The Valley of Ricote, the Murcian Refuge of the Moors in Spain

Amidst the arid mountains that shape the Murcian sky lies another natural secret of visual impact, reminiscent of the turquoise pool of Salto del Usero: a valley that is a green oasis, where water sings through ancient irrigation channels and the air smells of orange blossom, lemon, and basil; where waterwheels turn, marking the passage of time for centuries; where narrow streets allow for rural flânerie between whitewashed houses that hold the secrets of the last Moors of the Peninsula, just as Cervantes depicted in the pages of Don Quixote by giving voice in the second part of his monumental novel to "Morisco Ricote."

It was in 1609 when Philip III condemned the Moorish presence on the peninsula to an end by signing the edict of expulsion, which swept through every corner like a violent gale, uprooting entire families and leaving true ghost towns where life once thrived. Whole communities of generations who had almost forgotten Arabic had to pack their belongings, whether many or few, and leave their homes in tears. But in a bend of the Segura River, protected by ochre mountains, a group of Moors believed they could evade their grim future. Its inhabitants, farmers and craftsmen known for their industriousness and good coexistence with old Christians, managed to postpone the inevitable.

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When the royal commissioners arrived in the Valley of Ricote, they found Christian processions, crosses in every home, and neighbors who swore they were more devout than the monarch himself. As it turned out, while the rest of the Spanish Moors had already boarded ships to exile, those in the Valley of Ricote continued working their gardens, enjoying the aromas of the plain. The waterwheels continued to turn, water flowed through the irrigation channels, and the children played - what could go wrong? But in 1613, the refuge came to an end. In Cartagena, the ships awaited. The last Moors traveled the road to the port with their Christian icons around their necks, praying for some miracle to allow them to stay. A miracle that never came.

Ricote gives its name to the valley and constitutes its historical heart. This small town holds memories of the past within its narrow and steep streets. The castle-fortress of Los Peñascales, now a ruin that merges with the rock as if it were more than a historical wreck, wishes to become minerals, watches from above with breathtaking views of the surroundings, marking the path followed by those who had to suffer exile.

At the foot of these ruins, halfway to Ojós, along the Route through the Ricote Garden, the "olivera gorda" appears along the roadside, the oldest monumental tree in the Region of Murcia, the most underrated region in Spain according to the British press. The tree stands tall with its 6-meter circumference trunk made into a labyrinth of bark, delving its roots into history: its hollow trunk holds the secret to its exact age; but according to tradition, under its branches, the Moors of the Valley of Ricote surrendered their arms to the forces of King James I of Aragon after the Mudéjar uprising of 1264-1266.

The baroque church of San Sebastián, which began as a small hermitage of Santiago for the military population of the castle of Ricote, contemporary with the hermitage of Our Lady of Huertas - an old mosque located in the middle of the orchard - are the religious monuments that join a series of noble houses, such as the Palace of Llamas (from 1702) or the façade of the House of Hoyos from the early 18th century, which must be marked on the map of visits.

Around Ricote, seven towns sketch an exceptional microcosm. In Blanca, the floating and dizzying viewpoint of Alto de Bayna awaits. With the town on one side and the Ojós reservoir on the other, this natural balcony is one of the best observatories to see how the sunset paints the valley purple. Next to the reservoir, the pine of Solvente remains as a natural landmark of the place where Moorish communities once gathered to make community decisions. In Ojós, the solar houses and palaces peek out at the weir where the Segura River calms as it revels in its own reflection.

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It is at the river where another legacy of the Moors continuously turns: the waterwheels concentrated in Abarán, which can be seen along the Route of the Waterwheels (SL-MU 28), where the Great Waterwheel stands out - the largest in Europe still in operation, impressive for its size and perfection. In this digital and electrified age, this giant still raises water in the traditional way as it did centuries ago to nourish the garden, allowing for greenery even in the hottest summers: these waterwheels are cathedrals of hydraulic engineering, circular liturgies of water that persist in the 21st century.

For religious temples, the one in Ulea is renowned for being the oldest church in the valley, the Parish Church of San Bartolomé and Vera Cruz, a 15th-century gem where the evolution of the old Muslim mosque to the current temple can be seen in an architectural syncretism. Villanueva del Río Segura preserves an urban center of narrow and steep streets, surprising squares, and houses that embrace each other to protect themselves from the summer heat. When seeking a little wellness, one should point to Archena, famous for its thermal spa used since Roman times, where time dissolves in mineral vapors.

The landscape of the Ricote and Cieza valley is miraculous, but also a result of human harmony. Here, human hands have shaped and adapted the environment thanks to ingenious irrigation systems, with their canals, azarbe, and dividers distributing water in a perfect balance not devoid of beauty, as demonstrated every spring by the pink sea of Cieza. Between barren mountains, the Segura River creates an intense green corridor. Lemon, orange, pomegranate, and olive trees grow in terraced levels. Palm trees, a direct inheritance from North Africa, stand out against the relentless blue sky. They sway, reminding us of those Spanish Moors, like Cervantes' Morisco Ricote, who lamented the loss of this small homeland in their forced exile.

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