Courts of Pallás

Surroundings of Cortes de Pallás

The small town of Courts of Pallás, capital of the homonymous municipality, is located in the province of Valencia. More specifically, it belongs to the region of Ayora-Cofrentes Valley, although it is included in the Commonwealth of Hoya de Buñol-Chiva.

inhabited since Bronze Age, rose to prominence under Muslim rule. Several monuments have remained from that period and from the later Christian period that we will show you. But we are also going to talk to you about his wonderful natural setting. If you want to know what to see and do in Cortes de Pallás, we encourage you to continue reading.

The natural environment of Cortes

Reservoir of Cortes-La Muela

View of the Cortes-La Muela reservoir

The Town Hall of this Valencian town announces itself with the slogan "a paradise at your fingertips". And he is right, because both the orography and the water resources of the area offer you natural wonders where you can practice endless sports.

The town is dominated by the north Sierra Tuesday with the homonymous peak, almost XNUMX meters high. In the center of the municipality is the Albéitar tooth and to the south is the cutting wheel, declared a hunting ground. As if this were not enough, the Júcar river cuts the municipal term forming spectacular canyons and leaving part of its waters in two reservoirs: those of El Naranjero and Cortes-La Muela.

Precisely, to see those canyons, you can enjoy a river route fourteen kilometers. You will travel, aboard a modern boat, the section of the Júcar between Cortes and Cofrentes. It lasts forty-five minutes and you will see spectacular landscapes of slopes and ravines. Thus, the Remanso de Ral, the Cortes gorge or the Cinto del Castillo.

But this is not the only activity you can do in the Cortes de Pallás environment. It also offers you great hiking trails in a privileged natural space. We can mention among them the one that goes from Cruz del Collado to Pico del Carrascal with a return through the Lomas de Santiago. It has an extension of fourteen kilometers and a drop of almost five hundred meters. There is also the route from Cortes to El Corbinet passing through the El Tejedor cave and the San Vicente spring. In his case, it does not reach six kilometers and, in addition, it offers you several bathing areas.

Likewise, the peculiar orography of the municipality allows you to practice climbing, canyoning and zip-lining over water. you even have one via ferrata that you can do accompanied by experts. On the other hand, in the reservoirs that we have mentioned before, you have available the activity of kayak.

Different is the Route of the Moors. As we have told you, Muslims baptized as Christians populated Cortes de Pallás until their expulsion in 1609. Therefore, they have left many vestiges of that time. For this reason, the town council has organized a route that runs through them. It has an extension of 16 kilometers that can be done in approximately one hour because there are several stops. Tour, among other points, the village of Gold, the place of Corbinet, viewpoint of Tierra Colorá and the town of Cortes itself.

Monuments of Courts of Pallás

The town of Cortes

Panoramic view of Cortes de Pallás

The town of Cortes is small, since it has less than eight hundred inhabitants. However, despite this, it has an interesting monumental heritage in its urban area. Also the villages that make up its municipal term as the cabezuela, The Blacksmiths, Sale Gaeta u otonel They have points of interest. We are going to talk about the main ones.

chirel castle

chirel castle

The imposing castle of Chirel

The great symbol of Cortes de Pallás is the chirel castle, which is located on a plateau hill. It is a rugged environment with difficult access that would have facilitated its defense since, in its time, it marked the border between Christian and Muslim Spain. It was built in the XNUMXth century, although it was renovated two hundred years later.

It would be, precisely, the Christian conquest and the subsequent expulsion of the Moors that would cause the decline of this fortification, since, with all this, it ceased to make sense as a bastion. Architecturally, it has a rectangular floor plan and is accessed through a flyover and a pointed arch.

Likewise, at two of its ends it presents great towers. One has a trapezoidal plan and several heights, while the other is square and preserves its barrel vault. The complex was completed by the main tower, the double defensive wall, the cistern and numerous arrow slits and burlap. In short, the castle preserves Muslim construction elements, but also other later ones from Gothic style. For years it has been registered in the Inventory of Protection of the European Cultural Heritage.

