What to see in Pego

Pego sits in a valley ringed by mountains at the northern edge of Alicante province, on the border between the Marina Alta and the Safor district. The town was founded in the late 13th century on the site of an earlier Islamic settlement, Uixola, shortly after James I conquered the valley in 1244 through a pact with the local leader Al-Azraq.

History

In 1262, Infante Pedro created the barony of Pego, and centuries later, during the War of the Spanish Succession, the town served as a military base for Felipe V's troops, earning it the title "Muy Noble Villa." Remnants of that defensive past include the Castell d'Ambra, on the high ground surrounding the town, while inside the old quarter the Iglesia Arciprestal de la Asunción and the Capilla Ecce Homo round out its religious heritage.

What to see

Pego's main natural draw is the Marjal de Pego-Oliva, a former lagoon now silted up and turned into a mosaic of rice paddies crossed by irrigation channels. Water arrives through several "ullals" — karst springs fed by the aquifers of the Mostalla and Segària mountains — and feeds the Bullent and Racons rivers, which in turn sustain one of the Valencian Community's most important wetlands for birds: herons, coots and grebes are common for much of the year. The Muntanyeta Verda viewpoint, a small hill just 49 metres high inside the natural park, takes in the sea, the Montgó mountain and the patchwork of rice fields all at once; access can be restricted at certain times of year under bird-of-prey protection programmes, so it's worth checking before planning a visit.

Pego's food centres on rice: Arròs en Costra, baked until it forms a thin golden crust, is the town's signature dish, alongside eel all i pebre stew and the duck-and-eel paellas typical of the wetland area. The Moros y Cristianos festival, with thirteen filaes split between Christian and Moorish sides, fills the last weekend of June with parades. Pego pairs well with a visit to neighbouring Jalón for anyone touring the Marina Alta interior on the same trip. The Xillibre peak, at 729 metres, is the highest point in the municipality and dominates the mountainous skyline around the Pego depression. Rice cultivation in the marjal reached its historical peak of more than 900 hectares in 1945, and today the municipality, home to around 10,800 people, keeps an agricultural economy that also relies on irrigated citrus groves.