The Marina Baja, whose historical capital is Villajoyosa, is a region enclosed by a big sweep of high mountains that meet the sea in the Morro de Toix range. The mountain passes leading to the neighbouring regions, for example the pass of Calpe and that of Rates, or the pass of the “bandoleros” (smugglers), were difficult passes only traversable on horseback and not by carriages which is why the Marina Baja has always relied on the sea for communication. Visitors can observe the exceptional view from the watchtower of Aguiló. Even the signals from the watchtowers of Calpe, San Juan…

The coastal defence district of Villajoyosa was controlled by a requeridor de la costa (coastal district defence chief) and covered the whole of the Marina Baja region which had four castles and five watchtowers, the oldest one being the watchtower of Aguiló. Between 1500 and 1750, these structures were used to sight the Berber pirate fleets before they landed on the coast to kidnap the local population and either ransom them or sell them in the slave markets of Oran or Argel. When the fortress of Villajoyosa faced serious threats, Alcoy and the other towns had a duty to send…

Because the tower is so close to the city centre, the most frequent wildlife encountered by visitors along the path will be birds. The special location of this area allows the visitor to observe not only seabirds, for example yellow-legged gulls and cormorants, but also birds associated with the region's mountains such as blackbirds, turtledoves and kestrels. With luck and careful attention visitors might also see other animals like rabbits and foxes. And if they are really lucky while at the summit they might see a school of common bottlenose dolphins which live around the coastline. Photo: kestrels

The plant life that visitors will find along the path is typical of the mountains of Marina Baja. The characteristic tree of this region is the Aleppo Pine, although they will also find olive and carob trees which were cultivated in the past but later abandoned because they were not profitable enough to farm. They are however still part of the landscape and are indigenous to the region. Careful attention to the smaller plants along the path shows how the bushes have adapted to the local climate of long hours of sunshine and very little water, with their branches producing…

The southern watchtower of this coastal defence district is the tower of Giraley or Charco. On the south, the gully of Aguas was designated as the border of the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile in the treaty of Almizra (1244). This is the natural border of the region of the Marina Baja and was the boundary of the municipal area of Villajoyosa in the XVIII century. All the watchtowers that can be seen were built in the XVI century. They were used to raise the alarm when Berber pirates were sighted. Smoke signals were transmitted inland using the countryside towers…

Because of its difficult access, this tower was built from limestone which is widely available in the area. This was used both for the stones that formed the walls and for the mortar -made of water, sand and quicklime- that cemented the stones together. The lime was obtained by burning limestone for several days in the limekiln at temperatures above 900 C. In order to do this, an oval pit was dug into the rock, partially covered with stones and then plastered with mortar to retain the heat. Hundreds of stones were placed over the pit forming a vault, with…