of 67.51 hectares and a capacity of 12.99 hm3 at normal maximum level; its dam is of gravity, vibrated concrete, with 74.65 m height above the riverbed and 285.15 m of coronation. It is a key part of the landscape of the Vall de Guadalest, wedged between the Aitana, Serrella and Xortà mountain ranges. The reservoir stands out for the greenish blue color of its waters and the panoramic views over the valley, which makes it one of the most recognizable elements of the environment. Due to its position, it acts as a large sheet of water in a space of strong contrast between the rock, the mountain vegetation and the cultivated slopes. In addition to its visual value, it has hydraulic and territorial importance: the CHJ documentation attributes flood defense, supply and irrigation functions to it. The same file classifies it as a large dam and indicates its construction between 1952 and 1969, with completion in 1969. In the Valencian landscape planning and in the municipal documentation it appears as a relevant resource of the landscape of the Vall de Guadalest, integrated in the tourist and environmental image of the valley. For the visitor, it is of interest for the natural viewpoint over the reservoir and for the landscape interpretation of the historical and mountainous Guadalest, where water, relief and settlement are combined in a very characteristic scene of the Marina Baixa.