Morella
There have been many attempts to market El Cid as a martyr to Christianity, fighting the good fight against the evil Moors. Franco liked to dress up as the great warrior and the early Sixties film starring Charlton Heston portrayed a different Cid from what mere history books had to say; such as the small detail that El Cid died five years after the battle for Valencia and not leading his troops, strapped dead to his faithful horse.
Fortunately, the people of Morella do not seek to extend the myth and will tell you quite honestly that El Cid helped win the Battle of Morella for his Arab liege.
The battle was fought between Sancho Ramírez, King of Aragon and Navarre, and Yusuf al-Mu’tamin, King of Zaragoza, for Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, El Cid, worked as a mercenary.
Today you can stay as we did at the Hotel El Cid, just inside the city wall, and enjoy one of the best breakfasts in living memory.
Morella has changed for the better since my last visit over 30 years ago, with well-regulated traffic and pleasant walks and new parks, such as the poets’ park.
The main arcaded street is a market in the morning and full of lively bars and restaurants in the evening, and there are museums and various gates to enter the city.
Local produce on sale around each corner, and cured bulls’ meat and goat and sheep cheeses seem to be the main attractions. Truffles and blankets are also typical, as is a sweet pastry known as a ‘flaon’.
This is not a town for the weak of leg and most walks take you up or down steps, so that you either adapt and prosper, or don’t.
There are sevarl churches dotted around, one of which has been turned into the medical centre.
The Town Hall, house the giants used in all the main festivals, seems to be permanently open for citizens to just wander in. There is a major festival held every six years, the sexenni, and 2018 is one of them, that celebrates Morella’s rescue from the ravages of the plague in the 17th century.
Looming over everything is the castle, not a destination for the weak-hipped, but offering spectacular views of half of Castellón. El Cid is rumoured to have rebuilt it, although like everything else related to the man, there is disagreement about what he actually did and didn’t do.
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