Morella - mountain adventures part 1

 

We’d last visited Morella over 20 years ago and were keen to return for two reasons: hopefully the castle would be restored and open by now; and by a fond memory of some interesting mountain fare – that had included pickled quail. That trip had been in our old Dodge camper and we’d free camped under the walls of the old town – surprised at the dramatic drop in temperature overnight even in summer – and a very scary soundtrack of what sounded like pigs panicking before being led out to the abattoir…

This time of course we’d taken the easy version and were doing it as a day trip from our campsite at Torre la Sal. It’s still a beautiful drive and the walled town makes for a dramatic focal point as you get closer.

We’d read that since our last visit the town had built an Aire just outside, so we decided to give it the once over and enjoy what was stated to be a 7 minute walk to the town. The Aire itself was pretty impressive – free and with fresh and waste water/ toilet emptying and space for 20+ vans it would make a very picturesque stop over, particularly at night with the town backlit against a no doubt impressive starry sky.

So, even though we weren’t stopping overnight, we parked up and began the 7 minute walk… After 10 minutes and with the town still looming in the distance ahead of us, we spotted what looked to be the small French campervan we’d overtaken on the way up form the coast, perched jauntily in the way so many French campers seem to, with a view to die for high up under the walls and within an easy stroll of the town… So, beating a hasty retreat to the Aire and leaving the other campervans behind, we drove the short climb up to the town walls – to where we’d free camped all those years ago, with the French camper parked in the very spot we’d claimed back in the day!

With a brief walk into the town itself, we loaded up with info at the Turismo – where it was confirmed that the castle was indeed open – and headed off to look for somewhere for lunch. We had remembered the town fairly well, including the main street with its vaulted archways where most of the restaurants were to be found – except this time and for reasons we still can’t explain, it all seemed so much smaller – like going back to a place we’d visited as children! And, either our sense of ‘interesting mountain fare’ had recalibrated over the last 20 years – or the restaurants were offering some pretty pedestrian menus. Still, with a keen desire to eat and then wander round the castle after, we plumped for El Roque – once one of Morella’s most fashionable eateries, but now sporting a somewhat dated charm. This didn’t stop us though from tucking into some tasty regional soup/stew dishes typical of the region and before long we reckoned we had just enough time to get up to the castle before it closed for last visitors at 5.00.

The castle is pretty amazing – originally a pre-Roman hill fort and then added to and extended by the various conquering armies over the centuries, what is there today is based on some Prussian engineering overhauls to the mainly medieval castle. The castle continued to see active service until the early 20^th C and included the Spanish War of Independence/Peninsula War that the Sharpe TV series was set in. So with images of Sean Bean and his merry crew uppermost in my mind, we wound our way up the hill and round the castle right to the top, with breathtaking views all around. It’s easy to see why this was such a popular defensive point to fortify, and with a very real reminder of the scenes of death and destruction in the cemetery for those killed in the Carlist wars of the late 19^th C set in its grounds, we had left just enough time to climb back down to the town as dusk descended. Although we had been lucky with sun and clear skies, it was noticeably cooler up in the hills and we were glad we’d be returning to the coast!

Pausing on our way down to the van to visit the ‘gigantes’ in the town hall, we were struck by the attitude of the locals here – not only was the town hall adorned with a large poster welcoming refugees, but the history of these giant figures used in festivals (very common in the Valencia province) gave an interesting twist to the usual ‘Moors and Christians’ tableaux played out in boisterous celebrations of the Christian reconquest elsewhere in Spain. Here, the gigantes (made in the 1930s) are paraded as equals and serve as reminders of the rich racial mix of the region – a stark contrast to all the other festivals we have seen which follow the standard ‘Christian victory’ story.

After a quick cuppa in the van and with the sun setting in the hills to the west, we set off back across the route we had come, glad that we had made the trip when the castle was actually open this time! It’s good to mix old and new destinations and we were looking forward to exploring Montanejos in a couple of days’ time – somewhere we’d never been.

S.