The valley of ricote

Just a few kilometres from the main 301 road to Albacete the last Moorish redoubt in eastern Spain can be found: the valley of ricote. This is one of the most little known and beautiful of all places along the fertile banks of the river Segura, where the mudejars remained until 1614.

This entrance to the valley begins in Archena one of the most famous spas in the region used by the romand in times of caius Cornelius the group of hotels and thermal baths preserves its olf 19th century atmosphere in the middle of a leafy garden with poplars pines, and palm trees on the banks of the river segura.

On leaving Archena the detour to Ulea enters the valley of Ricote, crossing citrus groves in the neadows at the bottom of the valley lies a complex network of large and small irrigation channels, distributing water around the plots. Since preroman times and particularly during the Islamic period the land was cultivated here to take advantage of the then abundant river Segura.

Along our route we come across the agricultural towns of Villanueva del Segura and ulea. Further upstream the landscape becomes narrower and narrower until it passes through the small gorge before getting to Ojos.

Returning through the valley we now reach a narrow gorge and defile of Solvente. The water stored behind the dam of the Azud de Ojos is a goos spot for fishing and canoening. And from here we may continue towards blanca, dominated by the Peña Negra on top of which the remains of the old Muslim castle may still be seen.

Blanca still preserves the traditional esparto craftwork with two workshops where they make good quality mats and carpets. Five kilometres from Blanca in Abarán there is a route that leads to four of the numerous norias which raised water from the river to the irrigated areas, up until the 12th century. It is interesting to pay a visit to the noria de la Hoya de Don García entirely built of wood in 1818 or to the Noria Grande very close to the town built in 1805 and reconstructed in wood in the fifties one of the largest waterwheels still operating in Spain with a diameter in 11.9 metres.

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