4 Aug 2010 – Meeting with Kitty

Kitty from Ireland is also here at her holiday house in the area and we decided to spent Tue in Altea (pop: 23,780, area: 13.3sq mi), app 12km from Calpe. At present, the economy of Altea is based on tourism, which started to grow in the 1950s because of its good weather, beaches and the labyrinthine streets with whitewashed house-fronts that characterize the town.

During the Moorish domination the land around Altea belonged to the Taifa of Denia until it was recaptured by Christian Spaniards in 1244 under James I of Aragon. The town was quickly fortified, and walls were erected to enclose what is now known as the ‘old town’ from outsiders.

This maze of cobbled narrow and crooked streets with glimpses of the bay is one of the better features of the town. Other sights include the church of Nuestra Señora del Consuelo or La Mare de Déu del Consol/Our Lady of Solace, easily identifiable by its picturesque blue and white domes, tiled with glazed ceramics.

There is this lovely ceramic shop by Eugenio Mira and I just could not resist buying a small plate with a tree motive for EUR9!

Art begins with resistance – at the point where resistance is overcome. No human masterpiece has ever been created without great labor – Andre Gide