Heritage and protected monuments

1. Who protects what — three levels

Heritage protection in Spain rests with the autonomous regions. Altea falls under the Valencian Ley 4/1998 del Patrimonio Cultural Valenciano, which provides for two levels; below them sits a third level run by the town itself.

Bien de Interés Cultural (BIC) — the highest level. Entered in the regional register, with the surroundings protected too, and no intervention without consent from the Generalitat. Altea has six.
Bien de Relevancia Local (BRL) — the second rank, for assets of local significance. In Altea these include the parish churches of the Mare de Déu del Consol and San Francisco.
The municipal catalogue — the Catálogo de Protecciones, part of the 2019 structural plan. It holds 59 entries and reaches well beyond the two upper ranks: mills, irrigation channels, cemeteries, ceramic panels on house walls, whole stretches of landscape.

The difference matters in practice. A BIC is registered region-wide and hard to alter. An entry in the municipal catalogue binds the town hall first of all — when it issues building permits, approves conversions, or receives an application to demolish (Ley 4/1998, art. 50). Both protect, but not equally.

2. The six of highest rank

Altea at night: the hill covered in white houses, the floodlit parish church with its blue dome and bell tower above — The hill at night — the domes and tower floodlit, the windows of the old town belowPhoto: Werner Wilmes

View through a whitewashed passage with two stone arches into a sunny old-town lane. Two pebbled steps lead up; the floor is patterned with light and dark pebbles; trees, lanterns and white houses beyond. — The *Portal Vell*, a gate of the old town walls, fully preserved — two arches, and beyond them the pebble-paved lanePhoto: Axel Voigts

A wall of large ashlar blocks and rubble in the foreground, the church square with its blue dome and bell tower beyond — The masonry of the Renaissance circuit: the large ashlar blocks of the bastion below, later rubble work abovePhoto: 19Tarrestnom65

The paved square in front of the tower: the rubble-stone stump above dry-stone terraces, a house with bougainvillea to the left, a white front to the right — The Plaça de la Canterería — the stump of the tower stands above dry-stone terraces, the square in front newly pavedPhoto: 19Tarrestnom65

A squat rubble-stone tower above terrace walls and a clipped shrub, a white house to the right — The Torre de Bellaguarda on Carrer Canterería — the tower that gave the oldest quarter its namePhoto: 19Tarrestnom65

An eight-pointed stone compass rose set into a circular brick floor, a low rubble wall around it — The compass rose on the tower platform — the parapet names what lies in each directionPhoto: 19Tarrestnom65

The empty church square at first light: pebble paving, white houses with balconies and, through an arch on the left, the bright sky over the sea — The church square at sunrise — the chairs still stacked, the pebble paving damp from the morningPhoto: Ximo tomas

Carrer Sant Miquel climbing uphill: pebble paving, white houses with wrought-iron balconies, planters down the middle of the lane — Carrer Sant Miquel — pebble paving, white walls and the wrought-iron balconies of the old townPhoto: Diego Delso

Carrer Salamanca in morning light: pebble paving to the edge of the frame, white houses with balconies, bougainvillea and an olive tree to the right — Carrer Salamanca just after sunrise — the first light catches the upper storeys while the lane is still in shadowPhoto: Ximo tomas

A cobbled lane of the old town at night, shot from ground level — The 1617 layout from inside: a lane of the walled town at nightPhoto: Ximo tomas

A narrow whitewashed stepped lane, its steps paved in panels of light and dark pebbles; lanterns, wrought-iron balconies, shop signs and pink bougainvillea on the walls, a few passers-by further up. — A stepped lane in the old town — light and dark pebble paving, lanterns and bougainvillea on the wallsPhoto: Axel Voigts

A broad flight of low stone steps set with pebbles climbs between white houses with iron balconies; ivy and a wrought-iron wall lantern on the right, flowering bougainvillea and a few walkers further up. — Broad stone steps climb between white walls up into the old townPhoto: Axel Voigts

Between them they tell the town’s history in the right order: the Romans first, then the coastal watch, then the walled refoundation.

