Visit to the Castillo de Santa Barbara on the Mount of Benacantil

Today we started our day by heading to the Santa Barbara Castle in Alicante. The medieval castle is a historic landmark and was built on the top of Mount Benacantil. To reach the castle we walked up the steep slopes and walkways until we reached the top. It was quite a climb and we took our time and stopped along the way to enjoy some of the beautiful views of the city. It took us about an hour to reach the top.

beach with castle in background — View of the Santa Barbara castle from beach in Alicante

P1010088 — The start of the walk up to the castle of Santa Barbara

P1010085 — Ray walking the steep walkway to the Santa Barbara Castle

P1010198 — Trail towards the top of the castle

P1010200 — Steep incline near the top of the mount of Benacantil

When we got to the top the castle and views were spectacular. The Castle is approximately 166 metres above sea level and overlooks the City of Alicante and the Bay of Alicante. There have been archaeological remains found from the roman to bronze age. Some of the artifacts are on display in the castle. One of the artifacts is pictured below, a vase from the 1st to 3rd century AD.

pot from roman times 1st century — Roman vase 1st to 3rd century AD

The Castle itself is very impressive, with architectural features, thick stone walls and massive arched bridges. The outside space of the castle is large and there are many structures and a protective wall around the whole castle.

P1010145 — Arches in castle outdoor yard area

bridge arch — Bridge overhead in castle yard

On the upper level of the castle yard there are watch posts that were used to guard the city. The views were stunning from there. You can see for kilometers and over the entire city.

look out post on top level of castle — Watch post on upper level of castle

looking through cannon window slot — View through Cannon slot

There were several iron figures throughout the castle yard highlighting key lookout points.

P1010237 — Archer overlooking the Castle

P1010256 — Upper level of Castle with guard post

P1010114 — One of the views of city of Alicante from Castle

view of city — Another view of the city of Alicante

The inside of the castle was also very impressive. There are multiple rooms, some are very large with massive stone pillars. Other castle rooms where smaller and contained displays about the history of the castle.

IMG_20160227_122545038_HDR — Interpretation of the Santa Faz by artist Jose Maria Moran Burritti (Santa Faz Alicante is a Catholic relic of the Santa Faz venerated in the monastery of Santa Faz of the city of Alicante)

IMG_20160227_122529913_HDR — Santa Faz representation

IMG_20160227_122747801 — Stone floors of castle

IMG_20160227_122429570 — Big room in Castle

IMG_20160227_122854714 — Entrance to hallway to tunnel in mountain to elevator

IMG_20160227_122903631 — Shelley in distance taking photo

IMG_20160227_125740948_HDR — One of the many arched entrances into a room in castle

IMG_20160227_125730920 — Shelley in arched hallway in castle

There was also an art exhibit on display highlighting JR Tolkien and the of literature “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” We explored the art exhibit and enjoyed it. We will do a separate blog on the art exhibit. Overall we had a very good day and enjoyed the castle. We had a pedometer with us and we walked over 10 kilometres today. We were very tired and glad to get home after the day.

“adios y que tenga un grand dias”