Bocairent is a town that has been won from the rock, and therefore travellers on the Way of El Cid who come to the town will set out on one of the most unusual and surprising visits on the Way. If you arrive on foot, you should enter across the Pont de Darrere la Vila, a sixteenth-century bridge which was the original access to the town. Any path you take will lead to the Church of the Assumption, which has a high bell-tower from which you can see the best views of the medieval district and the Sierra de Mariola.
From the square, it is worth going to Les Covetes dels Moros: a group of about fifty caves excavated in a limestone wall 50m high opposite the town. The wall has 53 rings fixed in it, probably to hold the ladders made of esparto grass that were used to climb up to the caves. The original use of these is still a mystery, perhaps they were mortuary niches or granaries, but we know they were used before and during the Islamic period.
Further information in the fact-file on Bocairent.
Rev.: JGG 18.10.22