Paraje de la Morería

Paratge de la Moreria - Cova de la Campana

Useful Information

Location:	12185 Les Coves de Vinromà, Castellón. Leave CV-10 at the roundabout, the first right. Follow signs "Ruta dels Molins". Parking 400 m from town on the left. (40.304017, 0.122490)
Open:	no restrictions. [2023]
Fee:	free. [2023]
Classification:	Erosional Cave Cave House Painted Cave
Light:	n/a
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Clodoaldo Roldán, Sonia Murcia-Mascarós, Esther López-Montalvo, Cristina Vilanova, Manuel Porcar (2018): Proteomic and metagenomic insights into prehistoric Spanish Levantine Rock Art, Scientific Reports volume 8, Article number: 10011 (2018). online DOI I. Domingo, Esther López-Montalvo, V. Villaverde, R. Martínez (2007): Los abrigos VII, VIII y IX de Coves de la Saltadora (Les Coves de Vinromà, Castelló) Valencia: Generalitat Valenciana. (2007).
Address:	Paraje de la Morería, 12185 Les Coves de Vinromà, Castellón, Tel: 964426009. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

01-DEC-1947	miracle de les Coves de Vinromà (miracle of Coves de Vinromà) does not happen.
1998	inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Description

The Paraje de la Morería (Place of the Moreria) with its numerous small caves is a strange place, connected with several weird stories. So lets start with a description. The village Les Coves de Vinromà is located in a wide valley, running straight from north to south, with karstified limestone mountains on both sides. Located at the foot of the eastern mountain range, it is surrounded by flat fields and a river which is dry most of the time. Close to the village the Le Coves River leaves the plain through a gorge, crossing the mountain ridge toward the sea. That's quite exceptional, as it would be normal to follow the valley. And at the wall of this gorge, right at the entrance, there are numerous small caves, and one with a strange portal, shaped like the leaf of an oak tree, named Cova de la Campana (Campana Cave). The caves are located in a softer layer of limestone, all at the same level. Most likely they are originally erosional caves formed by the river while it was flowing at this level, then the river cut deeper and the caves are now in the cliff face, right above a slope of debris.

The site has been the shelter for prehistoric man, there are cave paintings in one of the caves. It is owned by the Fundación Docente Privada de les Coves de Vinromà. A special detail is the vortice energetico de les Coves de Vinromá (energetic vortex of Coves de Vinromá), which sounds quite esoteric. We first thought there was a prehistoric engraving or painting with that name. But as far as we could find, this is a glitch, there is no such thing. Still, it is weird.

But the name la Morería originates from a later time. During the Middle Ages Spain was occupied by the Arabs, what they call the Moorish Occupation. It was reconquered by catholic forces and the Arabs were thrown out of the country. But while the leaders and the army fled, normal people did not have the same luxury, and many Arabs remained in the country. And like the Catholics under the Arab rule, the Arabs were second grade citizens under the Catholic rule. Probably their situation was even worse. They were often forced to live outside the villages in caves. This is such a site which was occupied by poor "Moorish People", hence the name Morería. As a result many caves have massive alterations where they made them more habitable. The cave houses were built of wood and are long gone, only the traces in the rock remain.

But the really weird story happened right after World War II. It is called the El Milagro de les Coves de Vinromà (miracle of Coves de Vinromà). In late November 1947, an 8-year-old girl called Raquel claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary appear in the Campana Cave in La Morería. She also predicted, that there would be a tremendous event on December 1: day would turn to night at three o'clock in the afternoon and miracles would happen. The story spread quickly, after the war people were hungry and in need of such miracles. Over 300,000 people traveled to the area on the day, but nothing happened. It was the coldest day of the year and their hopes had been dashed. Nevertheless, people came to visit the site for months. It seems the true miracle was that no misfortune happened, nor did any epidemic spread, although people thought the water from the river was miraculous and drank it. The Church said that the miracle was the imaginations of the girl, influenced by having seen the film Bernadette's Song based on the miracle of Lourdes.

There are pages on the web which refer to the "Vinromà Caves", a simple translation error. Coves de Vinromà is the name of the village. Today the site is accessible on a short walk on well maintained trails with wooden railings. At the foot of the slope is a picknick area with wooden benches. The site has been declared a flora microreserve by Valencia's regional government, the Generalitat, due to the unique plants growing on the two banks of the river.