Hermitage Route of Altea .:. A Sunny Wednesday Walk

There is a yearly event here in the neighboring town that is called Ruta de las Ermitas, and I suppose that the English translation isn't correct, but I gave it a go... It is more like a "route of chapels" as it takes place around different chapels around the town...

Altea is a small town in Spain with only around 20-25K residents, but it has a large history and some emblematic places to see... I suppose that the number of citizens was a lot lower in the past, but despite that, you can find over 10 small chapels in, and around, the town! To keep them preserved and to give them a use case in modern days, once per year there is an event called Ruta de las Ermitas... In 10-15 days, every day there is a classical music concert which takes place in a different chapel... As the town was developing fast, some of the chapels "stayed" in some really weird places... In the middle of an orange grove, on a hill outside the town, etc.

01.jpg

The last couple of years (and this year too), my son was playing in one of these... The walk that I have shared today took place exactly a year ago and it was a beautiful day for a walk... This year, I went to the chapel in the photo by car, to pick up my son who was in the audience this time, but it was unfortunately bad weather... I didn't enter the concert, but it was INSIDE the chapel and I suppose with fewer audience as there is no way that all these people would fit inside...

02.jpg

Back to the walk! I'm still doing my walks, but as I'm doing the #HHHLive on Wednesday, I can't find time to post in the #WednesdayWalk community... 😞 And I really miss that! As I had some other obligations today, I couldn't do the show, but I can do this post, so here we are... :)

03.jpg

Today, I'm taking you on a route around Altea, in the orange grove part of the town... As you can see, there are almost no houses and the only thing that you can see are oranges!!! 😃

04.jpg

April is the part of the year where you can see orange flowers blooming and at the same time, fruits still hanging on the trees! Before moving to Spain, I didn't even know that something like that could happen! I was taught that trees bloom in Spring and you reap fruits in Autumn... And here you can see both "processes" at the same time! :)

05.jpg

Every year, I find at least one of the oranges that are stuck like this one in the photo... It reminds me of a documentary where I saw people cultivating melons to grow in a cubical shape! This orange has a unique shape thanks to the fence... 😃

06.jpg

07.jpg

08.jpg

This is one of my favorite plantations on the route... When I discovered this "route", these trees were freshly planted and today, they are full of fruits... Most of these trees that you can see in the photo above aren't oranges, but lemons! There is one particular tree among them (I didn't take a photo this time), on which you can see both fruits, oranges and lemons on one tree! How great is that!

09.jpg

If you checked one of my old #WednesdayWalk posts you have probably noticed that I like one another type of tree... No, not olives... Olives are great, but carob tree is even better... Especially when I find one like this one... Who knows what it looked like when it was in "its prime", but it doesn't give up... If there is a small healthy part of a trunk, it will continue to grow! Maybe it doesn't look as pretty as some other trees, but it is old, and it still stands defying hard times!

10.jpg


11.jpg

The name of the house behind is "L'Amrosia", but the plant in front is one of the agave plants... One interesting fact about this plant that I didn't know is that when it grows flower, it dies after... So, if you have planted one, you kind of don't want to see the flower... 😃

12.jpg

13.jpg

This is how the road looks like when I take these walks and already mentioned olive trees that can be found in this jungle of oranges... 😃

14.jpg

15.jpg

Another interesting fruit that can be found in this area... I have already mentioned it in some of my previous posts too... What you see in the photo above are medlars which need a few days/weeks to become perfectly tasty! 😃

16.jpg

17.jpg

18.jpg

Papaya is another fruit that is not common in this area... Actually, this is one of the two places where I saw it and nowhere else...

19.jpg

20.jpg

21.jpg

And we got to our "final destination" of this route... The San Isidro chapel... I was a few minutes early so I had time to play around with my phone camera trying to catch the perfect photo of the chapel and the sun in the background...

22.jpg

23.jpg

That will be all for today's walk! See you in the next #WednesdayWalk!

Thank you for your time.

