Població: Atzeneta del Maestrat

The first walled enclosure is believed to be related to Muslim domination of the area, in fact, the name of Atzeneta (official name in Valencian), comes from the name of the barbarian chief Zenet, belonging to the Az-zanata tribe, settled in these territories at the time. According to studies, this first walled enclosure was erected at the edge of the settlement, where nowadays you can find de Pastora squaere.

The parish was formed immediately after the Christian conquest; it is already mentioned in 1279. In 1315 it is mentioned again when the bishop of Tortosa Francesc Paholac makes a Pastoral Visit, but no mention is made of the building. At the end of the 14th century, there’s some information related to some of the altarpieces in the church appearing in a will.

At the beginning of the XVIIth century there are some references about the villages’ will to build a new church, but the works were delayed because of the economic and social hardships suffered by the villagers for much of the century: droughts, wars and epidemics. In the 1630s the works began, but it was not until 1674 when the works advanced, and these continued throughout the century, to be finished in 1701. The master builders in charge of the construction were the Esteller, a family from Valencia. The choir, built in the presbytery, was moved in 1757 to the feet of the nave.

In 1858 the church was extended by connecting the temple and the Communion chapel.

Until the XIXth century the main altar had been dedicated to the Virgin of Angels and Saint Bartholomew, and later, only to Saint Bartholomew, except for 1685 and 1686 in which the invocation of the high altar to Saint Anne.

It is declared as a Local Relevance Asset with the category of Local Interest Monument according to the Fifth Additional Provision of Law 5/2007, of the Valencian Cultural Heritage legislation.

Sant Roc’s hermitage is a religious building located in the main square of old quarter of Atzeneta del Maestrat.

This XVIIIth century buildin, dated in 1757, was built with ashlars following baroque architectonic guidelines. Its small size offers a a single square shape nave and great height of walls, to which you enter through a single door located in the main facade of the hermitage. The door has an empty niche in which you can see the year of construction and a blinded oculus that hosts a ceramic panel representing “Sant Roc”, to whom the hermitage is dedicated. The outside of the hermitage is finished with a belfry, wich was built after the temple and in neoclassical style, in which there is a single bell dated in 1844. The roof has a dome of glazed tile.

Virgin of Loreto’s Hermitage is a religious building situated at confluence of Loreto’s square and Calvary street in Atzeneta del Maestrat.

Virgin of Loreto’s Hermitage dates from the XVIIth century, specifically from the year 1602, although in its outer part you can see two wooden doors framed in carved ashlars, which can be dated earlier, one of them from 1596. It is an hermitage located within the town of Atzeneta del Maestrat, and in front of it you can see what is known as “Peiró de Loreto”, a slender stone column located on a tier of three steps with circular socles, in which usually some image of Christ or Our Lady is placed, sometimes even and all of saints or simply of the Holy Cross, as must have been the case with the pewter of Loreto, but the Cross was lost during the civil war 1936-1939.

The hermitage is a small two-story temple with a single gabled Arabic tile roof. Its construction is made of masonry, and has a portico formed by semicircular arches on three of its faces, although currently only the central can be used to have closed the sides to build a running seat in its inner part. To this portico or atrium a window with grates opens the facade of the hermitage, whereas the doors of access to the sacred enclosure are placed laterally in each one of the facings, being these doors small and framed by ashlars. belfry located on the central wall, on a trestle of the right roof at the confluence of the temple and the portico, which has a single bell, called “Loreto” and dated 1961. Regarding its interior, stands out for to be totally painted in white, being able to observe a vault of cruise, with key decorated in the form of stone cherub and a battery of holy water of alabaster.

Atzeneta’s Castle is located 3 km from the town, about 500 meters above sea level, in the area called “Les Foies”, near the end of “Llucena” and the ravine of “La Pallisera”.

The only remaining part of the Castle is the Tower of Homage, which is built in Gothic style, with a square floor plan, with the old inn and semicircular arches. Inside you can see some valuable canvases, such as the Immaculate (oil painting canvas dated 1689), pointed arches, the staircase and even an oven from the time of its construction. There is also an 18th century altarpiece in honor of St. John the Baptist, which is currently located in the parish archive. The materials used in the construction are ashlars, ashlar masonry and masonry. In addition, there’s an hermitage, constructed later, around XIVth century, dedicated to the patron saints of thevillage: the Virgin of the Hope and saints Fabian and San Sebastián. This hermitage had a sundial in one of its corners of which only a small part remains. At hermitage’s entrance an ecclesiastical shield can be observed.

The Divina Pastora Square is arround the well that provided water to the first village inhabitants.

Nowadays a ceramic altarpiece of the Virgin under the invocation of the Divine Shepherdess (Divina Pastora), located in a chapel located in the facade of one of its houses presides over it and gives its name to the square.

The Prison tower contruction dates has been confirmed by archaeological studies. It has a wall with remains of battlements, machicolation, as well as remain of other two towers.

The square plant tower, has three heights and curved tile square plant; regular masonry factory forming rows. It’s walls have a 106-110 cm thickness at the ground level, while decreasing in the successive floors, 95 on the first and 75 on the second. Access to the upper floors is through a staircase that is still preserved. The walls have loopholes and the windows have thick wrought iron grilles. Next to the tower, the “Camí de Vistabella” portal was opened, in one of the modifications to the walled enclosure, which has now disappeared when it was demolished around the 1950s. On the entrance door there is an inscription dating from 1898. It is called the “prison tower” because it was used as a prison in the village until almost the 60s of the twentieth century.