The Valencian Community is always a claim to escape the last cold winter with a getaway during the month of March. It doesn’t matter if we take a look at the province we want, because its beaches become a perfect claim to treat yourself to a weekend.
Good weather, perfect beaches —to walk or, if we are brave, to take a bath—, a first-rate historical and architectural legacy and, to top it off, a powerful gastronomy that knows how to go beyond rice dishes are the guarantees of a single territory.
However, it is possible that the siren songs of Alicante or Valencia seduce us and we leave Castellón aside, a perfect province to enjoy two different worlds in the same plane with its interior mountain range and its coasts.
Thus we come to Peniscolaa town steeped in history, seafaring legends and on top of that splashed with a good handful of beaches that become the perfect finish for any traveler, as is the case with Playa Norte, an urban beach that, however, is perfect for walks, postcards and bathing.
Marked by its medieval legacythe city is dominated by an imposing castle that served as a refuge for the famous Pope Luna (Benedict XIII), although it is not the only historical redoubt that serves as a panoramic view of the city.
It is worth paying attention to the Portal Fosc, which was the entrance to the city until the 18th century, which already gives access to the historic center that King Jaime I insisted on defending tooth and nail from Moorish and corsair threats. In fact, the canvas of the wall still has a renaissance lookfaithful to the Italian fortifications that Felipe II would import in the 16th century.
The Plaza de Santa María, the heart of Peñíscola, and the Parc d’Artillería, now an open-air museum about the defensive history of the cityThey are another pair of bastions to fall in love with.
On the other side, the Portal de Santa María also allows access to the citywhich also serves as a promenade where you can discover, for example, the Bufador —a blowhole where the waves echo and splash— and its proximity to the Museum of the Sea, including a viewpoint, which is also worth visiting.
However, no visit to the city is complete without a tour of the castle, which served as a fortress for Benedict XIIIwho would go down to posterity as the Antipope, and who lived his last days in this fortress of Templar origin without recognizing his deposition from the papacy, having been Pope of Avignon in his day, which would be the situation that would force the so-called Schism years later. from the West.
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All this collected by a magnificent time in which tourist accommodation and restaurants reopen their doors after winter and because it is also ideal as a launching pad for excursions to other areas of Castellón such as El Maestrazgo.
Images | iStock Maylat / iStock Amoklv / iStock Ana del Castillo / iStock JackF
In DAP | Sailor and fisherman: this is the most beautiful town in Catalonia (and it is two hours from Barcelona)
In DAP | This medieval town, just over an hour from Barcelona, is one of the most beautiful in Catalonia (and its castle is today a Parador).
