I thought of a big article with the appropriate name, but it’s really a lot of material that needs to be prepared, it’s difficult to do at once, and, perhaps, to read, so I’ll slowly prepare it and post it in parts as the material is ready and photos are selected. I’ll probably learn even more than 10, and then I’ll choose what’s more interesting (so I’ll be grateful for your comments)!
You may have already partially seen some of my materials - well, no worries! I'm sure you'll forgive me :))
. Castle of Santa Barbara.
. Breakfast with sea view
. Conquest of the sea
. Walk to Muchavista Beach
. Eat churros with hot chocolate
. Attend a local festival
. Eat the RIGHT paella
. Take a tram ride.
.
Shopping and discounts
10 things to do in Alicantee. Part 10
. Go to a bullfight.
So, part 1. Santa Barbara Castle.
Let's start with the banal, with what can be found in any guidebook or even just a free map of the city, which can be obtained at any tourist info office - with the Santa Barbara Castle on Mount Benacantlil, towering 169 m above the city and the beach.
That is why the panoramic views from the mountain are simply fantastic, in all directions, and the small towers undoubtedly decorate it very much. You don’t want to let go of the camera!
I want to stand there longer, enjoying the open spaces! 
By the way, you definitely won’t be alone at the top - seagulls love this place: 
The castle dates back to the last centuries of Moorish rule, IX-XII, and in the XIII, when, as a result of the war for liberation from Muslims, the Reconquista, this area returned to Christian hands, it received its name, Santa Barbara, in honor of the patron saint of the city of Alicante ( the male patron is San Nicolas, the cathedral named after him is also located nearby, between the mountain and one of the main streets of the city, La Rambla).
Today, Santa Barbara is one of the symbols of the city, along with the embankment, lined with a three-color mosaic in the form of waves (more on that later).
You should definitely climb the castle! The most correct option would be to climb there on foot - it’s quite easy, there are several quite convenient paths going there, no special shoes or special physical training are required. I don’t recommend doing this on a July-August afternoon, when the sun mercilessly bakes the top of your head. And take some water with you (you can buy it in the little bar upstairs, but you have to get there first!).
In the photo: one of the paths up, perhaps the most picturesque, but far from the most obvious...
For those who can’t walk at all, there is an elevator; the entrance to it is marked on the map with a green arrow (blue walking path to the top). You can also drive in by car (the road for cars is marked with a red arrow, you can also walk there), there is free parking at the top, but on weekends and holidays it’s not easy to find a place. 
The Santa Barbara fortress is called the hallmark of Alicante. It has observation platforms from where tourists can admire magnificent views of the city, port and sea. You can visit the castle completely free of charge. Entrance tickets are sold here only for special exhibitions.
The local Mount Benacantil, which towers above the city, is also called the “face of the Moor”. Its slopes have bizarre shapes. The fortress, which seems to emerge from the rocks, is one of the largest Spanish structures of its kind.
Description of the fortress
Santa Barbara has three levels that occupy different places on the slopes. Their construction was carried out in several stages. The oldest part was built at an elevation of 166 meters above sea level. Here, only the foundations of the Hall of Fame, the English Bastion and the Engineering Park, which were built in the Middle Ages, managed to survive. The upper esplanade is home to fragments of an ancient fortress and the main watchtower of the Moorish period, La Torreta.
The middle level accommodated structures on its territory that were built from 1562 to 1580. We are talking about the Barbara Chapel, which has survived only in fragments, the Hall of Philip II, the Queen's Bastion and the Military Building.
The lower level is equipped with parking and approaches to this historical site. Near Santa Barbara, in the Old Town, you can visit Erete Park. This is a traditional venue for mass events.
The current state of the fortress
Santa Barbara welcomes visitors year-round. Here is the wonderful observation deck of the Esplanade Macho del Castillo. Guests of Alicante walk through the halls of the historical museum, which houses restored outbuildings. Here you can see heraldry belonging to the ancient families of the city and antique ceramics, as well as visit a photo gallery. An exhibition of siege and battering weapons is equipped at a special site.
