CULTURAL WEALTH INTERESTS

   In 1974 El Castell de Guadalest was named a national heritage site. In the town we can find:

   Fortress of the XI century, it was built by muslims, it is located on top of a rock in the higher part of the area of the town.

   During the Middle and Modern Ages the castle was very important due to its strategic situation. The 1644 and 1748 earthquakes and the bomb attack in 1708 in the Succession War were responsible for its destruction.

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   XI century fortress built by muslims. It is located in the property of the old Orduña House. Today all that is left is a restored tower.

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   The house was built after the great earthquake of 1644, which devastated the region and demolished the buttress of the castle.

   It was rebuilt by the Orduña family, descendants of Basque origin who arrived in El Castell de Guadalest as reliable friends of the Cardonas, Admirals of Aragón. D. Sancho de Cardona received the title of Marquis of Guadalest in 1542. The Orduña Family served the marquises as guardians of the fortress and governors of their estates.

   The house was burnt down and plundered during the war of Succession (1708). In 1756 D. Pedro Antonio Buenaventura de Orduña y García entered the military order of Santiago and consequently became an aristocrat.

   The family obtained for its members not only economic connections and social influence, but also the best and most solid cultural grounding that was possible to acquire in the second half of the XVIII and throughout the XIX centuries. Its members were principally lawyers and military men.

   All the furnishings of the house belong to the Orduña family and correspond to their period of highest wealth and status which was given by D. Joaquín María de Orduña. The decorations characterise the aesthetic taste of the bourgeoisie who supported the political changes of the XIX century. We must not forget that this building has always been a grand house in a small village, submerged in a rural atmosphere far removed geographically from other influences.

   The house sits on an irregular plot. One half is supported by and overlaps the rock while the other half occupies areas over the chapels of the adjoining church. The structure is supported by stone masonry walls.

   Timber, plaster and stone slabs form part of the constructions. It has four levels and an attic with several small stairways leading to it. The ground floor consisted of a large reception area, wine-vault, kitchen, dining room, pantries, yards, horse-stables and barn. The remaining levels were occupied by chambers and their private quarters.

ENTRANCE HALL

   On crossing the threshold, framed by a sober stone archway we are surprised by the magnificence of arches which give shape to the entrance hall. It is decorated with religious oil paintings: Inmaculada Concepción, Santísima Trinidad, Santa Bárbara, San Pascual Bailón, Virgen de la Rosa, Nuestra Señora del Carmen and Bautismo de Cristo. The room contains its original furniture.

HALL OF ARCHES

   Ascending a small staircase we are admitted into a room which holds the works of art from the annual painting contest held in Guadalest and based on the landscape of the area.

ANTECHAMBER AND VIRGIN CHAMBER

   We can contemplate an Ecce-Homo of an unknown artist (oil on canvas) which portrays a double figure of Christ, holding a cane between his hands and with a red robe falling down his back. It depicts a sweet figure without the drama of blood. Its peculiar feature being that it is painted on both sides of the canvas. The reverse (visible through a mirror) represents "The Scars on the Back of our Saviour", an unusual theme. Facing this canvas is a small oil painting (XVIII century) with a placard giving reference to the tradition of the family Orduña of having received from Saint Buenaventura a letter of fraternity which bound them to spiritual life of the franciscans.

THE VIRGIN CHAMBER

   Here we find an urn containing the recumbent image of the Virgen de la Asunción. It is a modern version, a copy of the original destroyed in 1936 which was always kept in the house.

   The panel on the main wall (188x210 cm) portrays the same theme of the virgin: the end of Mary’s earthly life as narrated in the Apocripha gospels. The repetition of this idea takes us back to the Christian conquest (XIII century): Jaime I of Aragón a king devoted to The Virgin Mary filled the kingdom of Valencia with churches in the name of the Assumption of Mary. This present subject must have been the central part of an altarpiece. It is assigned to the Maestro de Alcira (dated chronologically between 1527 and 1550).

   The monstrance (XVIII century) in its glass case looks like a radiant sun. The figure is holding eucharistic symbols in the right hand and a cross in its left. It is decorated with allegorical embossements.

