Our 3rd Port of Call: Alicante

Our day found us in the port city of Alicante, located on the glorious Mediterranean Sea. Founded by Phocaea Greeks in 325 BC, the city was captured in 201 BC by the Romans. It was then under Moorish domination from 718 to 1249. It was later incorporated into the kingdom of Aragon and was besieged by the French in 1709 and by the Federalists of Cartagena in 1873. What history!

We began the day with one of our more beautiful sunrises, viewed from our well-loved balcony.

We decided to preserve our energies and took the little 5€ train into the city.

We were greeted with this amazing building. Casa Carbonell stands at Number 1 on La Explanada de España, this is one of the most striking buildings in Alicante. Built by J. Vidal Ramos between 1922 and 1925, it is said to have been constructed upon the orders of a textiles manufacturer from the nearby town of Alcoy, Enrique Carbonell. The building bears testimony to the wealth of the Alcoy textiles manufacturers during the time of WWI.

Like all the towns we have visited, wandering, and getting lost a little, is the perfect introduction.

I particularly love Spain's mailboxes!

Also like all these little villages, a visit to the Central Market adds such texture to one's day. This one, with modernist-inspired elements, was built between 1911 and 1912, on top of the 18th century walls that surrounded Alicante. It has a rectangular floor plan in the style of a basilica, with a circular appendage in the south-west corner topped by a semispherical cupola, “La Rotonda”. One of its two stories is a half-basement due to the incline of the surrounding streets.

Treats were purchased and a sidewalk coffee place was discovered.

We were here on our first transatlantic cruise in 2011. Wanting to do something different, I referred to Atlas Obscura to find the less known sites around town. We were not disappointed. In 2013, San Francisco Street was transformed into a whimsical, fantasy wonderland of yellow brick roads, toadstool houses, and towering mushrooms and is now lovingly known as Calle de Las Setas (The Mushroom Street).

The purpose of this initiative was to rejuvenate the street and help the businesses in the area during a state of economic decline. The mushroom statues are the work of artist Sergio Martinez and the shop owners are grateful that the funghi were added... it was a success.

A hidden Mickey perhaps?

Another destination was the museum to document the Hogueras de Alicante (Bonfires of Alicante). Every year, in the days surrounding the summer solstice, beautiful monuments line the streets of Alicante, some as tall as 30 feet, intricately made of foam, wood, cardboard, and other combustible materials.

The event consists of six long days of parades, music, and drinking. The festival culminates in la Cremà, a symbolic destruction of evils. Monuments and ninots (caricature effigies of celebrities and politicians) are burned in several bonfires all over the city, each representing an Alicante neighborhood and many represented here.

At midnight on June 24, the festival climaxes when a fireworks display, launched from Mount Benacantil and visible to the entire city, signals the beginning of la Cremà. Firefighters keep watch and hose off the hot crowd and the historic buildings that are too close for comfort. The museum shows a video of this wild happening. I think we're happy to just view it this way. Fun tradition, however.

We stumbled upon the beautiful, though somewhat subtle San Nicolás Co-Cathedral. Construction began in 1600 in the Herrerian style. It is characterized by its geometric rigor, the mathematical relation between the various architectural features, the clean volumes, the dominance of the wall over the span and the almost total absence of decoration.

Its floor plan is in the shape of a Latin cross, with an interior that boasts notable features such as the 15th century cloister with two baroque doors, the altar and the blue cupula 147 high. Below the cupola is the Capilla de la Comunión communion chapel, which is considered to be one of the most beautiful examples of Spanish baroque.

In addition there is the reliquary bust of the Alicante-born Saint Felicitas (15th century). Below the likeness is a small box of her bones, something we have always found interesting.

Another must is an explore of the Town Hall. This baroque civil building was erected during the 18th century. The main ornamental features that visitors always admire are the columns on the facade and the two towers. Inside there are several interesting rooms such as the Salón Azul, styled from the period of Spain’s Queen Isabel, the Salón de Plenos and a chapel in which mass can be held.

I love the doors of Spain!

What also brought us here was found at the foot of the main staircase. The Cota Cero is used to measure altitude above sea level anywhere in Spain. WHY IS HEIGHT IN SPAIN measured with respect to the sea level in Alicante? When the altimetric survey of Spain was projected at the end of the 19th century, the measurements confirmed that the difference in sea level between low tide and high tide was the smallest on the Alicante coast.

For this reason, the altimetric survey of the Madrid-Alicante itinerary began in 1871, establishing the first signal on the first rung of the Alicante Town Hall staircase. In Madrid, the Astronomical Observatory was taken as the altimeter point. The signs were identified with the nomenclature N.P.1 for Alicante and N.P.26 for Madrid.

After years of observing the sea level in Alicante, the zero level was set. Thus, signal N.P.1 was assigned a height of 11,177 (3,407 meters), which allowed obtaining that of signal N.P.26, which turned out to be 625,562 meters. This serves as an origin to calculate all the other levels of the country.

An extra treat was to see this Dalí in his home country.

Two walls were adorned with portraits of all the city's mayors. I was particularly taken with Antonio Bono Luque (1877 - 1929), an Alicante politician in the first quarter of the 20th century. Fun stuff.