In summer, the fortress is the venue for “full moon nights,” theatrical performances and other events. The Square of Arms is used to show children's performances and concert programs. On the territory of the Engineering Park, you can visit a craft fair. The 5 halls of Santa Barbara were perfect for hosting the large exhibition “The Fortress of the Ring”, organized by the Tolkien Society of Spain.
Historical reference
Benacantil has been inhabited by people since ancient times, as evidenced by archaeological finds. The fortress was founded by the Moors in the 11th century. It was of strategic importance for the city. From Benacantil you could see everything that was happening in the area, on the roads and in the bay. The fortress was conquered by Christians in the 13th century. In the next century, it was significantly expanded. Carlos I was the initiator of the construction of fortifications, and Philip II - the outbuildings and main halls.
Santa Barbara was repeatedly shelled and destroyed. By the 18th century, it ceased to fulfill its main function - defense against enemies. A prison was created here, after which the fortress was abandoned. In 1963, it was reconstructed and turned into a tourist site.
legends
People have created more than one legend about Santa Barbara, as well as about other Spanish monuments of the Middle Ages. It is necessary to mention the romantic history associated with the era when the Moors ruled in these places.
The Spanish nobleman Riccardo fell in love with Princess Zahara, whose father was a Muslim ruler. The girl reciprocated his feelings. Meetings between lovers took place outside the walls of the fortress. The young people dreamed of starting a family, but Zakhara’s parent had already decided on a future husband for their daughter. He was to become the Sultan of Damascus. After the princess learned this news, she was overcome by a serious illness. The old Moor wanted, at all costs, to save his daughter from death, but he could not give permission for her marriage to a Christian. Then the ruler decided to cheat. He gave the go-ahead for his daughter’s marriage to a Spanish nobleman, but on the condition that the color of the earth would turn white in the morning. Otherwise, Zahara’s lover will be hanged from the tower. The princess spent the whole night in prayer. At the same time, the orange trees began to shed their petals. In the morning, local residents thought that the territory of the fortress was covered with snow. She turned completely white. But the ruler did not keep his word and hanged Ricardo before sunrise. Having learned about this, the girl threw herself from the tower and crashed on the rocks. The ruler followed her out of grief. From that time on, the deep stone folds of Benacantil imprinted the face of the princess's father.
The hero of the second legend is the commandant of Alicante, Nicholas Paris. In 1248, the Arabs left these places and Alfonso of Castile began to rule the city. In 1296, Jaime II of Aragon and his army attacked the fortress. Local warriors held out until the last. When the Moors killed Paris, they saw in his hand the keys that opened the main gate. They couldn’t even take them from the dead commandant, he held them so tightly. They had to cut off the hero's hand to open the gate. Later, a monument to the commandant appeared in Alicante, and the castle's coat of arms contains an image of a hand with a bunch of keys. Since then, no one else has captured Santa Barbara.
Tourist Information
The castle is accessible to visitors every day. From 1.04. until 30.09. it is open from ten o'clock in the morning to ten in the evening, and from 1.10. until 31.03. - until eight o'clock in the evening.
Let's go to the Santa Barbara fortress! Finally, we chose a whole day to walk around Alicante and see with our own eyes the Santa Barbara fortress, not from afar, but from the inside. I had been here many times before, but I always left the fortress “for later.”
I didn’t want to gallop through Europe here; you need an hour or two to wander around the vast territory of the fortress: have breakfast, enjoying the view of the sea and the city, delve a little into history and learn about facts and myths.
Interesting fact: Local residents say that when you look at the mountain from the La Santa Cruz area, its appearance resembles a human face. Residents say “the face of the Moor”, which is a symbol of the city. Some historians believe that the name of Mount Benacantil comes from the Arabic "pinna" or "peña" in Latin (pinna) and "laqanti" - an adjective used to describe the Arabs of the Laqant province in Alicante.
Do you want to know the legend of Mount Bencantil, which is popularly known as “Cara del Moro” (translated as “face of the Moor”)? Well, listen)) Or rather, read the legend of Princess Zahra and the face of the Moor.
