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Guadalest town, Guadalest Castle & Guadalest Bell Tower, Costa Blanca, Spain

Guadalest Introduction    Fortified town of Guadalest   Guadalest Castle   Views from Guadalest Castle  

Book Sightseeing Tour to Guadalest

Guadalest Museums

Orduña House  Dolls Houses Museum  Ethnological Museum  Historical Vehicles Museum  Micro-Gigantic Museum 
 Miniatures Museum of Manuel Ussa  Ribera Girona Museum  Torture Museum

Panoramic view of Guadalest Old Fortified Town and lake Guadalest taken from Guadalest Castle
Guardalest Church is the building on the right

Guadalest Introduction and Entrance to the fortified town and castle

Guadalest is the most visited town in Spain with more than 2 million visitors a year.  When you visit Guadalest you will soon realise the reason why. It is extremely picturesque located on a shear sided mountain overlooking and providing magnificent views of the river, the dam which forms a lake, the valley of Guadalest and more craggy mountains.

The picturesque Guadalest bell tower perched on a rock pinnacle is now the icon for the Alicante province of Spain and the Costa Blanca.

The town has been built in 3 major stages

• The entrance to the old fortified town of Guadalest is located through a tunnel part cleft in the rock and part carved through the mountain side that leads to the far side of the mountain and not visible from the main road. Above the tunnel filling the cleft in the rock is a white house
• The walled town is built on a high flat plateaux that run along the long narrow mountain side, approximately half way up. The castle built before the town runs along the higher ridge. Both the castle and the town were built by the Moors
• When the limited space in the fortified town was full, the Moors built additional houses between the mountain base and the modern main road, I refer to this as the Moors town..
• Most of the portion of the town on the other side of the main road is fairly modern being built to support the tourist industry

Both the "Moor portion and the fortified sections of the town" are interesting to view, but the fortified section is the place to head for. Most of the residents have now moved out to local newer towns and have turned there old houses into restaurants, bars, tourist shops, museums and similar ventures to benefit from the tourist boom.  Some of the shops have very interesting knickknacks, and craft made items besides the usual tourist goodies. Ideal as a personnel souvenir or as a gift for a relative or friend.

Guadalest from a distance This photograph helps visualise the dramatic scenery in the Guadalest region. Just look at those fabulous rock formations.	Guadalest New Town & Guadalest Modern Town Guadalest New Town built by the Moors  is in the foreground and the Modern town is towards the top of the photo beyond the main road and car park	Guadalest Moorish New Town The Guadalest Moorish New Town in the middle of the photograph. The ramparts of the castle are on the ridge of the mountain, to both sides of the white Guadalest Bell Tower. The entrance to the fortified town is at the foot of the crack to the left of the Bell Tower
Road near Tunnel to Guadalest fortified town	Guadalest gardens	Guadalest

The fortified town of Guadalest

Access to the fortified town and castle is gained through a tunnel named the "Portal de San Jose",  which is a 15 metres long tunnel carved through the mountain side solid rock. This is the only way into the fortified town

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The Famous Bell Tower of Guadalest

The Famous Bell Tower of Guadalest is located on top of a rock pinnacle and is the iconic logo for the Costa Blanca and the province of Alicante

Guadalest Bell Tower on a slim rock pinnacle	Guadalest Bell Tower and square tower of the Alcozaiba Castle in the background	Entrance to Guadalest below & to left of Bell Tower

On top of another rock pinnacle is a round watch tower, (Penon de la Alcala) of which only the lower portion remains. Access to the tower is extremely difficult. making it a good defensive position for the castle.

Town Hall, Town Square and Dungeon

Guadalest Town Square, with Town Hall behind the statue and light feature.

The man under the tree is sat on top of the rear wall of the fortified town. There are fabulous views looking over the reservoir in the valley below, and the backdrop of hills on the far side of the valley. The rear wall is really a facing of stone over the solid rock face.

The Town Hall was formerly the towns prison and visitors can see one of the dungeons located underneath the Town Hall

Guadalest rear city wall and square	Guadalest Graveyard Church	Guadalest Graveyard
Guadales Square	Guadalest dungeon	Guadalest Street and Restaurant

Orduna House Museum - Entrance to St Joseph Castle (San Jose), Guadalest

Access to the castle ramparts is gained through the Orduna House Museum the first house in the fortified town of Guadalest. A small fee is payable to view the house and the castle.