Acueducto Romano de los Arcos — remains of the Roman water conduit in the partida of Els Arcs. Show on the map
Abrigo rupestre de la ermita del Vicario — prehistoric rock paintings under an overhang at the foot of the Serra de Bèrnia.
Torre de la Galera and Castellet de l’Ama — towers from the era of the coastal watch against piracy.
Castellet de Bellaguarda — a watchtower in the oldest quarter of today’s town, at the top of the hill. Show on the map
Baluarte y recinto Renacentista — the fortification that Decreto 69/2013 dates to the end of the fifteenth century. Of the wall, the Portal Vell and the Portal Nou, among others, survive; the street plan of the old town is the plan of that fortress. Show on the map

The background — piracy, depopulation, the carta pobla of 1617 — is on the history page.

3. The three parish churches

The front of the parish church: brick with stone dressings, a rose window, a saint’s niche above the doorway and, to the left, the clock tower — The west front of the Mare de Déu del Consol — the rose window above the doorway, the tower beside it with clock and crenellated topPhoto: 19Tarrestnom65

The domes of the Mare de Déu del Consol and the bell tower at dusk — The glazed ceramic tiles of the domes — from the La Ceramo works in Valencia, according to the parish chroniclePhoto: Vicent Esteve

The parish church from the side: two blue-and-white scale-tiled domes above rubble-stone walls, the lower chapel with its rose window in front — The Mare de Déu del Consol from the side — the crossing dome and the smaller one of the Capilla del SagrarioPhoto: Diego Delso

The nave of the parish church towards the high altar, with barrel vault, gilded cornices and the dome over the crossing — White and gold within: the nave towards the sanctuary, the crossing dome abovePhoto: Vicent Esteve

White church façade with a small single-bell tower; within a large arch of pale ashlar stone, a cross and a relief, with the entrance below behind a tree. A house with balconies on the left, a paved square in front. — The church of the former Franciscan friary — as plain outside as it is withinPhoto: Axel Voigts

The front of the Franciscan church close up: a cross in the arched field, two round-arched windows and a knotted stone cord above the doorway — Above the doorway, the knotted cord of the Franciscan order; on the left the Plaça del Convent plaquePhoto: 19Tarrestnom65

The Franciscan church from the street: the two-bayed bell tower above the adjoining friary building with its wrought-iron balconies — From the street: the two-bayed bell tower and the friary building beside itPhoto: 19Tarrestnom65

View over old tiled roofs to a small octagonal dome of dark-blue tiles with a white diamond pattern, a whitewashed bell tower with one bell behind it; apartment blocks with balconies on the right, the sea on the horizon. — The dome of the Franciscan church against the sea, 2003 — now hidden from viewPhoto: Axel Voigts

Altea la Vella on the hillside above orchards, a church with a scale-tiled dome and slender bell tower at its centre, the sierra behind — Altea la Vella below the Serra de Bèrnia — at its centre the dome and tower of Santa AnnaPhoto: Bic (Wikimedia Commons)

The wooden church head-on: notched-log walls, three gilded onion domes and an octagonal tower, stone steps all round — The church of the Archangel Michael head-on — notched logs, gilded domes and the octagonal towerPhoto: Diego Delso

Reddish-brown wooden Orthodox church with a pointed tower, golden onion domes and crosses; a large mosaic of a standing Christ figure on its front. Hedges and pink bougainvillea in front, a pine-covered hillside behind, blue sky. — The church of the Archangel Michael at Altea Hills — notched logs, five gilded domes and an image of Christ above the entrancePhoto: Axel Voigts

A framed icon behind glass on a natural stone wall: the Archangel Michael with wings, armour, red cloak and a scroll against a gold ground, above a text panel in Spanish, English and Russian. — Archangel Michael icon — per the panel, blessed by Nicholas II and given to Mikhail Nechvolodov in 1916Photo: Axel Voigts

The Mare de Déu del Consol and San Francisco are listed as Bien de Relevancia Local.

