Pictures and Stories About Bicycle Adventures

Morella, Ancient Walled City

We're Looking to the North.

Morella is an ancient walled city located on a hill-top in the province of Castellón, Valèncian Community, Spain. The town is the capital and administrative centre of the comarca of Els Ports, in the historic Maestrat (Maestrazgo) region.

There are traces of settlement by the Iberians, succeeded by the Greeks and Romans, Carthaginians, Visigoths and the Moors.

The location has always been a strategic stronghold. There is no reported date for the original castle and wall but El Cid (Moor) is reputed to have rebuilt the castle in 1084. - Wikipedia

Morella We're Looking to the Southwest.

Above: Morella Aqueduct system.

Above: Ancient Walls of Morella.

Above Left: City Gate.

Above Right: City Wall.

Above Left: Inner Gate and Fortress Wall.

Above Right: Hilltop Castle/fortress.

Above Left: Another Inner Wall.

Above Right: A cool spot on a hot day (just outside of the Information Office). We are looking for Ancient Petroglyphs and we were sent to Ares (del Maestra) only to learn that they changed their Guided Tours hours.

Ares, del Maestra
(Ancient Pueblos Built on Rocky Outcrops and Ridges)

Ares, we're looking northward here at the hillside pueblos.

Above Left: Inside is the Information Office. We learned that there is no tour today, due to an yet to be published change of hours of operation. HOWEVER, we were directed to go to La Montabanna, which would run a tour in two hours and we had one hour to get there. Finally, Good News.

Above Right: A view of Ares looking northeast.

Cueva Remigia (Word Heritage Site),
'Petroglyphs' at La Montabanna, del Maestra

Above: Climbing Hike to Cueva Remigia Petroglyphs with our guide (a twenty something archaeology student).

Above: Climbing Hike to Cueva Remigia. About halfway up, our guide turned to say to us, to ask where we were from. He commented that no one had stayed up with him at his hiking pace before. We calmly answered that we were from Colorado, USA, and that our house was located at 2200 meters elevation.

Above: We had arrived. There are three archaeology students there, they can drive a truck or tractor within 100 meters/yards of the location, but everything here to include concrete mix, stones, and water is hand carried uphill the last 100 meters.

Above: Terry and Dennis Struck at the Rock face of Cueva Remigia's Petroglyphs (Word Heritage Site), at La Montabanna, del Maestra, València Community (State), Spain.

The Glyphs seem to be 5000 to 2000 BC/BCE.

Above Left: Our first Glyph, a Bison sized animal, running.

Above Right: Two Deer sized animals, running.

Perhaps the World's Oldest Captured Humor: A Man is Running away from a Charging Bull.

Above: A Man (tracking?) with a Bow, a Trail of Cloven Hoofed Tracks, and a Deer like animal with an Arrow object (tracking a wounded animal or final result?).

By the way, Cloven Hoofed animals (split into two toes) include cattle, deer, goats, and sheep.

Above Left: Deer like animal.

Above Right: Deer like animal making tracks.

Above Left: Deer or Elk like petroglyph and tracks.

Above Right: A Deer or Elk like petroglyph.

Above Left: Man with Bow, Animal with Arrow in it.

Above Right: One or perhaps two animal(s).

Above Left: Animal and Cloven Hoofed Tracks.

Above Right: Animal, likely being field butchered by a hunter.

Above Left: Big Animal, perhaps speared in the back.

Above Right: Deer like animal with an arrow in the back.

Above Left: Plant above the petroglyph area.

Above Right: Apparently suspended Animal, likely for butchering.

Above Left: Goat like creature with an arrow in the back.

Above Right: Upper and Larger Scale Petroglyph: A Man hunting a Gazelle (long horn) type of animal.
Lower and Smaller Scale Petroglyph: Two different men in a running pose, both with deliberate penis displays.

Above Left: Men celebrating or perhaps a hunting party (more than one man in an image).

Above Right: Two deer like animals.

Above Left: Perhaps a man stalking an animal, killing an animal, or butchering an animal.

Above Right: Two animals with emphasized feet, one animal seems short horned (like a goat) and the other animal seems long horned. Other interpretations easily exist (like a stalking man) and the glyph seems to be partially faded.

Above Left: Two people coupled in a sitting position.
Unrelated hunter image nearby and mold that looks like an facial profile.

Above Right: It is difficult to what the image is about BUT it is the first image to show more muscular and artistic definition in the leg calves and thighs.

Above Left: Hunting from above and thick horned animal (like seen in Africa today).

Above Right: Suspended Deer like animal and two men with weapons.

Above Left: Hunter?

Above Right: African like animal and something that may have been a group of hunters.

Above Left: That's Terry, we're getting ready to depart.

Most sites of ancient ones in the northern hemisphere face the south, this site faces the north. Was it already hot here in Spain, in 2-5000 BC/BCE, such that the clans of humans did not want or need direct sun light/warmth?

Above Right: Hillside flowers in bloom.

Above Left: Flowers.

Above Right: A view north, up canyon, as we are hike out of Cueva Remigia.

Above: An abandoned structure (that took some effort to build) and a bench or step in a wall (that took some effort to build).

Arriving Back to La Montabanna, del Maestra, Spain

Above Left: Stone structures at the edge of town (on the mountain side).

Above Right: The backside of La Montabanna.

Above Left: Terry entering a village wall.

Above Right: An official sign, Pintures Rupestres (Cave Paintings) de la Gassulla .

Above Left: La Montabanna, del Maestra, Spain.

Above Right: Cueva Remigia (Word Heritage Site).