A brief history of Calpe/Calp
With some excellent beaches, fine shopping and a great selection of bars and restaurants, Calpe is a superb location for a villa holiday, but is also a worthwhile spot for the day tripper, who will find some interesting places to visit, apart from the Peñon de Ifach, which is worth seeing on its own merit.
Calpe has a rich and interesting history and has been settled over the centuries by Iberians, Phoenicians, Romans and Arabs. The Romans constructed a fish salting factory in Calpe at Los Baños de Reina (the Queen’s Baths), close to the present day promenade, and the Moors built the Castle of Calpe , from where they controlled the area until defeated in around 1240 by the forces of the Christian king Jaime I.
A tiny town called ‘Ifach’ was built on the slopes of the Peñon in about 1290 by Roger de Lauria (an Aragon Admiral), and later the walls were fortified by Pedro II, to protect the town from attacks by morisco pirates. The town of Ifach was finally destroyed during the War of the Two Pedros (1359), and the town’s people fled to a farmhouse, overlooking the Bay of Calpe , it was around this farmhouse that modern day Calpe developed. This emerging town also built a defensive wall to ward off attacks, though it still suffered frequent incursions.
In 1659 Calpe suffered badly when the town was sacked, and almost 300 of its citizens were taken to Algiers , where they were held for 5 years, until returned in exchange for gold and the release of some pirate prisoners.
From about this time onward, Calpe began to grow considerably and buildings began to appear outside of the town walls as the threat of pirate attacks diminished. The main industry at this time was fishing, but almost as important was the production of salt, Calpe having its own area of salt flats.
During the 1930’s the vestiges of a tourism industry began to emerge in Calpe and some seafront hotels appeared to cater for the new middle-classes. This industry grew throughout the 1940’s and 1950’s and rocketed in the 1960’s, when cheaper and more efficient transport, brought visitors to the town from all over the world.
Calpe has continued to grow, along with the rest of the Costa Blanca, and today has something of the appearance of a ‘mini Benidorm’, with a number of high-rise apartment blocks and hotels, particularly at the northern end of the town. Apart from the Peñon de Ifach, most of the interesting places to visit are located in the old town and these include the Torreó de la Peca (dating from the 14th and 15th Centuries), the Iglesia Antigua (‘Old Church’, originally from the 15th Century), Placa dels Mariners (Mariners Square), and the Ermita de San Salvador (Hermitage of Saint Salvador - originally from the 18th Century but later re-built).
There are many other interesting places to visit in and around Calpe , both old and new, and these are all described in a useful leaflet that can be obtained from the local Tourist Information Office. Calpe enjoys a fabulous climate and all year round Calpe weather is generally warm and sunny making it ideal for families and the retired alike searching for villa holidays.