Mare de Déu del Consol, Plaça de l’Església — the town’s landmark, visible from far off: a square bell tower to the left of the façade, two domes of blue and white ceramic tiles, and inside a single nave with side chapels. Show on the map
Church of the former Franciscan friary (San Francisco y San Pedro), Replaceta de Sant Francesc — begun in 1728, after friars from Benissa settled in a chapel already standing there. The friary had a cloister, refectory, cells, garden, cemetery, guesthouse, hospital and classrooms. The interior is Franciscan in its plainness. Show on the map
Santa Anna — the parish church of Altea la Vella, the original settlement: a hemispherical dome and a narrow bell tower capped by a small dome of its own, on the lower of the hill’s two crests. Built in 1886 to replace an earlier chapel that still had its eighteenth-century form. For a long time its outline was the village’s landmark from afar; taller houses are now steadily hiding it. Show on the map

The Mare de Déu del Consol was not built in one go but in four stages across nearly three centuries. The Renaissance church that formed part of the fortified enclosure was finished in 1617; the stonework was done by Damiá de la Cámara. It fell into disrepair during the nineteenth century. In 1854 the Capilla del Sagrario was completed as a free-standing building — later absorbed into the transept, it is now the oldest part of the interior. For the apse, Jaime Cardona drew up a design in 1876; it was finished by 1894. The main nave, crossing, dome and bell tower came last, built from 1901 and blessed on 18 September 1910, under the master builder Adrián Vela Gadea — with no known overall plan, and the work stopped abruptly, most likely because the money ran out. That is why the façade still looks unfinished.

The glazed ceramic tiles of the dome came, according to the parish chronicle, from the La Ceramo works on the Camí de Burjassot in Valencia. The nave was originally roofed in teja alicantina; the tiles were replaced at the last restoration. The sculptures are by Melitón Gómez. The style is a classicising eclecticism following that of the Capilla del Sagrario, with neo-Byzantine touches in the ribs and capitals.

Service times change; they are posted at each church door. For the Mare de Déu del Consol: 965 840 117.

Not in the catalogue, but impossible to miss: the Russian Orthodox church of the Archangel Michael up in Altea Hills. It appears on no protection list, yet from the N-332 it is the most conspicuous building in the municipality: a wooden building in the style of Russian churches, with five gilded onion domes.

It was consecrated in 2007, according to travel websites; this is not officially documented. Show on the map

4. The chapels in the countryside

The Santa Bàrbara chapel with bell wall, name plaque and the covered porch on the left, a pine in front — Santa Bàrbara near Altea la Vella — bell wall with a single opening, the covered porch on the leftPhoto: Vicent Serrat Conejero

The whitewashed interior of a small chapel: two barrel vaults of different widths, a raised gallery with a turned wooden railing on the left, framed pictures on the walls, a red-and-gilt altarpiece with the image of the saint, and a black-and-white tiled floor — Santa Bàrbara from inside — the two barrel vaults, the gallery with its wooden railing and the hydraulic tiles described in Miguel del Rey’s surveyPhoto: Vicent Serrat Conejero

The Sant Roc chapel with its curved gable and bell wall, a wide paved yard in front — Sant Roc in the partida of l’Horta — chapel and festival yard, the Bèrnia behindPhoto: Vicent Serrat Conejero

The chapel of Sant Jaume i Sant Antoni, with bell wall, porch and palm — Sant Jaume i Sant Antoni at Cap Blanc — one chapel for two patronsPhoto: Vicent Serrat Conejero

The chapel of Sant Lluís head-on, the bell in its bell wall, the Serra de Bèrnia behind — Ermita de Sant Lluís Beltrán in the Barranquet, with the Serra de Bèrnia behind itPhoto: Vicent Serrat Conejero

The Sant Tomàs chapel seen from below: pointed door, carved cross and a vine pergola over the yard — Sant Tomàs at Cap Negret — the chapel sits in the yard of a house, under a vine pergolaPhoto: B25es

