Alpuente

Alpuente's territory shows signs of habitation from the Bronze Age onward, with Iberian and Roman remains scattered across the municipal area. The town rose to real importance under Muslim rule, positioned between the Royal Road from Valencia to Aragon and Castile in the north and secondary routes converging to the south. When the Caliphate of Córdoba collapsed after the civil war of 1009, Alpuente became the seat of its own independent taifa emirate, governed by the Beni Kasim dynasty until 1092.

The castle controlled wide surrounding territory in partnership with the Castle of Poyo, which commanded the Aragonese royal road. After passing through Almoravid and Almohad control, and a period under the protection of El Cid, Alpuente was conquered by the Crown of Aragon in 1238. King Jaime I issued a settlement charter and repopulated the area with Christians from Aragon.

Alpuente then became the capital of an alcaldía covering what are now the municipalities of Aras de los Olmos, Titaguas, and La Yesa, an administrative unit that lasted until the Decreto de Nueva Planta abolished the old Valencian laws in 1707. Its position on the frontier between Aragon and Castile, and its role as an entry point on a royal drove road for sheep flocks, over which it held toll rights, gave the town lasting strategic and economic weight.

Alpuente's most distinctive natural heritage is its dinosaur trackways. Several ichnological sites are spread across the municipality, all declared sites of cultural interest by the Generalitat Valenciana. The Cañada París site, dated to the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary around 140 million years ago, is among the best-preserved of its kind in the Valencian Community, preserving tracks of sauropod and non-avian theropod dinosaurs.

Since 1997, University of Valencia researchers have excavated there annually, uncovering three large sauropod dinosaurs among other finds. In the town itself, the Torre Aljama houses a hall where the Courts of the Kingdom of Valencia met in 1319 and 1383, and served as the town hall until 2012. The medieval walls survive in part, with several towers and gateways still standing.

The castle crowns the great rock outcrop above the village; it has been in ruins since the mid-19th century but still holds unexplored archaeological material beneath its fallen structures. The Aqueduct of Los Arcos, around 110 metres long, built with roughly twenty pointed Gothic arches in restored masonry, once carried water from the Fuente Nueva spring into the village, though its central arch was destroyed by a flood and has since been replaced with a concrete section.

Alpuente sits at about 1,000 metres in the mountains of the Alto Turia, in inland Valencia, overlooked by the ruined castle on the great rock above the village. The Muslim street plan still shows, and stretches of the medieval walls survive with several towers and gateways. After the Caliphate of Córdoba collapsed, this was the capital of an independent taifa, ruled by the Beni Kasim until 1092.

The Torre Aljama holds the hall where the Courts of the Kingdom of Valencia met in 1319 and 1383, and the church of Nuestra Señora de la Piedad stands on the site of a former mosque. The Aqueduct of Los Arcos, some twenty pointed arches long, once brought spring water into the village. The municipality is also known for dinosaur trackways around 140 million years old, and the Museo Paleontológico is devoted to the fossils found in the area.

Alpuente joined Los Pueblos Más Bonitos de España in 2026. The label is awarded by a private association, not the state: a village applies and is audited against around 40 criteria, from how its historic buildings are conserved to the upkeep of its streets, and members are reviewed and can lose it. Alpuente is one of 6 members in Comunidad Valenciana, out of 126 in Spain. See all heritage towns in Comunidad Valenciana.

Alpuente is not easy to reach by public transport. By car from Valencia, take the CV-35 to Titaguas, then the CV-345 to Alpuente; alternatively, take the CV-35 to Casinos, then the CV-380 toward Villar del Arzobispo, and pick up the CV-345 via Higueruelas and La Yesa. For food in the town itself, there are at least three bars on Avenida San Blas: Restaurante-Bar Victoria at no. 9 (tel. 96 210 10 02), Restaurante La Hoz at no. 4 (tel. 96 210 12 03), and Bar El Molinero at no. 5 (tel. 96 210 10 06).

Not all outlying hamlets have a bar or restaurant.