Insight Guides Pocket Valencia by Insight Guides

Author:Insight Guides
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Travel, Spain
Publisher: Apa Publications
Published: 2018-02-09T05:00:00+00:00

Peñiscola, viewed from the Knights Templar castle

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Peñíscola

In the extreme north of Castellón province is the old fortified town of Peñíscola (140km/87 miles north of Valencia on the A7 motorway), built on a rocky promontory into the sea. Its castle, the Castell del Papa Luna, erected on the foundations of a Moorish fortress, is mainly the work of the Knights Templar and their cross can be seen carved above the door. It later became the residence of the papal pretender Pedro de Luna, cardinal of Aragón, who was elected Pope Benedict XIII during the Great Schism that split the Christian Church at the end of the 14th century. He retired here after he had been deposed and died a nonagenarian in 1423 still proclaiming his right to the papacy. The castle was used as a location for the film El Cid. Beneath the castle walls is a delightful labyrinth of steep, narrow cobbled streets lined with white houses, enclosed by massive ramparts and entered by two gates.

To the north of the old town is an immensely long, straight sandy beach stretching to the next resort of Benicarló. There is also a smaller curve of beach to the south, next to the harbour.

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