The bell wall of Sant Tomàs above the white wall, with houses and a vine pergola around it — Sant Tomàs now stands among houses — the bell wall rises above the wallPhoto: Dorieo

The covered porch of the Sant Lluís chapel, with masonry bench, cistern and a reed roof — The porch with its continuous bench — this is what most of these chapels look like when there is no festival onPhoto: Vicent Serrat Conejero

Painted ceramic panel on the Sant Roc chapel: the saint with pilgrim staff and dog, dated 1992 — Sant Roc with staff and dog, on painted tiles set in the chapel wall — signed and dated 1992Photo: B25es

The modern Sant Isidre chapel with its free-standing bell tower and pointed window — Sant Isidre at Els Arcs — built only around the turn of the century, and it showsPhoto: Vicent Serrat Conejero

After the refoundation of 1617 the population spread across the whole municipality. In the partides, clusters of houses, gardens and terraces grew up — and many of them got their own ermita. Five are in the catalogue:

Santa Bàrbara — near Altea la Vella. Show on the map
Sant Roc — in the partida of l’Horta; the entry expressly protects the Camí de l’Horta, the lane leading to it, as well. Show on the map
Sant Jaume i Sant Antoni — in Cap Blanc, one chapel for two patrons. Show on the map
Sant Lluís — in the Barranquet. Here the catalogue protects the chapel and its festival together. Show on the map
Sant Tomàs — in Cap Negret, with a ceramic panel named separately. Show on the map

For two of them more is known than the catalogue entry, because the architect Miguel del Rey has surveyed them. Santa Bàrbara stands in the Partida del Cascall, north of the Algar, on a terrace below the Sant Jordi rise. At its core is a small oratory that now forms the chancel; an extension is documented for 1759, so the building itself is older. The municipal panel on the path gives 1759 as the year of founding instead: the people of the partides of Cascall and Sogai — more than 250 of them at the time — are said to have built their own oratory then, so as not to have to go down to the parish church. According to the same panel, the feast is on 4 December. The nave is covered by two barrel vaults of different radii, with niches along the sides and raised galleries with wooden railings; the floor is black and white hydraulic tile and the sacristy is cut almost into the rock. Above the gable is a bell wall with a single opening, and in front of it a covered porch and a terraced forecourt with a continuous bench. According to del Rey, the chapel has belonged to the town since 2001, which had the façade restored that year, and a bell is only hung there during the festival: the one from 1980 was stolen, and so was the older one of 1772 — recovered in 2008, it disappeared again.

Sant Tomàs in the Partida of Cap Negret, at the foot of the Tossal de Molar, is a different matter: a private oratory attached to the manor house of the Thous family, not a village building. The parish register puts its blessing on a 25 June; the chapel was probably standing by 1696. It is a small square under a pitched roof, flat-ceilinged inside, with a bell wall over the ridge; the altar has twisted gilded columns. The ceramic panel the catalogue names separately is set in the house wall and shows Saint James on horseback across twelve tiles. The house is now divided among several owners — which is why you cannot simply walk up to it.

Two more belong to the set but not to the catalogue. Sant Isidre in Els Arcs, beside the remains of the Roman aqueduct, was built by the residents themselves around the turn of the century. And Sant Xotxim on the Tossal de les Rotes — the Valencian form of Sant Joaquim — is gone; the street name is what remains.

Once a year the chapels are open and full. The Ruta de les Ermites is not a walk but a spring concert series — its 24th edition ran in 2019, with concerts in the chapels but also in the parish churches and the Convent de l’Olla. The programmes carry notes by the local historian Juan Vicente Martín Devesa. If you want to see the chapels from inside, those concerts are your chance.

