Medieval Villena

Villena is a town inland from Alicante and once a year holds a Medieval market on its older streets surrounding the castle.  The market is like the one they set up in Alicante which I have mentioned in a previous post, where the streets are decorated with strings of medieval-style flags, various acts take place to inform and entertain and stalls selling artisan goods and food line the main paths.

Streets

a street in Villena during the medieval market

You will also encounter old-style games and toys for kids strewn around the streets made of wood or simple materials.  There was a small Ferris wheel and also this merry-go-round.












There were pens with farm animals in which you could pet like, my favourite, a donkey, rabbits, hens, sheep and even some goats with 4 horns on their heads, which I have never seen before!!!

Goat in Villena with 4 horns on its heads

There were also various entertainment that people could participate in like a treasure hunt that you do in groups to find different things throughout the town within a time limit.  There was a guy with eagles and owls showing you how he trains them, and there were archers who had organised a competition.

archery competition in the medieval market in Villena

The good thing about people from Villena is that they take their festivals seriously and lots of regular people went out with their families and friends dressed up in medieval-style costume.  

Food

We sat down to have a snack before lunch in one of the temporary restaurants set up for this special weekend.  The smell of the barbecue is what attracts you from afar if you are a meat lover and if you are a simple food lover like me, the piles of squid rings or fried potatoes and huge slices of bread draw you in even further.

There were 4 of us altogether so we ordered 2 dishes to share and a drink each.  We ordered 'patatas bravas' (fried potatoes with spicy sauce as I'm sure you already know) and 'chipirones' (baby squid, fried, served on shredded lettuce and drizzled with lemon).

We were brought our beers in a can to serve in plastic cups and a basket (which could have been a little cleaner) with forks and a long slice of bread to share between the 4 of us to accompany the food.

Now you have to be prepared that eating at these temporary restaurants are going to be more expensive than a regular place but to our surprise we were brought a bill for 40€!!!!  We looked at the hand scribbled note and totted it up ourselves to find that the waiter added it up to be 10€ more expensive.  We assume this was a simple mistake but it goes to show that, like in one of my previous posts, you have to always check the bill.  He did apologise and obviously sorted it out.






Castle and sword fighting

On a more entertaining note we visited the 12th Century castle of Villena, called Atalaya Castle, for a quick look around it and also to see a sword fighting display (or whatever you call it, maybe you could correct me), where people dress up in armour made using designs of the time and play-act some short fights with shields and swords or similar weapons.
It is a well preserved castle with a simple shape which served as a protection fortress for the local people during battles.  It has a tall keep which is higher than other fortifications and was built using the rammed earth technique.  There is just a small 7x7mt space inside surrounded by walls 3.5mt thick.

inside the castle grounds of Villena

It was very interesting in that they explained something about the elements of the armour, helmets, swords and shields and also about fighting techniques in between each battle.  Also, being within the castle walls it brought that extra ambience.

I apologise for the quality of this photo but I didn't realise at the time it was blurred (photo with my mobile phone)

I have a short video of one of the practise duals that I will put up in this space later.

For more information about the history of the castle you can check out this wikipedia page.

Entrance to the museum

Archaeological museum

Information about the finds

The town has an archaeological museum where you can find out more about the hoard of treasure of gold pieces found in the 1960s which date from the Bronze Age.  You enter through a pretty interior patio.

Around this Santiago Square is the church of Santiago and the festival museum.

Villena is well worth a visit, especially during its main fiestas, one of which is the Moors and Christians celebration in September each year.