Vilamuseu yesterday hosted the opening of the exhibition Guardians of Stone. The Castles of Alicante, on loan from the MARQ Foundation and the Provincial Archaeological Museum of Alicante. The event was attended by the provincial deputy for Culture, César Augusto Asencio; the mayor of La Vila Joiosa, Andreu Verdú; the managing director of MARQ, Josep Albert Cortés; the technical director of the Archaeological Museum of Alicante, Manuel Olcina; the curator of the exhibition, José Luis Menéndez; the representative of the Banco Sabadell Foundation, sponsor of the exhibition, José María López and members of the Municipal Corporation.
During the speeches, the deputy of Culture, César Augusto, wanted to highlight the accessible nature of this exhibition "which contains QR codes with sound information, a map with some of the fortifications in three dimensions to be able to touch them" said the deputy. César Augusto invited all those present to stop at the part of the exhibition dedicated to Vila Joiosa and thanked the Town Hall for their work in hosting this exhibition. For his part, the mayor of the town Andreu Verdú, also wanted to show his gratitude to the Provincial Council and the MARQ for this exhibition and the various collaborations with Vilamuseu and encouraged the citizens of the Vila to visit 'Guardians of Stone. The castles of Alicante' "an exhibition to learn more about our history and to promote cultural tourism in our province" said Verdú.
The exhibition, which will remain at Vilamuseu until 20 October, shows the great wealth of the province of Alicante, which has more than 230 castles, fortifications, coastal towers, towers of refuge, fortified houses, forts and batteries. These 'stone guardians' represent a very important part of the cultural heritage of Alicante's cities, towns and villages.
Throughout history, the singularity of the orography has turned the territory of Alicante into a crossroads and frontier between kingdoms and cultures, being the direct scene of the confrontation for power and land or the fear of the peaceful inhabitants of the coast before the dreaded corsair raids. The exhibition presents, through entertaining texts and multiple curiosities that lovers of castle tourism will enjoy, several surprising routes through more than a thousand years of fortifications.
Guardians of Stone. Los Castillos de Alicante' is a travelling exhibition that invites visitors to tour the province of Alicante in search of these monuments. The exhibition is complemented and themed in Vilamuseu with information about the important fortresses of Vila Joiosa, declared assets of cultural interest: both the Renaissance city walls and its medieval castle and the Gothic church-fortress of La Asunción (one of the three in the province of Alicante), the watchtowers of Aguiló and El Charco (two of the best preserved in the province) and the five orchard towers (Dalt, Baix, Torreta, Simeón and Campaneta).
As a local contribution to enrich the exhibition, some pieces related to attacks suffered by the walls of the Vila are exhibited, such as large stone balls that were launched with primitive artillery pieces called bombardas (bombards). Also on display are some old costumes from the Moors and Christians Festivities, whose origin in the Vila were the parades of the urban militias that, armed by the Generalitat, defended the Vila in the first instance in the event of a corsair attack. The first known festivities date back to 1752, when there were still attacks by Berber fleets.