5. Water: channels, mills and a cistern

A low weir across the river beneath a masonry bridge arch; the water spills over the crest, reeds to the left — A weir on the Algar beneath a bridge — this is how the water was turned into the channels the market gardens lived onPhoto: Joanbanjo

A small cobbled square between white houses, a ramp in the middle leading down to the fenced remains, an information panel on the right — The remains of the Molí vell now sit in the middle of the village, reached by a ramp and explained on a panelPhoto: 19Tarrestnom65

A pointed rubble-stone arch behind glass and an iron railing, further old masonry beyond — The Molí vell de Bellaguarda: the surviving pointed arch, now protected behind glassPhoto: 19Tarrestnom65

The Garganes washing place: a long basin with the sloping washing stones on either side, hedges and houses around it — The public washing place at Garganes — the sloping stones on either side of the basin, where the washing was donePhoto: 19Tarrestnom65

A many-bladed steel wind pump with its vane above a built water basin, white houses around it — The molineta and bassa of Casa Salesa — the wind pump raised the water, the basin held itPhoto: B25es

Eight of the 59 entries concern water. That is no accident: without the Algar and its channels nobody could have lived here.

Reg Major o de Baix, Reg Nou o de Dalt and the Regs Nord de l’Algar — the historic irrigation systems of the plain. Not single structures but whole networks of weirs, channels and distribution points.
Five mills: Molí dels Moros, Molí de Benimussa, Molí de l’Horta, Molí de la Torre, and the Molí vell de Bellaguarda with its aljub, the cistern. The last belonged to the medieval alquería of Bellaguarda.

What the river means for Altea is set out on the history page.

6. The full catalogue

All 59 entries of the Catálogo de Protecciones, in the order of the plan. The names appear exactly as they are registered, and are not translated here.

Number	Name in the catalogue
Highest level — Bien de Interés Cultural
BIC 01	Baluarte y recinto Renacentista de Altea Show on the map
BIC 02	Acueducto Romano de los Arcos Show on the map
BIC 03	Abrigo rupestre de la ermita del Vicario Show on the map
BIC 04	Torre de la Galera Show on the map
BIC 05	Castellet de l’Ama
BIC 06	Castellet de Bellaguarda Show on the map
Historic town centres
NHT 01	Núcleo Histórico Tradicional de Altea
NHT 02	Núcleo Histórico Tradicional de Altea la Vella
Buildings
ARQ 01	La Moreria
ARQ 02	Casa con Riurau en Sogai
ARQ 03	Mas de Calces y Panel
ARQ 04	Masia del Mandem
ARQ 05	Villa Gadea Show on the map
ARQ 06	Villa García y Paneles
ARQ 07	Villa Mar i Cel
ARQ 08	Finca Montemolar y paneles Show on the map
ARQ 09	Casas Carreta y Panel Villa San Francisco
ARQ 10	Viaducto línea del ferrocarril
ARQ 11	El Palasiet
ARQ 12	Casa calle Conde de Altea y paneles
ARQ 13	Casa Beneyto-Rostoll
ARQ 14	Casa calle Salamanca 1 al 11 y paneles
ARQ 15	Casa Faloi — Carrer Fondo 8
ARQ 16	Carrero Almadrava
ARQ 17	Conjunto estación de ferrocarril Show on the map
ARQ 18	Hort de la Campaneta y paneles Show on the map
ARQ 19	Iglesia Parroquial de la Mare de Déu del Consol Show on the map
ARQ 20	Iglesia del antiguo convento de San Francisco y San Pedro Show on the map
ARQ 21	Iglesia de Santa Anna Show on the map
Ethnological heritage
ETN 01	Cementerio de Altea Show on the map
ETN 02	Cementerio de Altea la Vella Show on the map
ETN 03	Almàssera del Polopí
ETN 04	Ermita de Santa Bàrbara Show on the map
ETN 05	Ermita de Sant Roc y Camí de l’Horta Show on the map
ETN 06	Ermita de Sant Jaume i Sant Antoni Show on the map
ETN 07	Ermita i festa de Sant Lluís Show on the map
ETN 08	Ermita de Sant Tomàs y Panel Show on the map
ETN 09	Calvario de Altea la Vella
ETN 10	Calvario de Altea
Ceramic panels
PNC 01	Paneles Cerámicos
Archaeology
ARL 01	Vía Dianium — Camí Reial
ARL 02	La Illeta Show on the map
ARL 03	Espacio arqueológico de la Pila
ARL 04	Necrópolis ibérica de Altea la Vella
ARL 05	Altea la Vella — Hábitat
Water engineering
HDC 01	Reg Major o de Baix
HDC 02	Reg Nou o de Dalt
HDC 03	Regs Nord de l’Algar
HDC 04	Molí vell de Bellaguarda — Aljub Show on the map
HDC 05	Molí dels Moros Show on the map
HDC 06	Molí de Benimussa
HDC 07	Molí de l’Horta y panel
HDC 08	Molí de la Torre Show on the map
Protected settings
PTR 01	Entorno patrimonial de la Font del Garroferet Show on the map
PTR 02	Entorno patrimonial de la Cala del Soio — Illeta l’Olla
PTR 03	Conjunto patrimonial del Río Algar
PTR 04	Entorno patrimonial de la Sierra de Bèrnia Show on the map
Other
SH 01	Defensas Costeras de la Guerra Civil
SH 02	Festa de Sant Llorens y Castell de l’Olla

