A GREAT PLACE TO VISIT
Marchuquera is an area that lies to the west of the town of Gandia, stretching to the municipal boundaries of Ador and Palma de Gandia, with the mountainous areas of Sierra Falconera in its centre and Sierra Grossa to the west. Its total land area is approximately 750 hectares, or 12.21% of the total area of the municipality of Gandia.
Crossing through Marchuquera is the road that lies to the west of Gandia and which leads to Simat via La Drova and Barx across the Coll dels Caragols. It is here that we can appreciate the scale of the mountains that enclose our wonderful valley. From any point in Marchuquera you can see the guardian of the valley – the mountain of Monduver – rising up in the distance like an 840 metre high giant which seems to watch over our lives from above.
Nature has ensured that Marchuquera is divided up into two distinct parts with the mountain of Falconera in the middle, which exactly separates Marchuquera Alta and Marchuquera Baixa with the road called Raco de Tomba. The climate here, combined with the protection given by the mountains and the gentle prevailing breezes, all serve to provide an environment conducive to a healthy life.
The name of Marchuquera has now been applied to the area of the entire valley, which extends to the municipal boundaries of Rotova, Palma de Gandia, Beniopa and La Drova, but previously was used to identify only the collection of houses that grew up in what we now call Ermita de Marchuquera, dedicated to the beloved Virgin of Monduver.
GEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND
This coastal plain, as it is described in many books, is geologically very complex, which explains the formation of numerous caves and caverns. Because of this, Marchuquera is the perfect area for cavers and researchers of the archaeological remains found in the caves (men such as H. Breuil, L. Pericot and others), which date back to prehistoric times. There is a widely held opinion that the name of Marchuquera comes from the belief that the sea used to reach as far as the mountain slopes, substantiated by various findings of marine remains in the area.