What to see in Altea

Altea rises on a hillside that descends toward the sea through cobbled lanes, crowned by the blue-and-white tiled dome of the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Consuelo, the town's most recognisable image. The old quarter, known locally as El Fornet, keeps that layout of whitewashed houses that led National Geographic in 2024 to name Altea its recommended village to visit in July, citing the balance it still holds between heritage, landscape and everyday life.

From Roman settlement to the 1617 town charter

Iberian, Roman and Islamic-era remains have been documented within Altea's territory, from a time when the area belonged to the Taifa of Denia. James I of Aragón took the town in 1244, and Pedro III granted it a founding charter in 1279, but the medieval settlement was abandoned between the 14th and 15th centuries. The town was refounded on its present site under a new charter issued in 1617, and it's around that layout that today's village was built. Much of it survives in the narrow, sloping streets that still make up the old quarter today.

The Russian church and the artistic community

The Altea Hills development is home to the first Russian Orthodox church built on the Iberian Peninsula, dedicated to the Archangel Michael. It replicates a 17th-century wooden church from the Arkhangelsk region, raised with materials brought from the Urals and built by Russian craftsmen; the first stone was laid in 2002 and the church was consecrated in 2007. That mix of traditions fits Altea's reputation as a place that has drawn painters, ceramicists and musicians through the 20th century, a reputation that still attracts artists today.

The municipality's coast combines cliffs and coves along more than six kilometres of shoreline: the Serra Gelada Natural Park covers the southern stretch, Playa La Roda is the main bathing beach next to the town, and the smaller Mascarat Beach sits tucked beside the gorge of the same name. Inland, the Forat de Bernia, a natural opening through the neighbouring mountains, is a popular hiking destination. With a little over 24,000 registered residents — barely 5,000 around 1960 — Altea holds its Moros y Cristianos festival on the fourth weekend of September, honouring the Santísimo Cristo del Sagrario and San Blas. In June, the Plantà de l'Arbret revives an agricultural-rooted ritual tied to the summer solstice, and in August the Castell de l'Olla sets off fireworks from boats moored off the seafront.