Orihuela

Human presence around Orihuela goes back to the Chalcolithic period, roughly the second half of the third millennium BC, with evidence of Argaric, Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age cultures following in sequence. The Iberians eventually dominated the area, and the site at Los Saladares shows the gradual emergence of early urban planning. Greeks used the River Segura — known then as the Thader — as a trade route, while Carthaginians introduced coinage and built the first fortifications on the river's meander.

When the Muslim conquest reached the peninsula in 713, the Visigothic lord Teodomiro negotiated a remarkable treaty — the Pact of Tudmir — that preserved local autonomy across what are roughly today's provinces of Alicante and Murcia. That independence lasted until 825, when the territory came under the Umayyad Emirate. During the Moorish centuries, Orihuela acquired bathhouses, mosques, waterwheels and irrigation channels, and saw the introduction of citrus cultivation. The future Alfonso X of Castile took the city in the mid-thirteenth century. Aragon seized it in 1296, and after the 1304 Treaty of Torrellas, Orihuela became capital of the Governorate of Oriola within the Kingdom of Valencia.

Orihuela's historic centre was declared a protected monumental ensemble in 1969 — one of the first such designations in Spain — and it holds more listed monuments than almost any other municipality in the region apart from Valencia itself.

The Castle of Orihuela crowns Monte San Miguel. Possibly Visigothic in origin, though some sources point to Arab construction, it was declared historic ruins in 1931 and is now on Hispania Nostra's Red List of endangered heritage. Remains of the keep, the Torre del Homenaje and the Baño de la Reina are still visible.

The Puerta de la Olma — also called the Gate of Elche — is the only city gate left standing after Philip V demolished the walls. Almohad in origin, it was remodelled under Philip II. The city's coat of arms and a high relief of Saint Michael sit above the arch.

The Cathedral of El Salvador is a Gothic church built across the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, with three naves, an ambulatory and a chancel remodelled by Pere Compte. Its organ is considered one of the finest in eastern Spain. The interior holds works by Velázquez, Francisco Salzillo, Alonso Sánchez Coello, Luis de Morales and others.

A section of the Almohad city walls, together with Arab baths, Islamic dwellings and Gothic and Baroque remains, survives beneath the Miguel Hernández University and is open as the Museo de la Muralla, itself a listed monument.

The nearest airport is Alicante. AVE high-speed trains run every two to three hours from Madrid Atocha or Chamartín, taking around three hours fifteen minutes via Albacete, Villena, Alicante and Elche, continuing to Murcia. A regional train also links Alicante, Orihuela and Murcia every two hours.

The railway station sits 500 metres south of the town centre. The town is easily walkable. Access by road is via the CV-920.

Mobile coverage as of February 2023: 4G from Vodafone, and 5G from Masmovil, Movistar and Orange.