A day in Elche

The city of Elche is approximately 30 kilometers away and it is a short 45 minutes train ride from Alicante. We headed there to check out the city of approximately 225,000 population. Elche was settled by the Greeks around 600 BC and later occupied by Carthaginians and Romans. Today the city is known for its many shoe factories and the orchard of over 200,000 palm trees. The Palmeral of Elche was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000.

We arrived on a sunny day and enjoyed walking through the beautiful Palmeral park.

There were the numerous trails that led us into different areas of the park. We explored the park trails for a few hours finding some beautiful views and scenes along the way. We came across a water feature which led to an Islamic style architecture building.

Round dome Islamic style architecture building.

We walked along an area of the park which had a small fountain area surrounded by ceramic tile features and park benches. We stopped to admire the area and watched as some pigeons enjoyed a bath in the fountain.

Ceramic tiled fountain in Palmeral park in Elche

Birds enjoying a bath in the fountain in Palmeral Park

We came across a path that was parallel to a small creek called “Vinalopó”. The creek flows through the city of Elche separating the city into two parts and there are trails that follow along the creek. We decided to leave the park and walk the creek path.

The paths along the Vinalopó creek which flows through the city splitting it into two parts.

What was interesting walking along the path was the colourful designs painted along the creek overflow area. There were numerous themes and paintings. It appears that community groups were given a section of the basin to pain a theme related to Elche or Spain.

We enjoyed stopping and looking at all the different paintings, some of which were very creative. Don Quixote with the Quote “A las familias manchegas que vivan in Elche” Which translates To all the manchegan families who live in Elche

“Don Quixote painted on creek basin in Elche

Some of the paintings along the basin of the Vinalopó creek.

Paintings on the basin of the Vinalopó creek.

We walked approximately 3 kilometers along the path and then headed into the main section of Elche.

There was a bridge known as the “Virgin Bridge” which had a monument on both edges of the central part of the bridge.

We walked through the old quarter of Elche looking at the architecture and other sites. We stopped at city hall where they had their Christmas decorations still on display outside.