Castell d'Aixa

The Castell d'Aixa is a hilltop castle set on the ridge that separates Jalón from its neighbouring villages in the Marina Alta, at around 600 metres above sea level. Its defensive walls, built by Muslim rulers over an earlier Iberian settlement, follow the natural rock of the mountain cliffs directly, a technique common to the Andalusi fortifications of the area.

History

The castle has carried different names over the centuries: Castrum Exalonis in 13th-century documents, La Bastida de Àger in the 15th, and Castell d'Àixer in the 17th and 18th, before settling on today's Castellet d'Aixa or Solana. Muslim rule over the Jalón valley lasted more than five hundred years, and this castle formed part of the defensive system watching over the valley and its routes into the interior.

What to see

What survives of the fortification are the walls of the old watchtower, with a square and a circular section still recognisable, along with stretches of the wall running along the rocky cliffs. It is not a monumental ruin but a modest set of remains that rewards visitors mainly for its setting: from the top you look out over much of the Vall de Xaló and the ranges around it.

It is reached on foot via a signposted mountain path starting from Jalón, with a fair amount of climbing and little shade on the final stretch, so it is worth avoiding the middle of the day in summer and wearing proper hiking boots. The ethnological museum in Jalón, down in the valley, helps put the historical occupation of these mountains in context before or after the climb. It also makes a good comparison with Castell d'Ambra in Pego, another Andalusi fortress in the Marina Alta built on an equally steep site.