Valencia Oliva

[Mark W]

Board Basis: Room Only
Date of Holiday: Mar 2004
Tour Operator: Booked Independently
Submitted By: 1952ray
Overall Rating: 10/10
Comments:If you want to have a relaxing holiday away from the main Spanish Costas, or just tour some of Spain's more ancient parts, then you must stay in Oliva. This is where my wife and I stayed in March 2003, in a friend's bed and breakfast town house near to the old town.

Situated about 75 kms from Valencia airport and about 100 kms from Alicante airport, Oliva is easily accessible from the UK. Just on the outskirts of the town is the main A7 Motorway. This road links this area to places like Benidorm (to the south), and Barcelona (to the north). If you keep travelling north on this road you will reach France.

Oliva itself, has much to offer in local culture and history, and I hope this review will give some good insights into the town and surrounding area.

The town is located amidst lots of orange groves, and you can wander through these at your leisure, as we did. Valencia oranges and satsumas are renowned world-wide, and you can actually pick these from the trees as you walk around, so long as the trees are not fenced or walled off.


***The Beaches**

When we had a walk through some of these orange groves we ended up at the beaches.
Along this stretch of coastline are many fine, clean sandy beaches with lots of space.

The Terranova Beach has preserved sand dunes for you to enjoy. This particular beach has won the European �Blue Flag� award on many occasions. Here, also, is a fresh water spring which is suitable for swimming in.

Another beach easily reached is The Aigua Blanca. This lies between the Alfadali and Bullent Rivers, and is bordered by natural sand dunes. Here lies an esplanade that joins the beach to the villa estates that have been built in this area. These estates are not on the same scale as in the other main Spanish resorts, so the area remains relatively unspoilt.

Other beaches along this stretch of coast are Rabdells, Aigua Morta, and Les Devses


**The Town**.

Oliva town is steeped in history and the old town with the original street layout is a wonder to behold. We found that walking around the very narrow streets was an ideal way of seeing all the streets, houses and churches. Whichever way we turned, we found something interesting to see, whether it was a church, museum, church or house, or just the local people getting on with their daily duties.

We climbed to the old Moorish part of the �Raval�. Here we found very narrow streets that are still made of stone, and cars cannot get through. Oliva has many one-way systems because of these narrow streets. The main street that is narrow like this, is called Calle de la Hoz. This road and its houses were built in the 16th Century, and it has an �L� shape that makes it a very popular destination for visitors to Oliva.

One other main place we visited and enjoyed was The Castle of Santa Ana. This dominates the landscape of Oliva. Here, remains part of the fortification, which, when you get to the top, you can see over Oliva to the orange groves and coast. When we reached the top buy a manmade footpath and steps, we just stood for a while and took in all the roof tops and church domes that are all over the town.

Our walk though the town took us to other interesting places to see. The Sant Roc Church with its 2 domed top has its origins in the Moslem community that lived in the Raval in the middle of the 15th Century. Most of the Church of today is from the 19th Century, apart from the Cristo Chapel, which is from 1749. The frescos inside the domes are well worth looking at.

Many museums adorn Oliva. These include The Museum of Vicenta Parra built in the 18th Century. This was a childhood home of Gregorio Mayans.
The Archaeological Museum, which has recently been restored, dates back to between the 16th and 18th Centuries. Inside is a permanent exhibition of culture from this area.
Gates and Towers are also plentiful in Oliva.

We especially liked Friday morning in Oliva. At the lower end of town, along the main pedestrian walkway, the open-air market takes place. Here, local culture is brought alive by people selling everything from clothes to food, bric-a-brac to flowers, leather goods and many other goods.
There must be over 100 stalls to peruse, each distinctive in the personality of the stall holder.

At one end of this pedestrian way is a working fountain with seats for you to just sit and watch the locals go about their daily routines.

Oliva has many bars, cafes and restaurants offering local and international cuisine. There are many small shops and supermarkets, but Oliva is not commercialised.

**The Area**

Other places to visit in the area include: Gandia, Denia, Benidorm, Alicante, Xativa Castle and Valencia.

We certainly liked this part of Spain for its culture and peacefulness, and I can recommend Oliva as a base to tour this area..