Ontinyent

The land around Ontinyent has been occupied for a very long time. The earliest traces go back to the final stages of the Neolithic period, visible at sites like El Castellar and the Arenal de la Costa, the latter also showing Chalcolithic characteristics. The Bronze Age left the richest prehistoric record: during what archaeologists call the Valencian Bronze period, from around 1900 BC, the area supported a network of hilltop settlements focused on farming and herding.

The most significant site is the Cabezo de Navarro, where finds include polished stone tools, plain pottery, and copper and arsenical bronze awls. Schematic rock art survives at the Abrigo del Gigante. There is no evidence that Phoenician or Greek colonisers reached this territory directly, though Iberian peoples were present from at least the 2nd century BC, and several Iberian sites were later shared with Roman settlers.

The Iberian population here used wheel-thrown pottery, iron tools, and coinage, likely connected to the nearby mint at Saitabi, along with their own writing system. The most significant Ibero-Roman sites include La Casa Calvo and El Pontó.

The church of Santa María is the most prominent building in town. Its bell tower stands 72 metres tall, making it the highest in the Comunidad Valenciana and the second highest in Spain. The church blends Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance elements. Inside, the high altar features nineteen paintings by the artist José Segrelles, installed in 1945, and two works by sculptor Mariano Benlliure: a figure of La Soledad and a recumbent Christ. At the entrance sits a stone tomb that once held the remains of Lope Vaillo de Calderón, a captain involved in the conquest of the town.

The Old Bridge — El Puente Viejo — crosses the river Clariano and dates to around the 16th century. A 2018 renovation revealed a previously unknown arch buried under sediment. The Carmelite convent has been a closed papal community since 1575, and the convent structure itself was built in 1500–1501. The Teatro Echegaray on Plaza de Santo Domingo opened in 1918, built by a group of local industrialists; it was named after the playwright José de Echegaray and fully modernised in 2010. Just outside town, Pou Clar is a natural site where the river has carved stone pools deep enough for swimming, widely used by locals in summer.