Castillo del Papa Luna – A Papal Palace and Knights Templar Castle in Peñíscola:
Helen Page introduces you to Peniscola from the battlements of the Castillo del Papa Luna, its Knights Templar castle built on a site that was previously an old Moorish citadel. The castle stands on the high point of a rocky headland, some 64 metres above sea level.
We left Barcelona this morning and travelled down south. After an hour or so of travel we left Catalonia and now we’re in Valencia. You know you’re in Valencia when you hit all those tracts and tracts of orange trees. As you know Valencia oranges are famous the world over and this is where they come from.
Now we’re in Peniscola which has two big attractions. Number one is this fort where I’m standing; we’ve just been up to the top, but it’s rather crowded – lots of people up there – so we thought we’d come down here where it’s a bit quieter. This fort was built by the Knights Templar. It’s huge, it’s quite amazing.
And the other big attraction is the beaches, stretches and stretches of lovely beaches. Spain has four blue star beaches: these are supposed to be the beaches that are the most beautiful and have all the nice facilities, and one of them is right here. Some of the people we’re travelling with have already gone to the beach. But here we are, sweating. It’s not only hot, it’s really humid. On the way up here we were already dripping. Poor Tony is shaking from the heat so I think I’ll cut it short now and go in the shade. See you later, bye!”
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