description

Agriculture and rural life are very important in Elche, as it is a city that is surrounded by more than 200,000 palm trees, almost one per inhabitant; around this palm forest a whole culture has developed, including an irrigation network implanted by the Arabs, to whom we owe the basis of what today is one of its most recognizable hallmarks, the Palmeral de Elche (World Heritage Site UNESCO year 2000). From all this we will learn in this special route.

Before there were the Romans, who arrived after the Iberians, to whose culture belongs the enigmatic sculpture of the Lady of Elche that was discovered in the archaeological site of La Alcudia, ancient Iberian and Roman settlement, and place located in one of those rural departures of the Campo de Elche. Also noteworthy is the School Museum of Puçol, with which we will end the route, which is an Educational-Museum Project developed since 1968 in the school of the rural district of Puçol. Its importance lies in being the first European project recognised by UNESCO in the Register of Good Practices for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, the third Heritage of Elche. From the work of recovery and safeguarding developed by several generations, a collection arises that forms the true ethnographic museum of Elche, with oral records and a collection of approximately 100,000 items.

The Campo de Elche or Camp d Elx, sets its own pace. Since the Reconquest by King James I of Aragon, the municipality of Elche is divided into rural districts, whose limits and numbers have varied over time. Currently, it has 30 rural units, or hamlets, that make up an identity with a range of differences, but also with common features that identify it. The Camp d'Elx still retains its rural essence and its attractive landscape. It preserves, together with numerous examples of traditional houses, relevant private property manor houses .

It is believed that it was the Carthaginians who introduced pomegranate into Mediterranean lands following the Punic Wars. In the middle of the 19th century. The olive grove began to be replaced in Elche by pomegranate orchards and the first commercial references date from 1864. But there are still some of these olive groves in these fields of Elche and we will talk about them in the Almazara El Tendre, a centenary company whose origins date back to April 20th, 1839, being the oldest in Baix Vinalopó, a reference for the great olive-growing tradition.

fotos

itinerary

We will begin the experience in the Alzabares distric, our meeting point will be at the El Tendre Oil Mill, where we will first visit the facilities where oil production takes place and to the museum facilities of this traditional oil mill. Next, we will have a breakfast-tasting with oil from the mill itself and other local products.

The next stop will be within the area of the Roman centuriation next to the archaeological site of Alcudia where it will be explained what said centuriation consists of and how it has survived in the time. Next, the route will continue making a stop at the crossing of the Levante and Progreso irrigation canals, called the Pedestal, highlighting the importance of these irrigation canals in Camp d'Elx. Then, we will continue with a visit to the Centro de Cultura Tradicional Museo Escolar de Puçol (Traditional Culture Center Puçol School Museum), to see its permanent collection and funds, also conducting a white palm crafts workshop.

features

departure time

09:00:00

duration

4 hours

dinner*

Breakfast with typical products

accessibility

si

cata

Oils

pets

no

own car*

si

difficulty

fàcil

Languages

Valencian/Spanish

more information

Avanzatour
622 20 22 10
turismo@avanzatour.es