Domeño Viejo
Spain is rich in it’s cultural and historical heritage. Hemmingway’s vision of Spain, abundant in fiestas and bullfighting, is hard to resist, but for me the largest cache of Spanish bullion lay in the fraught and ever-changing history of the Iberian peninsula, and so it is with this in mind that I bring you the first of (hopefully) many articles on sites of historical interest in and around Valencia.
It is hard to drive any distance here and not be confronted with a crumbling castle on a distant hill top or the remains of an old defensive wall battered into submission in a battle long forgotten. Domeño Viejo is one such ruin that might well catch the eye of a conscientious observer. A friend, Javi, first told me of the plight of the old village one hot afternoon as we swam in the Loriguilla dam and it makes quite a tale and inspired me to find out more.
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| The crumbling ruins of the old castle. |
The ancient pueblo of Old Domeño has been interred in a watery grave beneath the Loriguilla dam, some 45kms or so up the CV35 from Valencia, since the valley was flooded in the late-1970‘s. All that now remains are the ruins of the old church and castle, both of which escaped the fate of the town by virtue of their more lofty locations. Both still sit several hundred metres above where the pueblo once was. However, even these remains take some searching out, but once found the views alone more than reward the avid explorer. The views, from the castle in particular, are absolutely stunning and on a clear day give one a 360° panoramic vista that can take the breath away.
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| A small sign, easily missed, indicates the old Church yard. |
Both the church and the castle can be found off the CV-35 about 10km beyond Losa del Obispo in the direction of Ademuz. The tracks, turning left of the CV35, are accessible by car but rough, so not to be attempted in wet weather unless you have a 4X4, but then a clear day is best anyway, for the view if nothing else. The church can easily be missed with only the arched gateway and one perimeter wall remaining. However, the site is marked by a small sign and, if you get out of the car, it is possible to peer over this wall and see the ancient graveyard, with its’ traditional burial caskets, built one on top of the other. Now all empty, at one time these stone carved sites would have held the bodies of the local gentry.
Archaeological evidence suggests that this valley was occupied as early as the 4th or 5th Century B.C. with flint tools having been unearthed in local caves. Later Bronze Age settlers also left behind ceramic shards to hint at localised cultural advances. From about 500 B.C. much of what is now Valenciana was settled by the Edetani, a tribe of Iberians and the Loriguilla valley was no different. The Edetani, who counted Lliria as their capital, were successful on a localised scale and their impact was felt all across the region. Following the First Punic War (247-241B.C) Hamilcar Barca (Hannibal’s father) led an expedirion to the Iberian Peninsula in 237 B.C. founding the city of Carthage (named after his beloved home city, also called Cathage) on the Mediterranean coast on the site of the modern day city, Cartageña. The Romanisation of the Iberian peninsula began sometime in the 3rd Century B.C. But following the defeat of Hannibal (in Italy) and the Carthaginians in the Iberian peninsula (c.206 B.C.) the Second Punic War came to a close and the Romans began a long war of attrition against the determined Iberian tribes determined to bring Iberia under unified Roman rule. But the Iberian tribes put up a resolute defence and despite the centuries of repression that followed the whole peninsula never truly came under complete Roman rule, largely due to the unending mountainous terrain (very few Roman roads were constructed here unlike elsewhere) and the subsequent difficulty with maintaining adequate supply and communication lines. That, and the often long distances between settlements of any size made life difficult for the invading Romans, but also contributed to the relative isolation of the various Iberian kingdoms, leading much later on to the distinct identities, cultures and languages we still see today across the peninsula, facts that no doubt served to undermine the collective Spanish psyche nullifying that unified sense of nationalism found elsewhere in Europe until very recently.
In the autumn of 409, as Roman influence and power began to fade across the Mediterranean and a year before the Goth, Alaric, sacked Rome, three tribes, the Alans, the Sueves and the Vandals crossed the passes and cols of the Pyrenees to enter the Iberian peninsula from their homelands in Aquitaine, perhaps by invitation of the Roman garrisons guarding said routes (another story in itself). These new invaders finally displaced the Iberian tribes and by about 480 had all but subdued and conquered the peninsula (apart from Galicia). Their reign continued until 711 when the next wave of invaders, the Berbers, under Arab control of General Tariq, ousted the Goths and began the Islamic occupation of the peninsula that would last the best part of a 1000 years leaving behind a unique cultural and historical heritage that still resonates across Spain and Portugal to this day.
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| From the top the views are amazing. |
It was the Muslims who first built a castle on a small hilltop above Old Domeño, though evidence of that is now hard to see given the ramshackle state of the ruin. The castle, sitting atop a small flat-topped hill with panoramic views all round, would have been easily defensible if attacked. The approaches are steep and rocky and any attackers would have been assailed from on high by archers, slingers and anyone capable of throwing a rock, making it a dangerous and difficult place to breach. Today however, if one climbs up the roped-off track to the castle ruins, it becomes clear that for any dwellers there, this would not have been the place to sit out any sort of lengthy siege. The castle itself must have been small and pokey, with little storage space for food, water and arms and would surely have been extremely cold in the depths of winter due to its’ highly exposed position.
Despite these potential drawbacks, the castle remained occupied even after the Muslims were defeated and the Christian armies of Don Jaime I of Aragon occupied the region in 1238. Old Domeño then came under the remit of the Chelva Manor, owned by Pedro Fernandez de Azagra, Lord of Albarracín.
The castle was partially renovated during the First Carlist War in the 1830’s but appears to have fallen into disrepair once again soon afterwards and now all that remains are a few walls and fallen rocks that merely hint at the building that once dominated the landscape.
The ruins are far from spectacular (I must be honest) but the views alone make it a worthwhile trip and climb, and if like me, you love your history, then to stand in amongst it is reward enough. Afterwards, one can drive down through the tranquil Loriguilla valley and find any number of beautiful, deserted, shady spots to swim and cool off on a hot day. Take a picnic and a good book, along with your camera and imagination, then after a spot of exploring, drift off in your mind to time less complicated and dream of the romance of times gone by.
Mini the Moocher - Travel Correspondent...back soon with more tourist stuff!!!
