Orduña house and castles route

The Portal de Sant Josep is the gateway to the fortress or vila, a tunnel carved into the natural rock. One of the original door leaves is still preserved, and on the façade the old coat of arms of the vila stands out. Above the stone arch that frames the entrance, there is a balcony that indicates the existence of the old guardhouse, which since 1848 was converted into rooms attached to the Casa Orduña, after the departure of the military garrison. On the interior lintel, a tile painting shows the image of Sant Josep. Inside the tunnel, a door gives access to the upper rooms and a stone balcony.

The Casa Gran or Casa Orduña houses an exhibition of the goods and documentary collection of the Orduña family. At the back, it has a landscaped courtyard and a cistern. Through the house you can access the church, the Castell de l'Alcoçaiba and the Castell de Sant Josep. The Orduña, a family of Basque origin from Biscay, arrived in the Kingdom of Valencia with the infant Fortuna of Navarre. In the 16th century, they were linked to the Castell de Guadalest as servants of the Cardona family, where they held positions of trust as governors and governesses, accumulating power for more than 200 years. From this ancestral home, the Orduña family, large landowners of the Marina, exercised their influence over the Valley and the region, even in the 19th century, controlling key political positions.

The Castell de l'Alcoçaiba consists of three interconnected and staggered enclosures, integrated in the seventeenth century as part of the stately mansion of the Orduña family. At that time, the fortress underwent transformations that gave it its current appearance. Lower Enclosure: Accessed by a staircase carved into the rock and a span of 1.10 meters with a brick arch. This enclosure, with two levels connected by a masonry staircase, had an upper floor, now visible through the holes of the wooden beams in the wall. Intermediate Enclosure: It contains a rectangular room, a subway cistern, a decanting well, a watchtower and an access to the Upper Enclosure by a rock staircase. The watchtower, square and of rammed earth, consisted of three heights and was crowned by battlements. Upper Enclosure: It contained a platform and a trapezoidal cistern, covered by a barrel vault. The platform was connected to a terrace by a pair of steps. The internal complexity of the Castell de l'Alcoçaiba distinguishes it from most castles in ruins.

After the fall of the caliphate at the beginning of the 11th century, Muslim Hispania fragmented into taifas, small independent kingdoms. From this period there are remains of citadels, fortifications that protected the strategic passes in the valleys. The Castell de Sant Josep began to be built in the 11th century. In the 13th century, the Christian conquest advanced, with Valencia and Murcia disputing these lands. In rural areas, colonization was weak, and the Muslim population remained until the Mudejar period. The keep stands out among its remains. In 1644, an earthquake broke the Cantalar, and in 1708, an explosion destroyed the west wing. In 1848 the walls were demolished and the garrison was removed.