Faithful El Cid and the much occupied hilltop

November 11, 2026

What I love about this is by accident, whim or pure mischance we end up going to places I have never heard of but now want to go to, Enter Morella.

The fighting fantasy world is full of hill top bewalled towns, such as Blighty does not seem to provide. Spain does. Morella is one of them. It has a splendid and up to date website which has lots of pictures on it and the diary on it is up to date. Unfortunately we have just missed XI Trobada de Dimonis. Nothing is down for today but I suspect it may be filled up by the time this is published. https://www.morella.net/

The area has been settled with the usual crowd. Unusually it has a cave painting of the earliest depiction of archery used in combat known to humanity. https://artrupestre.com/en/yacimiento/galeria-del-roure/ It is thought to dates from 7200-7400 years ago,

The Romans took over a Punic town and made it there's, as did the Visigoths, the Moors and El Cid is reputed [i.e. probably didn’t] rebuild the walls. They had a Battle in 1084, it was between Sancho Ramirez, King of Aragon, who had gone after the lands of Yusuf al-Mutamin, King of Zaragoza. El Cid was on the Moors side at the time and scored a mighty victory. In 1232 the place was taken by the Aragonese crown and when James I put a royal garrison inside it he ‘awarded’ the locals with the title of ‘faithful.’

We will pass the grounds of Morella CF and its splendid wooden entrance. People give it reviews with stars but no words. They have a Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/morella.fc/ and play in the Valencian Second tier regional competition. They are playing CF Villafames at home next sunday at 5pm.

Warwise Morella backed the winner in the war of the Spanish Succession. The townsfolk rose up against the French and it was liberated in 1813. The Carlists occupied the town and General Ramon Cabrera used it as his headquarters. The Fasc captured in April 1938 however Republican guerrillas held out in the surrounding hills till 1956.

The Demographics of the place are similar but not the same as other places we have been to. The populace wandered along at 6-7000 until 1910 and then began a gradual decline to around the mid 2000s in the 1990s. Today 2501 people live here - well, they did in 2025.

Wiki notes how cold this place gets. ‘Morella has an Oceanic climate highly influenced by its altitude around 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) and its well inland location, with warm summers and cool winters (cold for Spanish standards) with frequent frosts and snow. Temperatures as low as −10 °C (14 °F) and heavy snowfalls can happen during harsh cold spells. The highest temperature ever recorded in Morella was 40 °C (104 °F) on 16 August 1925, while the coldest temperature recorded was −17 °C (1 °F) on 17 December 1933.’ It averages 15 snowy days.

Like all of Spain the place has festivals. The Sexenni is notable. In the late seventeenth century, Morella was severely affected by the plague. After twenty years of suffering, the citizens brought a statue of the Virgin Mary from the Sanctuary of Vallivana, 24 kilometres and processed it through the streets. The plague ended and, to remember this, every six years the Sexenni festival takes place for nine days in late August. The virgin is carried in procession and the traditional town guilds perform ancient dances in her honour. It is next due in 2030.

The town has lots of tight and winding streets. Bar Kiosco Colon was reviewed by Lourdes a month ago. ‘It's fine if you know it's a kiosk. The place is pleasant, the waiters are friendly. We arrived late and they served us without any problem, telling us not to rush, as they still had to clean up the kitchen. We'll be back.’

The castle is open every day of the week is from 11am to 5pm. Generally it is 5 euros, 4 for concessions. https://www.morella.net/morellaturistica/en/the-castle/ Three days ago Alberto visited and likes the castle but not the process. ‘Morella has an exceptional castle and walls, but much more should be invested in its restoration. There are ruined areas… a drawbridge that would have been fantastic to rebuild… in short, a real shame. Anyone who has visited many castles knows what I'm talking about.’

Meson del Pastor is on our route out so let’s do lunch. https://www.mesondelpastor.com/ 22 hours ago Pau was impressed. ‘Without a doubt, this should be a must-visit when you go to Morella. This restaurant is special; we've been several times and always ordered the "Taste Route" menu. If you enjoy both quantity and quality of food, this menu is for you. The photos clearly show the quality of the food; everything is meticulously prepared. If you drop a piece of cutlery or a napkin, they pick it up immediately and give you a clean one. From the menu, my personal favorite is the suckling goat, and I couldn't choose just one dessert. I recommend that if several people are going, you order one of each and share because they are all delicious, from the French toast to the brownie and the cheesecake. The restaurant's ambiance is wonderful; it's beautiful and classic, and the staff is very attentive and friendly. There's a small elevator to help you since the restaurant is spread over several floors. However, because it's located under a staircase, if you're with children, you'll have to carry the stroller, but it's well worth it.’