Last update: 2008-07-01
Casa de cinco Hermanos
Surroundings
The neighbourhood (surroundings?) of Casa de cinco Hermanos is packed with interesting places, towns and villages. Every time we are in Spain we visit a number of interesting sites. Some of them you’ll find here.
On the way to Alicante, the town of Novelda lies near the motorway (A-31). From Novelda the CV-832 leads you to the Iglesia de Santa Maria Magdalena and Castillo de la Mola. Saint Mary Magdalene is the patron saint of Novelda. Both church and castle lie near the Rio Vinalopó. The church is entirely build from Marble. We think there is a nice walkway from Novelda along the river to this site. When we’ve tried it we will report.
Photo's of Iglesia Sta Maria Magdalena
Near Calaspara we have found the Sanctuario de la Virgen de Esperanza (the sanctuary of the virgin of hope). Here are a church which is partly cut out of the rocks and a big restaurant alongside of a river with a barbecue site. Lots of locals have their Sunday barbecue or paella here.
Photo's of Santuario de la Virgen de Esperanza
In Villena there is a Castle which a worth a visit and there is a guide here who will give you a free tour. At first we thought it was fake but it was for free and interesting. Villena is also a nice town to visit.
Photo's of Castillo de Villena
Near Villena a project of a Dutch foundation is located.
It is the Ape foundation (stichting AAP) which houses pet monkeys that can
not be replaced in their natural habitat. People that have had them as pet
but could not keep them in their house bring the to this foundation. Here
they are placed in surroundings that matches their natural habitat as much as
possible. The project (not
a classic zoo) can be visited with a tour guide.
Near Villena there are also nice castles in Sax, Elda and
Castalla. They aren’t as easy to visit as the Villena one is. When you are interested in Castles Almansa is
recommended. According
to Spanish tradition it is
open from 9:00h to 13:00h and 16:00h to 18:00h.
Photo's of Castillo de Almansa
Off course te city of Murcia is to be visited when you visit the province of Murcia. We are no fan of cities but Murcia is nice. Murcia has several promenade areas, which is unique for Spain. The square in front of the cathedral is very nice an the university campus must be visited when in Murcia. Near the university there are lots of terraces where meals an drinks have fair prices.
Alicante is a nice coastal city. The boulevard has nice terraces where good meals have fair prices. In summer there is a daily market for tourists.
The castillo of Santa Barbara is very much worth a visit. It can be visited with an elevator form the boulevard or by stairs from the centre of the city. It is recommended to bring enough water when you do take the stairs.
In the centre of the city you can visit several churches, the Iglesia de Sant Nicolaus is recommended. In the ayuntamiento (city hall) you can see the old foundations of the settlement that ounce was here.
Furthermore Alicante has lots of little squares with huge ficus trees.
To our taste, the best restaurant of Alicante is found in Calle de Labradores and is called Casa de Labradores. It is an unusual tapa-restaurant which has very nice small dishes of which chupi-chupi is the best.
According to Spanish tradition the restaurant is closed from 17:00h to 21:00h.
Then there is Elche. Elche has traditionally protected the palm tree. This you can see all around Elche. The town has a nice old centre and a pretty park which is really worth a visit.
Find it on Google Earth
(Click on one of the globe)
Iglesia
Sta Maria Magdalena
Santuario
de la Virgen de Esperanza
Castillo
de Villena
Castillo
de Sax
Castillo
de Elda
Castillo
de Castalla
Castillo
de Almansa
Catedral
de Murcia
Alicante
Elche
Please note: Not all web browsers fully support the use of Google Earth Placemark files. Mozilla Firefox does, but Internet Explorer not always do. If you experience problems opening a Placemark file, download it first to your computer (right-click + save) and open it from there.
(c) Ba$ 2007