An ideal route to learn about one of the most authentic areas of the Costa Blanca, where Orihuela's monumental history and sacred art can be found alongside beautiful natural spaces such as the lagoons of La Mata and Torrevieja and the dunes of Guardamar del Segura, as well as agricultural practices in Rojales or Almoradí.
Leaving behind the white salt mountains, we cross the lagoons which are part of the salt mines of Santa Pola and arrive at Guardamar del Segura, a city which has held on to its sailor vocation. Its dunes, vegetable gardens and the meadow covered in pine trees alongside the river Segura estuary are examples of the town's living nature found on a coast with immense beauty. Those interested in its Moorish past must visit La Rabita, a Muslim monastery which contains the archaeological remains of a number of mosques.
The next stop are the lagoons of La Mata and Torrevieja, an oasis of reeds and rushes, made up of salt water lagoons, where groups of flamingos can be seen posing like pink sculptures. This natural park located between the towns of Torrevieja, Guardamar, Los Montesinos and Rojales has an interpretation centre and an observatory, from where you can gaze at the water birds and go unnoticed.
Torrevieja is famous for its salt mines, which date back to the beginning of the Christian period, and its fishing port, which receives a large number of boats and valuable catches, especially the sardine.
This charming town extends between Punta Prima and Cap Roig and has some magnificent beaches, such as Los Locos and El Cura, which have attracted large amounts of tourism. And, as if this wasn't enough, it has hosted the habanera music contest since the fifties, which has consolidated the town's international image and has been declared of International Tourist Interest.
Dedicated to Torrevieja's sailing tradition, the Sea and Salt Museum opened in 1995. The different rooms were created thanks to the contributions of models, objects, fishing equipment and old photographs provided by the families of fishermen and salt mine workers. The rooms on underwater archaeology, traditional fishing, cabotage and salt mining are particularly recommended. The museum was housed in a historical building from the 18th century, called Eras de la Sal, which had been used to store this precious product for two-hundred years.
Rojales is another stop on this route, a town which has taken advantage of its privileged position since ancient times in order to promote the vegetable garden, one of the world's unique landscapes. You can't miss the Museum of the Vegetable Garden, in the former Don Florencio estate, located in Partida de Saavedra; the Rodeo caves, which are an example of the popular troglodytic architecture; and the town's urban hydraulic design, made up of a large diversion dam, sluiceways, a waterwheel and an extraordinary masonry bridge built by King Charles III.
The Vegetable Garden of the Vega Baja is a testimony to the work of mankind to deal with the need to manage water and ensure its exploitation. The wells of Gasparito, built to store the water from torrential rains in autumn and spring, can be seen in the park of Ladrillar. Two open irrigation channels measuring over one kilometre in length surround the hillsides of Cabezo del Molino and converge with a round reservoir from which the rectangular underground wells excavated in the mountain take their water, with a capacity for storing two million litres. Close to the wells is a 19th century windmill, which was recently restored and is still in working order.
More than offering you the chance to appreciate the heritage and tourism interest of this hydraulic and agricultural architecture, the routes around the vegetable garden are an opportunity for you to immerse yourself into a landscape marked by Muslim techniques, which regulated not only the agricultural colonisation but also the methods of farming and the fair and efficient distribution of water from the river Segura through a complex network of irrigation channels and diversion dams.
And finally we arrive at Orihuela, the birthplace of the poet Miguel Hernández, who has a hiking route in his honour. This town, an Episcopal see since the 16th century, has one of the richest architectural and historical heritages in the Costa Blanca and its celebration of the Holy Week is declared of National Tourist Interest. The old town has been recognised as a Historic-Artistic Site, whose monuments include a castle, located at the top of the San Miguel mountain, city walls and a dozen stately palaces. But what really makes Orihuela stand out is its ecclesiastical heritage, which includes architectural gems such as the diocesan school of Santo Domingo, the Santa Iglesia Catedral del Salvador, the church of saints Justa and Rufina, the sanctuary of Nuestra Señora de Montserrate and the church of Santiago.