Productos de la Costa Blanca: Culture

Costa Blanca > Culture

The numerous monuments that you find everywhere in the Costa Blanca mean that it’s a good idea to plan your trip. Every coastal and inland city in the province of Alicante has a host of interesting monuments to visit.

We can trace history in the province of Alicante back to 100,000 B.C. You’ll discover numerous prehistoric sites where you can see cave paintings, such as at El Pla de Petracos in Castell de Castells and La Sarga in Alcoy.

Of the first Iberian settlers we have artefacts such as La Dama de Elche and La Dama Cabezo Lucero, as well as El Tesoro de Villena, dating back to the Bronze Age. From the Roman era we have such important sites as those of Lucentum in Alicante, La Alcudia in Elche, Portus Ilicitanus in Santa Pola and La Illeta in El Campello.

The Moors have left an especially important legacy in many historic town centres (Monforte del Cid, Bihar, etc.), as well as imposing castles such as those of Sax, Petrer, Villena, Alicante and Denia. We also have interesting examples of Gothic art, including the churches of Santiago in Orihuela and Villena, or the church of San Bartolomé in Jávea.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the province experienced a major increase in works of art. Orihuela has a great number of examples from this period, such as the Convent of Santo Domingo and the Cathedral. The churches of Santa María and San Nicolás in Alicante and the Basilica of Santa María in Elche are also fine examples of Baroque architecture. A new cultural and artistic movement known as Modernism came into being in the late 19th century and had special importance in Novelda and Alcoy.

The MARQ Provincial Archaeological Museum was chosen as European Museum of the Year in 2004 and contains an important collection showing the archaeological and artistic heritage of the province.

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