Twenty-five of the 59 entries carry a map link after the name. The rest are left out deliberately: irrigation systems, town centres and the course of the Algar are not points, many houses are in private hands with no public listing, and where the location search returned hits from other municipalities nothing is given here.

Each entry has its own PDF record sheet with location, dating and conditions. They are published on the town’s website.

7. Sources and limits

This page rests on the Catálogo de Protecciones, Sección Patrimonio Cultural from Altea’s Plan General Estructural of 2019, published via alteacultural.com ↗. The BIC and BRL rankings come from the Generalitat’s Inventario General del Patrimonio Cultural Valenciano. Descriptions of individual buildings follow the town’s own notes on alteacultural.com ↗.

The building history of the Mare de Déu del Consol, the account of Santa Anna and the descriptions of the Santa Bàrbara and Sant Tomàs chapels come from Miguel del Rey, architect and author of Paseando por las alteas (Valencia, 2016), published on his specialist blog Arquitectura Rural Valenciana ↗. There he draws on the parish archive of Altea, its registers and Jaime Cardona’s 1876 drawings; the surveys and photographs are his own work. For Santa Bàrbara he cites no sources — what is given there is his survey, not an archival finding.

Specific sources. Effect of the municipal catalogue: Ley 4/1998, art. 50 (boe.es). Bell tower of the Mare de Déu del Consol, the gates of the walls, the dating of the fortification to the end of the fifteenth century and the BRL status of the Mare de Déu del Consol: Decreto 69/2013, which declared the Baluarte y Recinto Renacentista a Bien de Interés Cultural (BOE-A-2013-7159), and the bell inventory campaners.com. BRL listing of the parish church of San Francisco (DOGV, 18 June 1998): the Inventario General del Patrimonio Cultural Valenciano (eduwp.edu.gva.es). Building of the present Mare de Déu del Consol from 1901 and its blessing on 18 September 1910: BOE-A-2012-4840 (boe.es). Torre de Bellaguarda and the phone number of the Mare de Déu del Consol (as of October 2026): the Generalitat’s tourism portal, Torre de Bellaguarda, Iglesia del Consuelo. Sant Isidre — built in 1999 on the initiative of the residents of Els Arcs — and the Ruta de les Ermites: Alicante Plaza, 8 April 2019 (alicanteplaza.es). The consecration year of the Orthodox church comes from valenciabonita.es and meer.com; it is not officially documented.

What is not here, for want of solid evidence: exact construction dates for the remaining chapels other than Sant Isidre, ownership and access arrangements other than for Santa Bàrbara and Sant Tomàs, and coordinates. Much of it is in the PDF record sheets. Dates that circulate online without a traceable author are left out.

Some chapels stand on private land (Sant Tomàs); please respect fences and private drives.

Compiled October 2026 from the municipal catalogue of protected assets. Status and names can change with each amendment of the structural plan.