Introduction
The ruins of Serella Castle are hard to spot at first, but once you locate the
obvious impressive fin of rock across the valley from Guadalest you have a good
chance of seeing the remaining walls. Despite it's amazing postion perched on
a huge precipice it is a surprisingly easy but spectacular mountain top walk,
with only a couple of rocky steps right at the top. With care it is suitable
for children, but you have to be aware of the obvious drops once at the castle
ruins. View the photo
gallery. The short walk is deal for hot days as much of it is shaded and
you will get any breeze that is going. It can be made a longer walk by starting
from near the reservoir or even at Guadalest.
Approach
Drive up the steep but well maintained
zig zag track to the Guadalest/Castell de Castells
col. This is accessed either by driving down the
minor road from Abdet to the Reservoir, or from the
Guadalest end via the road around the reservoir (drive
out of Guadalest on the Callosa road and turn of
at the sign to the Piscina Municipal).
It is also of course possible to walk
any combination of the approach drives to make the
walks into a full days expedition.
The track passes a water pumping station
and is concreted for some of its length. Park a sort
distance beyond the high point of the track at a
junctio
Short Walk 2.2 kms - 200 Metres
of Ascent
Serella Castle short walk is accessed
by the first track on the left (West) on the Northern
slopes of the ridge. It climbs steeply underneath
some grey limestone cliffs and particularly in the
spring you will have many varieties of flowers to
examine and identify (see our Costa
Blanca flower gallery).
After a couple of turns the track comes
to a good viewpoint over the "Mal de Llop" valley.
This looks very much like it has been formed by a
glacier, but is certainly has not!
To access the castle you now need to
leave the main track at this high point and follow
the footpath between rocky walls until the first
remains of the castle are reached. The first sizable
remain is a large water tank which still holds water
throughout most of the year (as well as some very
large toadpoles). After passing a few more broken
sections of wall you reach the small but remarkably
level summit with a square tower at it's East end.
Usually there is a visitors book to sign tucked away
in the tower walls.
In spring you will be surrounded
by butterflies (the swallowtail shown in the photo
gallery is particularly beautiful), and on
clear days (most days!) you will have great views
of the surrounding valleys. Points to look for
are Guadalest, Sierra Aitana and the notched peak
of the Puig Campana to the South. To the west Abdet
is just in view, and Confrides and the other villages
are easily picked out. To the North you can see
as far as Valenica on a clear day. Certainly Castel
de Castells and coastal towns such as Denia are
easily observed.
The Castle is very old -
Al Azraq's, a Moorish leader handed this castle over
to the prince of Aragón in 1245 and this and
other castles in the area where the focus of many
battles between the Moors and the Christians.
Return the same way or consider the
Serella Castle loop (in reverse) |
