Description
Fear and silk. The watchtowers of the coast is an exhibition produced by the Cátedra Demetrio Ribes, a centre of the Universitat de València that has been promoting research and dissemination of the history of transport and its infrastructures, public works and engineering in the Comunitat Valenciana for two decades.
The exhibition delves into the watchtowers that are distributed along the nearly 500 km of coastline of the Valencian Community. These watchtowers formed a coordinated system of territorial control from the mid-16th century. Their construction was prompted by the fear of pirates and corsairs; the solution was funding by the Generalitat through a silk tax. At the time, the procedure was considered exemplary in the Hispanic kingdoms. It is a heritage linked to the sea, to surveillance and safety in navigation, and to that of the inhabitants living near the coast. Today, they form a cultural landscape of great value and with important heritage elements.
The study that supports the exhibition is based on scientific rigour, while its presentation to society is carried out in a didactic way, with a graphic and audiovisual approach.
In Villajoyosa it is particularly relevant as it has two watchtowers from the 16th century: the tower of El Charco and the tower of l'Aguiló. The latter was restored a few years ago and has a path with interpretative panels about the tower, the landscape, the flora and fauna and other elements (https://vilamuseu.es/ruta/camino-de-la-torre-vigia-del-aguilo/8).