Exploring the old military stronghold of Bernia (route PR-CV 7) - Sierra de Bernia, Alicante ⛰️🇪🇦

January 2023 · 2 min read · Valencian Community

Full route track - The blue line it’s the path from ”Casas de Bernia” to the ”Fort of Bernia”. — *Full route track - The blue line it's the path from "Casas de Bernia" to the "Fort of Bernia".*

One of the most interesting places on this hiking route is the Bernia Castle, which although today and after centuries of poor conservation its state is quite dilapidated, it's full of interesting history.

*Bastion (background, right) and three twin vaults (background, left).*

The Fort of Bernia, which watches over the bay of Altea, was a small military fortress built in 1562 by order of King Felipe II, with the main objective of being a deterrent to possible revolts by the large Moorish population that lived along the region, in addition to guarding the coast from attacks by Berbers pirates.

Some of the views from the lookout post.

The bastion had a permanent garrison of 55 soldiers, as well as a second lieutenant, a chaplain, a mayor and an artilleryman, and had an infirmary, a slaughterhouse, a torture room, a moat, houses for the soldiers and their wives, a powder keg and warehouses for wine and flour.

There is evidence that the garrison defended the coast from many attacks, including: six galliots by the Ottoman Albanian commander Arnaut Mami, the expulsion of the Ottoman corsair Morato Arráez and various attacks by other corsairs.

In 1609 and after the overwhelming victory of the Invincible Infantry of the Tercios of Naples and Sicily of King Felipe III (in which 5,000 infantrymen faced 17,000 Moors in the Battle of the Green Horse), the Moors were expelled from the Iberian Peninsula and the fort was dismantled by order of the king.