One day during a ball, Princess Zahra went out into one of the courtyards of the fortress to admire the beautiful sea view. Suddenly, a stranger’s voice was heard from the darkness: a young man approached and passionately declared his love.
His courage and sincerity captivated the princess, and upon learning that the young man was a Christian, Zahra warned him about the dangers of staying in the castle. The princess helped her lover escape through a secret corridor, and she returned to the ball radiant and happy.
Seeing his beautiful daughter, the father immediately offered her as a wife to the Sultan of Damascus.
From that day Zahra began to get sick. Her mood alternated between bouts of unbridled joy and despair. The nurse immediately suspected something was wrong and began to keep an eye on the princess. And then one day, she managed to meet Zahra’s lover, who introduced himself as Ricardo de Oñate.
He told the nurse that he and his father were Christians, from a noble family that fought most fiercely against the Muslim ruler. His family decided to leave their homeland, but Riccardo himself could not do this, because his heart remained here, with Zahra.
The nurse immediately went to the ruler to tell about what had happened. The father, distraught with rage, ordered the young man to be seized and executed for invading the palace.
The pain struck Princess Zahra, and, seeing how her skin turned pale and her eyes dimmed, the ruler softened somewhat. “I will allow you to marry him only if tomorrow the earth around you turns white. And if not, he will be executed,” he said. All night the unfortunate princess prayed for a miracle.
In the morning everyone was amazed: the orange and almond trees were drowning in white blossom! When Zahra came to her father to tell him about the miracle and ask him to change his mind, on the highest tower she saw the lifeless body of her lover. The treacherous ruler did not keep his word, and the princess rushed to the dead Riccardo and, hugging him, jumped off the cliff in despair.
Since then, the image of a cruel ruler grieving for his daughter has been imprinted on the mountain. For centuries, his face is distorted by the winds, the rains beat and the sun scorches.
A bit about history
Not the most positive legend, well, let's get closer to history. On the slopes of Mount Benacantil, archaeological sites from the Bronze Age were found mixed with traces of Iberian and Roman culture. But researchers believe that the Santa Barbara fortress was built at the end of the 9th century, during the reign of the Muslims.
On December 4, 1248, the fortress was captured by the troops of Alfonso X of Castile, who later went down in Spanish history as King Alfonso X the Wise. It was on the fourth of December that St. Barbara's Day was celebrated, which is why the fortress received its well-known name - Santa Barbara.
By the way, if we’re already talking about Saint Barbara, let’s remember that in 1108, during the times of Ancient Rus', Princess Varvara brought the relics of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara to Kyiv. Now they are kept in the Vladimir Cathedral.
In 1296, Jaime II the Just began the reconstruction of the fortress. Santa Barbara has undergone various changes under almost every ruler. The fortress came under fire several times.
In the 18th century, the fortress no longer had a strategic military purpose and even served as a prison building during the brutal Civil War (1936 - 1939).
Let's dive into history a little more.
The enmity between the monarchists and the republicans reached its peak in 1930. The chairman of the government under King Alfonso XIII, Miguel Primo de Rivera, resigned because he could not fulfill his promises and did not achieve the national unity of the country, to which he had stubbornly worked for seven years.
The elections of 1931 resulted in a Republican victory. Alfonso XIII responded to this state of affairs with deep wisdom and sincere love for his people. To prevent a fraternal war, he renounced the throne. The monarchical style of government in Spain was peacefully replaced by a republican one. It would seem that the conflict is over and we need to live peacefully and amicably. But in 1936, nationalist sentiments throughout the country were activated; they were formed under the influence of Hitler’s actions in Germany.
The outbreak of the war was provoked by the death of the Republican officer Castillo, who was killed by the nationalists. Revenge was quick - the murder of one of the leaders of the right forces, Calvo Sotelo. These events developed into a rebellion against the established system.
The fortress of Santa Barbara became a prison, first for nationalists, and then for adherents of the Second Republic. Today you can still see engravings and inscriptions of prisoners of the fortress here.
For a long time, the fortress remained abandoned, and only in 1963, after restoration, the fortress was opened to the public. In the same year, the famous elevator appeared, which transports passengers inside the mountain (lift height - 142.70 m).