Other constructions of interest in the town

Cortes Church

Church of Our Lady of the Angels

Also noteworthy in the Valencian town is the Parish Church of Our Lady of the Angels, built at the end of the XNUMXth century. It is in the middle of the central axis of the town, surrounded by streets with an Andalusian layout, and responds to the canons of the baroque, although its interior decoration is rococo.

On the outside, its flat façade culminating in a curved pediment and its oval rose window that houses an image of Our Lady of the Angels stand out. It will also draw your attention bell tower which is located at one of its ends and has three heights. For its part, the interior is arranged in a single nave in the center of which stands a octagonal dome crowned by glazed tiles. For its part, the pendentives that support it are decorated with academic-style paintings alluding to women of the Biblia like Judith or Esther.

This church was paid for by the Baroness of Cortes de Pallás. And precisely the palace where he lived is another of the outstanding monuments of the town. It is also a construction of the eighteenth century and Baroque in which, among other things, the heraldic shield of the family stands out.

On the other hand, the castle of Chirel is not the only one that you can see in the municipality of Cortes. In the said village of otonel you have the remains of another equally from the XNUMXth century. Its enclosure was circular and consisted of walls and a tower. It is probably older pool castle, which is located on the outskirts of Cortes. It was larger than the previous one, as it had a perimeter of XNUMX meters and consisted of walls, three towers and a moat. Lastly, the castle of ruaya it had walls and a larger tower. All of them are classified as assets of cultural interest.

Festivities and gastronomy of Cortés de Pallas

ajoarriero

Ajoarriero with cod

Perhaps you prefer to visit this Valencian town when it celebrates its patron saint festivities. They are celebrated the second week of August in honor of Nuestra Señora del Rosario. However, there are also festive events for the Assumption, the Christ of Life and San Isidro Labrador.

Precisely, to commemorate the patron saint festivities, a blessed bread. As you know, it is a bread that is generally made with sugar, aniseed, milk, orange and lemon peel, as well as other ingredients. And this leads us to talk about the delicious gastronomy of Cortes de Pallás.

We can differentiate in it winter and summer dishes. The first is cold and requires stronger recipes. On the other hand, the second is hot and the light dishes are more appetizing. As for the former, we advise you to try the village pot. It is a tasty dish that has beans, nabicol (a vegetable that belongs to the cabbage family), potatoes, thistle and different types of meat, especially pork.

They are also delicious gachamigas, a simple recipe that is made with flour, salt, water, olive oil and garlic. With the latter, the Ajoarriero, which also has potatoes, eggs and oil. A sort of variety of the former is the wet drag, a flour puree that is accompanied with various sausages.

On the other hand, in summer they drink a lot gazpacho and, as it could not be less if we are talking about Levante, different elaborations of rice. For example, with herbs. different is the chopped wheat, which is eaten all year round, although, due to its forcefulness, it would be better for winter. Because it has chickpeas, vegetables, various meat products and wheat instead of rice. It owes its name to this, since it is also left to soak and crushed with a mortar in order to separate the skin and the grain. Finally, they are typical cakes with different fillings. For example, sardines, but also chorizo ​​or sausage.

How to get to Cortes de Pallás?

Sierra Tuesday

The Sierra Tuesday

Until 1932 the Valencian town had no road. Her means of communication was a path that linked her with maastre on the one hand and with the road Almansa a Requena for other. Fortunately, this has long since changed. Now there are good communication routes that will take you to it.

If you come by car from Valencia awarded by the A-3, you must take the CV-425 and then take a detour CV-424. However, if you are a good walker, you have the option of taking the long distance trail GR-7 before reaching Cortes to do it on foot. You will enter through the beautiful Sierra Tuesday to the very center of town. And, if you come from the opposite side, you will do so on one side of the cutting wheel.

In conclusion, we have shown you everything you need to know about Courts of Pallás. As you have seen, it is a small town that has a lot to offer you: a privileged nature, interesting monuments and delicious gastronomy. Dare to meet him.


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