{"id":22955,"date":"2025-06-06T18:32:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T18:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/liveinalbir.com\/sella-alicante-the-water-route-and-local-nature\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T06:35:53","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T06:35:53","slug":"sella-alicante-the-water-route-and-local-nature","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/liveinalbir.com\/en\/sella-alicante-the-water-route-and-local-nature\/","title":{"rendered":"SELLA, ALICANTE | The Water Route and Local Nature"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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As you approach Sella by road, the first impression is almost cinematic: a small stone village of pale houses perched on the hillside, its bell tower watching over the valley like an old sentinel. From a distance it has that air of an abandoned medieval village<\/strong>, the kind of place that holds stories, silences, and things you only discover if you dare to step inside. And that’s exactly why it’s worth a closer look.<\/p>

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As you round the final bend, what seemed like a place frozen in time starts to reveal life: open windows, well-tended orchards, people strolling through the narrow streets\u2026 and that mountain scent you only find in the inland Marina Baixa. Sella stops being “that mysterious village on the hillside” and becomes an authentic, peaceful corner full of natural beauty.<\/p>

Very close to Benidorm<\/a>, El Albir<\/a>, or Altea<\/a>, this small enclave surprises with its history, its views, its home cooking<\/strong>, and above all, its famous Water Route<\/strong>, a trail through springs, irrigation channels, and old mills that shows you the real Sella.<\/p>

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Although Sella is a quiet, mountain-ringed village today, its roots run far back. Its documented origins date to the Muslim era, when this whole area was part of the alquer\u00edas, small farming hamlets scattered across the inland Marina Baixa. At the highest point of the village stood an Arab fortress \u2014 the old Santa B\u00e1rbara Castle<\/strong>\u2014 which watched over the valley and protected the crops that depended on water channelled down from the mountains.<\/p>

After the Christian conquest, Sella became part of the Kingdom of Valencia. As happened in many towns, the great turning point came in 1609, with the expulsion of the Moriscos. The village was left almost empty and had to be repopulated with families from other parts of the interior, such as Agres, Cocentaina, and various nearby municipalities.<\/p>

That farming past left something behind that is now one of Sella’s greatest treasures: its ancient water system<\/strong>of irrigation channels, mills, and canals, which you can still follow thanks to the famous Water Route<\/strong>. For centuries, this network irrigated terraced fields in a dry, rugged landscape; today it has become a historic trail where you literally walk across the region’s Muslim heritage.<\/p>

Perhaps because of its location, tucked between ravines and mountains, Sella has kept a very distinct personality. It hasn’t experienced the overcrowding of the coastal areas, nor has it lost its mountain-village structure. Its narrow streets, whitewashed houses, and unhurried pace preserve an old-world feel that matches that first mysterious impression you get from seeing it from afar.<\/p>

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