Castle of Guadalest

The Castle of Guadalest crowns a jagged limestone spike roughly 70 kilometres north of Alicante, making it one of the most-visited inland sites in the Valencian Community. Moorish builders established the fortification in the 11th century; the Reconquista brought it into Castilian control in the 13th. A major earthquake in 1748 shattered much of the complex, lending the site the weathered, atmospheric quality it has today. Entry is through a single tunnel cut directly into the rock — a narrow passageway that suddenly opens onto a tiny whitewashed hilltop village and then the castle platform itself. From there, views sweep across the turquoise Guadalest reservoir and successive sierra ridges; the entire ensemble is protected under Spain's Bien de Interés Cultural heritage designation.