The Santa Barbara fortress consists of three buildings.
The most famous of them is “La torreta”, this is the old tower of Torre del Homenaje. At one time it served as a fortification. Archaeologists attribute its foundation to the 11th – 13th centuries. Over the course of history, the fortress changed its purpose; there was both a hospital and the governor’s house.
The middle part of the fortress is also equally important. These walls witnessed the events of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
The lower part of the fortress, Revellín del Bon Repós, dates back to the 18th century. Today it functions as a parking lot and observation deck. Here you will enjoy stunning views.
There are many cafes on the territory of the fortress, we decided to have breakfast in one of them: the view is beautiful, but the food leaves much to be desired. But even the frozen cheesecake and blurry Cannelloni couldn’t spoil our mood and overall impression :) Next time we’ll come here to admire the view of Alicante at night and just drink tea; we’ll definitely have dinner somewhere else :)
There, in the fortress, you can visit an exhibition and sale of paraphernalia from films. What we saw there can be seen here.
Schedule:
Winter period
(from October 1 to March 31): from 10:00 to 20:00 every day.
Summer period
(from April 1 to June 30 and all September) from 10:00 to 22:00 every day.
July and August
from 10:00 to 22:00.
On performance days the fortress is open until 23.45
Arriving in the Spanish Mediterranean resort city of Alicante, it is impossible not to visit the most famous historical landmark and cultural heritage of the country - the Santa Barbara Fortress (Spanish name Castillo de Santa Barbara). Santa Barbara Castle is located in the center of Alicante, on top of Mount Benacantil or Mount Benacantil at an altitude of 166 meters above sea level, within walking distance of the beach and other central attractions of the city. Tourists from all over the country and the world come to visit this fortress.
Castle Santa Barbara can rightfully be called the hallmark of Alicante; it can be seen from all corners of the city.
View of Mount Benacantil and Santa Barbara Castle
They say that the Benacantil rock is shaped like a face. That is why the mountain is also called “the face of the Moor” (la cara del moro). True, no matter how hard we tried, we never noticed this similarity. However, it is precisely for this reason that the outline of a face is clearly visible on the city’s coat of arms. The Spaniards themselves attach such serious importance to the mountain and the castle on its top; they even reflected this fact on their coat of arms.
How to get to Santa Barbara Castle
Although the mountain seems tall, and the castle at its very top looks tiny and so far away, you can climb Mount Benacantil and walk to Santa Barbara Castle in just 10-15 minutes from the center of Alicante. There are lifts, both free and paid - on a high-speed elevator.
Paid high-speed elevator to the Santa Barbara Fortress
The entrance to the high-speed elevator, which can take you to the very top of the mountain in just one minute and go straight to the heart of the Snata Barbara Castle, is located on Jovellanos Boulevard, opposite Carrer de Jovellanos 1.
There is a fee for the elevator ride, the cost is 2.70 Euro per person. Payment via terminal. Children under 4 years of age and people over 65 years of age are admitted free of charge.
The paid elevator operates daily from 10:00 to 19:45. From 19:45 to 23:10 you can take the elevator up and down for free. From 11:10 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., the elevator operates only for descent, also free of charge.
This is the only thing you have to pay for, not counting souvenirs and a cafe, if you want to buy something or have a snack. Everything else in the castle: inspection, exhibitions, museums are free.
Free climb to the Santa Barbara Fortress
You can climb Mount Benacantil and go to the Santa Barbara Fortress completely free of charge. The rise takes only 10-20 minutes, in . Santa Cruz is the oldest district of the city, in which the way of life of medieval Spain has been preserved, a very picturesque place, we recommend taking a walk.
In the evening, when it gets dark, the observation decks of the fortress offer an equally impressive panorama of the city and the coast, if not more beautiful than the day...
Why is the fortress called Santa Barbara! Interesting?
Based on history, on December 4, 1248, on the day of Saint Barbara (Barbara), Prince Alfonso of Castile, the future King Alfonso X the Wise, with force and heroic courage won the bastions from the Arabs. It was in honor of the day of St. Barbara, which coincided with the capture of the citadel, that the Fortress was named Santa Barbara.
