Since the castle was up an incredibly steep mountain, we decided not to climb it. We asked at the tourist office and they told us we could buy a ticket for the little tourist train that went up the mountain. Great!
Oh how misleading the word train can be.
Standing by the roadside under the 'tourist train' sign, we were wondering how said train could get around with no train-tracks, when Emma hesitantly raised her hand pointing at oncoming traffic, and said 'I think that's our ride...' In a strange tone of voice.
Excitedly I looked around, only to spot with dawning horror...the Pink Monstrosity.
Oh what I would have done to put a paper bag on my head as we slowly jolted along the narrow roads up the mountains, the locals smirking at us as we passed.
Finally we reached our destination and happily fled our mode of transport. The Castle was only a couple of Euro which I thought was extremely reasonable considering it took about half a day to see everything. First however, as we were extremely hungry, we had followed Lonely Planet's advice and packed a picnic. We set off wandering looking for the perfect picnic spot. We eventually found some picnic tables beneath old pine trees next to a crumbling castle wall and looking over the city.
The door to the entrance of the castle awaited us.
Beautiful old stone steps, and the shield emblem of one of the castles many occupants at one time.
A view from the battlements
One of the cooler things about this castle is it's location. Built strategically on the old Roman road Via Augusta -the road from Rome across the Pyrenees and down the Mediterranean coast.
In the 11th C it fell into the hands of the Moors - architectural styles from this time can still be seen in parts of the castle, and in fact most of the walls still standing are Moorish. Finally, in 1239 King James I of Aragon recaptured the castle.
Unfortunately in 1748 a large earthquake shook Xativa destroying a significant amount of the castle and leaving it in its ruined state of today - before this it was in extremely good condition.
The high mountain location and the layer upon layer of walls made this castle seem impenetrable. In fact it took King James I five months of siege to take it.
A small chapel off to one side, and the arrow-slits that riddled the castle walls.
A view of the city from the castle walls
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