THE KITCHEN

   Maintains its initial aspect with some of its original utensils. The attached garden has its own water-tank. From the ancient north facing walls one can enjoy splendid panoramic views of the dam and the Xortà and Serrella mountains.

THE DINING ROOM

   Contains an excellent collection of pottery. Worthy of special recognition are two Valencian pieces of metallic reflections (XVI century), two flower vases (end of XIX century) and in the silver cabinet: French, German and Valencian plates (XVIII-XIX centuries).

   From the old yards we move up to the Noble level.

   We go into a large area which acts as the entrance to the rooms on this floor. It is decorated with the banners of the coats of arms of the Orduña family, needlework of the era and a display cabinet with the objects traditionally used for lighting, such as oil lamps, kitchen lamps and candlesticks etc. This cabinet also displays other objects found in the house.

THE LIBRARY

   It is without doubt, the most attractive feature of the house. It contains a total of 1265 volumes. The catalogue of the "Ancient Books" (1500–1800) consists of 589 entries. The books are of various shapes, sizes and bindings. It is a family collected essentially in three distinct periods:

  •   The first period: during the last thirty years of the 18th century. As can be seen from the book covers, the majority of the books were acquired by the lawyer Don Francisco de Paula Orduña. He introduced traditional law books and others that reflect the political unrest in both Spain and Europe, from the summoning of the States General in France by Louis XVI on August 8th, 1788, (which eventually led to the French revolution), to the uprising led by Riego on 1st January 1820.

  •   During the second period various types of religious, philosophical and classical Latin books were added. These came from the sale of church property from the convent of the Capuchin friars in Callosa d'En Sarrià.

  •   During the third period (1850–1890) a variety of law books, for example, constitutional law and court finding were added to the collection.

THE STATE ROOMS

   On entering the state rooms we see a staircase with a font on the right hand side. This staircase leads to a private gallery (nowadays a balcony), which the Orduña family used to occupy in the church, a privilege bestowed upon them by the Archbishops of Valencia.

   The lay-out of the rooms and bed chambers is characteristic of the period. It gives us an understanding of private family life in previous centuries. The furniture, paintings, photographs and personal belongings have always been in these rooms.

   In the first room we visit we find, along with other pieces of furniture, a matching set of chairs, armchairs and a settee from the Isabelina period (c. 1850); a display cabinet with small decorative objects, two engravings from the 19th century and two paintings, one "The Adoration of the Angels" and the other "The Flight into Egypt".

   In the second room, our attention is drawn to a magnificent bureau, inlaid with ivory, tortoise shell and marquetry, and a small, but interesting, oil painting which decorates the door; a gun rack holding firearms and a set of carved wooden chairs.

   In the last chamber we find a splendid collection of large photographs of the members of the Orduña family in the 19th century; an antique table on which rests the remains of a crucifix which was of particular religious importance to the family and a small writing desk inlaid with ivory and antique designs of Catalan origin (17th century).

   The final room to visit on this floor is a small area that contains three wall maps printed in Paris in 1706 and the leather-bound book which records the genealogy of the Orduña family.

   Having finished our visit to the family rooms on the second floor we go up to the third floor.

EXHIBITION HALL

    

   Offering its visitors a sample of paintings and sculptures, periodically renewed by renowned artists. The fourth floor holds an assembly hall.

Nowadays exhibition

   Down the antique staircase we descend to the ground floor room where you have access to the Castle of San José.

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   XVIII century construction from the Baroque period, ascribed to José Sierra.

   The church is situated in the old part of the town, just beside the nobel house of the Orduña’s. This construction was built between 1740 and 1753 over the plot of land where the primitive temple used to be and dates from the Christian Conquest (XIII century). The church was burnt and plundered during the Civil War and was again changed in 1962, shortening its length and changing the ground floor, this led to the loss of the cupola and the transept. Between 1995 and 1996 we undertook the task of renovation and interior decoration in order to save the present day building.

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   Building of the XII century located on the bottom part of the town hall.

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