The name of the fortress also corresponds to the Santa Barbara TV series of the same name. Remember this one? The longest series in the world, the developments of which were closely followed by our grandmothers and mothers.
History of the Santa Barbara Fortress
After the conquest of the castle by King Alfonso, in 1296 King Jaime II of Aragon recaptured the fortress, meeting and conquering fierce resistance in the process. A detachment of defenders, led by the brave commandant of the fortress, Nicholas Paris, defended every centimeter of the castle as best they could, but it still did not help them. According to legend, Nicholas Paris died clutching his sword in one hand and the keys to the fortress in the other. The enemies received the keys only when they cut off his hand. The commandant, with his heroic deed and courage, earned the recognition of not only his compatriots, but also his enemies. A monument of honor and glory was erected to him at the highest point of the fortress. Also on the coat of arms of the fortress there is a symbol corresponding to that historical event - a hand clutching the keys to the gate, as a sign of the steadfastness of its defenders.
In 1691, the Santa Barbara fortress came under fire from a French squadron. And during the War of the Spanish Succession in 1701-1714, it was held by the British for three years.
In 1873, the castle of Santa Barbara, along with the city, was fired upon by Spanish rebels from the frigate Numancia.
From the beginning of the eighteenth century, the fortress gradually lost its military significance and its buildings began to be used as a prison. So it remained in a semi-abandoned state until 1963, when, after restoration, it was opened to public visits. We can see the walls and territory of the fortress restored and close to the centuries-old history. To this day, the castle is regularly restored and maintained in good condition.
Proudly stretching its grandeur over the Mediterranean Sea, the Castle of Santa Barbara rises on Mount Benacantil. It is located almost in the center of the famous Spanish resort of Alicante at an altitude of 166 m in close proximity to the sea. The fortress is the main tourist attraction in the city and can be seen from almost anywhere in the city. And from its observation platforms there is simply a stunning view of the picturesque bay, city and port.
The first fortifications on the rock took place in the 3rd century BC, when the ancient Greeks founded their settlement here. And then this territory passed to the ancient Romans and then to the Iberians. And in the 9th century, the Moors (Muslims) began to build their citadel on this rock, and it already had a look more or less close to that of the castle today. This citadel was the most important strategic point in those days and could control all entrances to the city. From it you can see the entire bay, as well as nearby areas right up to the mountains. No one dared to attack these impregnable walls. But the castle dates back to the 13th century, when it received its current name and came under Christian rule. So, on December 4, 1248, namely on St. Barbara’s Day, the future king Alfonso the Tenth, who bore the nickname the Wise and was then still the Infante Alfonso of Castile, recaptured this fortress from the Moors. That's why it was named after Saint Barbara.
The castle was rebuilt many times over several centuries, it withstood several sieges and was bombarded by the British. The most serious reconstructions of the fortress took place in the Middle Ages. Among the most significant architectural parts of the castle are the Tower of Honors, the Chapel of St. Barbara, the English Bastion and the Queen's Bastion, the Philip II Hall, and the Governor's House. In addition, on the territory of the fortress there are cannon platforms and a powder warehouse, an underground prison, drawbridges, various residences and bastions. As for the cannons, on some of them you can see images of a double-headed eagle and Russian-language inscriptions. This indicates that these guns were probably captured.
Currently Various exhibitions are held in the castle premises. These are works of modern and ultra-modern art, graphics, exhibitions of avant-garde painting, photography, sculpture, intricate and whimsical installations.
To get to Santa Barbara Castle without any difficulty, you should use a special elevator, in which a green arrow indicates the approximate location of the passage to it. The fare there and back is about 2.4 euros. The schedule needs to be clarified. You can also get there by car, following the red arrow on the roadway and leaving your vehicle (if there is space, of course) in the free small parking lot at the top. For lovers of hiking there is also the opportunity to get to the fortress. To do this, there are two walking passages, indicated by blue and red arrows on the diagram.
Opening hours of the Santa Barbara Castle:
