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| Morella Medieval town of Spain |
Exploring in any country is a must - there is always so much to experience and absorb. The medieval town of Morella sounded fascinating with a long and varied history. So off we headed away from the coast and into the hills. At first the fields were full of citrus - this gradually changed to beautiful olive groves that looked very regal and majestic. Up and up we climbed to approx.1000m above sea level.
The first glimpse of this walled, medieval city was simply breathtaking. We stopped the car in the village below to capture this incredible sight. The weather was rather gloomy but this did not detract from our amazement as we gazed upon this ancient, walled town.
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| Morella Spain |
Morella appears to have its own micro climate and Wikipedia records that the hottest day ever reached and recorded was on 16th August 1925 when the temperature reached a staggering 40 degrees C. Given the high altitude of this village this must have had the locals feeling the heat! And then on 17th December 1933 the locals had a minimum temperature of -17 degrees C. This day must have had everybody staying indoors, trying to keep warm.
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| Ancient walls Morella Spain |
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| Shopping in Morella Spain |
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| Narrow Streets Medieval Morella |
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| Below Morella Spain Agriculture still plays a part in the economy and prized black truffles are traded at markets during winter. Pig and poultry farming still take place although tourism now plays a larger role in the economy. "In the late seventeenth century, Morella was severely affected by the plague. After twenty years of suffering, the citizens brought a statue of the Virgin Mary from the Sanctuary of Vallivana, 24 kilometres (15 mi) away, at the feet of the Serra de Vallivana range, and processed it through the streets. It is said that the plague disappeared from the city and, to remember this, every six years the Sexenni festival takes place for nine days in late August. The virgin is carried in procession and the traditional town guilds perform ancient dances in her honour. The festivities in 2006 were the first of the 21st century" Courtesy Wikipedia Walking the narrow streets was very humbling - just thinking of the long history of this walled town that has stood for centuries and has seen so many battles yet has survived albeit with a much smaller population these days. We wandered the maze of streets fearing that we would never find our car again - this was somewhat daunting to say the least. The sudden, very load thunder that reverberated along the ancient walls nearly fooled us into thinking that an enemy attack was imminent!  |
