Autonomous Community Valencian: Morella

 

Shamelessly ripped this from the web because I did not get a photo of it from our approach...which was not from a helicopter.

This one I did take, it's from basically the opposite angle as the one above. Note the bull-fighting ring INSIDE the main castle.

Today we went on a multi-village excursion (La Iglesuela del Cid, Mirambel) that started with Morella. I had never heard of it before but I was pleasantly surprised with our trip to the ancient walled city. It's cool because the core of the castle incorporates several caves that have been used for thousands of years and then the exterior has a rich history of the Greeks, Roman Empire, Arabs, and pf course modern Spain.

These days Morella is teetering on the edge of being a tourist trap but is still charming and the approach to the village does look freaking cool. It is in a very hilly and rural location so there aren't any other developments around it. When you approach from the southern side you see these beautiful terracotta rooftops with the castle almost floating above. 

The tourism development is more than adequate with ample parking, a visitors center, and tasteful restoration of buildings throughout the village. The castle is the centerpiece and it's a steep walk up but totally worth it. I loved the little cave museum with explanations about historical characters and the views at the top of the castle were pretty. The only funny (but very Spanish thing) was that the hours of the castle were 11am-11pm. It was €3,50 to get in and it wasn't super crowded. 

The rest of Morella was nice but really only took an hour or so to stroll. There is a main street that has a variety of shops selling the famous local cheese and wool products with some trendy restaurants as well. This area of the town was much more crowded than the castle which makes me think many people are not thrilled to make the steep-ish climb. It's a village that is totally worth the visit!