The castle was built by the Moors in the 7th century on the highest part of the massive rock outcrop. Because of its location it was virtually impregnable and it's ruinous state was caused mainly by earthquakes and finished by gunpowder during an attack in 1709

From the rear of Orduna House Museum (see photos below) runs a set of modern stairs through the shrubbery gardens to the castle on the crest of the ridge.

The views from the top are stunning and coin operated binoculars are available to use.

The way out from the castle is vie a route that takes you to the far end of the fortified town near the town hall.

The final exit from the grounds controlled by a one way turnstile.

Guadalest Castle Stairs		Guadalest Castle taken from the lane that leads toward the mountain from the main road
Views from Guadalest Castle The stunningly magnificent views from the castle are simply breathtaking and well worth the climb to the top.
Guadalest view	Guadalest view	Guadalest-descent-Castle
Guadalest Lake Dam		Guadalest-descent-Castle-3
		Guadalest-descent-Castle-2

Guadalest Museums

Orduña House  Dolls Houses Museum  Ethnological Museum  Historical Vehicles Museum  Micro-Gigantic Museum 
 Miniatures Museum of Manuel Ussa  Ribera Girona Museum  Torture Museum

Orduna House Museum (Casa de Orduna) Guadalest and Castle Entrance

Orduna House was built in XVII XIX century and is located just inside the entrance to the fortified town of Guadalest. Originally belonging to the Orduna family who served the castle owners as castle guardians and governors to the estate. The house was purchased by local council and turned into a museum in 1994.

You have to pass through the house for access to St Joseph Castle.

Orduna House has 4 levels. Keep a lookout for the following as you go through the house

• Madonna asleep alta piece
• Art Gallery with religious paintings
• Kitchen & dining room with interesting pottery collection
• Aristocratic rooms, furniture & decoration
• Library and document archive

Guadalest Entrance Tunnel The 15 metre long slopping tunnel carved through solid rock is the only way into the fortified town. Opposite the tunnel exit is Orduna House (Casa de Orduna)	Guadalest Casa de Orduna Museum   Orduna House the municipal museum is the first building inside the old town entrance. Entrance to the castle located above is through the house and its grounds to the rear of the house.	Guadalest internal view of Entrance and the only exit from the Fortified Town Tourist and a young man delivering a gas cylinder continue up the slope from the tunnel towards Orduna House
Casa de Orduna Dining	Click on a thumbnail photograph to view an enlargement	Casa de Orduna Kitchen
Casa de Orduna Living	See our write up of Casa de Orduna above	Casa de Orduna Art

Dolls Houses Museum

Beautifully crafted doll houses with all the fantastic details made by Antonio Marco.

There is also a beautiful several ton Bethlehem Nativity scenario made from stone, brick, bonsai trees, plants & iron that took 20 years to make.

Located at Virgin Street, 2 in the moors town on the way to the entrance to the fortified town.

Ethnological Museum

The Ethnological Museum of the Valley of Guadalest shows how people lived, what tools and implements they used, the clothes they wore.

Historical Vehicles Museum

Museum of old motorbikes, some with sidecars, scooters and cars.

Located on the road to Guadalest from the coast, after Callosa d'en Sarrian near to the El Riu Restaurant.

Open Summer: from 10:30am to 8pm.
Open Winter:    from 10:30am to 6pm.

Micro and Gigantic Museum

With the aid of magnifying glasses you can marvel at this miniature world.

See objects such as:

• A bullring on a pinhead
• A flee riding a bicycle on a seed
• An ant playing a violin
• and more

Calle del Sol, 2

Miniatures Museum of Manuel Ussa

Another museum of miniature marvels requiring the use of a magnifying glass.

See objects such as:

• A copy of Picasso's painting Guerica painted onto a seed.
• A model of the statue of Liberty inside the eye of a needle
• A Goya painting on a rice grain
• and more

Ribera Girona Museum

The Ribera Girona Museum is a contemporary art gallery displaying displays art, architecture and landscapes of various 20th century artists. Also at this venue is the Magic Garden of figures

Closed saturdays
Open Summer: from 10am to 8pm.
Open Winter:    from 10am to 6pm.

Calle Pena, 1. Postal Code: 03517  Telephone: 965 885 062

Torture Museum

Barbaric medieval to almost present times instruments of torture and execution gathered from Europe.

Calle Honda, 2. Located in the Old town

Guadalest, Al gar Waterfalls & The Arc Animal Sanctuary Sightseeing Tour

This excursion from Benidorm is called Costa Blanca Nature and Sightseeing Tour and includes Guadalest, & Al gar Waterfalls.

More information