Tiles: the making and remains

 Some may question this route and if they haven’t, the clearly haven’t been keeping up.  The wholish point of this was to go to Onda.  Why Onda? Well, in a different lifetime I worked in Archaeology and spent a lot of time looking at the ground and drawing, badly, plans of the ground which involved tiny slivers of pot. Welcome to Onda - or Wave as Google translate calls it. The entire ground is one great smattering of broken pit because Onda is ceramicsville.


What I love about the Onda sign as we come in is how small and unpretentious it is.  The town has much which is modern and new, but bits of old and decay as well.






Onda is one of those gateway to the coastal plain sort of places. From Neolithic through to the Romans people have been hanging out around here.  The town really got going [again] in the 11th century, enough for El Cid to turn up in 1099 and make it his for three years..  The castle, of which, more later, attracted a lot of History and the town has been garrisoned, fought over or just sent people out to fight for most of its history. It even had a bit of a battle in the First Carlist War, where three of Don Carlos’ battalions were defeated.  Since 1842 the town has been steadily on the up.  From 4500, currently 25,000people live there.  Post War migration from Murcia, Andalusia and Albacete has been joined by people from Romania, the Maghreb and South America.



Ceramics is what Onda is famous for and the reason for its growth.  Originally a lot of the stuff made was decorative and religious.  In the 19th century it shifted to tiles and the town grew.  The Museo del Azulejo Manlo Safont - which we went to along time ago, https://museoazulejo.org/ has many, many pretty things.  



A month ago Motohome Quest said ‘As Onda is known for its tile manufacturing, the museum gives you an insight into the people who are behind the tiles and production. The handpainted tiles are very good. The person at reception speaks Spanish, English and French. It's free to enter and there is parking.’   We went one sleepy October half term.  The museum was quiet but full of glorious tiles and I need to go back.



The last week of October sees the festivals of the Most Holy Saviour, the Virgin of Hope and Saint Roch.  The main part of the old town sees shops boarded up and stands created.  Spectators can sit on top.  Below, safe among widish bars, the young and not so young rips, can watch the bulls being released.  Generally the overly macho dodge out, run away from the bulls and nip under the stands when they get too close.  Here is a video.  https://fira.onda.es/hierros  Onda TV shows hours of this.








And so to Onda Castle. It was closed when we visited.  The Muslims built a fort here in the 10th century on top of the site of the former Roman settlement. It became known as the Castle of 300 Towers’ because no one minds a good natured exaggerator.  It fell to the Argonese in 1238 and was given to the Knights Templar.  In 1319 it passed to the Order of Montesa, who had been set up two years before aa a religious order of knights of an Argonese nature who would go up against the Moors. During the War with Castile (1357-65) the Castle was a well garrisoned.. It was also used during the War of the Germanías (1519-24) and, it was the headquarters of the Duke of Segorbe during the Mudejar repression of the Sierra de Espadán (1526). The Castle was also occupied by Napoleonic troops in 1812, and later, in 1839, during the Carlist Wars , the fortress was refortified.  It was also used during the Civil War.





Tomorrow we are off to the coast -well, in that general direction.
















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