--ph--


Liotes Divider Blue.png

👉 Vote for Liotes HIVE Witness HERE 👈

Don't forget to follow, reblog, and browse my Hivepage to stay connected with all the great stuff!

You can also find me on InLeo .:. Twitter .:. LBRY



0
0
0.000
27 comments
avatar
(Edited)

Not really - Spanish ermita has nothing to do with English hermit - it's a tiny church, usually in the countryside.

I had the same thoughts, so when we went to una hermita in Asturias a while ago, I expected a cave or something ;)

Enjoy your stay in Spain - every pueblo has a long history in there :))

0
0
0.000
avatar

The Spanish word "ermita" is a bit weird as it has something with the English word "hermitage", but it means much more... It's not exactly chapel either, as there is a word for it "capilla"...

hermitage.png

The thing with these "ermitas" is that they are out in the countryside usually (as you said), to be closer to farmers who were working in orange groves in the past, but also, to be "outside the view" of different rulers in Spain that weren't always Catholics... So, in some way, there were "refugees" or small sanctuaries...

Thanks for checking out the post!!! Appreciate it!
Next time when you come to Spain, don't forget to pay a visit! :)

0
0
0.000
avatar

Which part of Spain do you live? I'm there quite often, three or four times a year ;)

0
0
0.000
avatar

I'm in the Alicante area, not too far from Valencia either... ;)

0
0
0.000
avatar

I know where it is :) I may go to Madrid again like in a month, though. And then to the mountains around, perhaps :)

0
0
0.000
avatar

Beautiful San Isidro chapel and also the photo with the sun behind the chapel!
!DHEDGE
!discovery 30

0
0
0.000
avatar

I was trying to catch that perfect photo with the sun in the background... The result wasn't bad from a mobile phone camera... :)
Thanks for your curation!

0
0
0.000
avatar

What a good idea to hold concerts in these chapels. Beautiful way to keep them preserved and give them a different use.

Wow, how yummy those oranges look!!!😋

0
0
0.000
avatar

It is a pity that these chapels are used maybe 2-3 times per year, but even that is keeping them well preserved! If there were no events, they would probably decay...

0
0
0.000
avatar

Is the route active now for Easter celebration?

Weird to see papaya plants, usually those are from south America

0
0
0.000
avatar

Is the route active now for Easter celebration?

It is active ONLY for Easter... On the other side every "ermita" has its own festive day during the year and that's all from them... 2 events per year, more-less...

Weird to see papaya plants, usually those are from south America

It is weird and because of that, I had no idea what fruit it is, so I had to google it... 😂

0
0
0.000
avatar

I suggest you to try eat it once, I like it, it's sweet, sold on supermarkets there

0
0
0.000
avatar

It looks like a nice walk and it's too bad about the show. Do they not pick the papayas? It looks like some of them were on the ground in one of the pictures.

0
0
0.000
avatar

It looks like the owners of that garden aren't too active... It's a pity to see those papayas rotten... ☹️

0
0
0.000
avatar

Isidros abound in my family! My father, my grandfather and an uncle. 😃 When I go to visit you (I will do one day, I’m sure) we will have to visit that hermitage. I wish it coincided with one of those concerts, what a beautiful activity. It seems that in Altea music is present everywhere. 😊

0
0
0.000
avatar

I hope that when you come to visit us, you will stay more than a day as there are so many things to show you... 🙂
Concerts are only around Easter, but do no wait for the next one for a visit... 😜

0
0
0.000
avatar

Thanks for joining the Wednesday Walk :)
Have a great day :)

0
0
0.000
avatar

You are welcome! Thank you for creating this great community!
I didn't post for some time as for the lack of free time, but it's nice to post again!

Have an awesome weekend!

0
0
0.000
avatar

Very nice! I like those fruits, they look beautiful!

0
0
0.000
avatar

Thanks! There are no better fruits than those that are just picked from the tree! 😃

0
0
0.000
avatar

Such events should be celebrated as it benefits the human beings to gather together in one place.

0
0
0.000