Ráfales
Elevation: 627 m
Area: 65,61 km²
Population: 138
TOWN HALL
This Renaissance style building is dated from the 16th century and stands in a noteworthy location, attached to the old wall, over an entrance portal. The arch that gives access to the portal is situated outside the wall, where there is a remarkable stone staircase. This leads to the first floor, ‘la Lonja’, where the market used to take place and through which the ancient prison was reached.
IGLESIA PARROQUIAL DE NUESTRA SEÑORA DE LA ASUNCIÓN
This Gothic-Levantine church was built in the 14th century on the foundations of an ancient Romanesque church from the 8th century. After a hiatus due to the plague of 1348, the building was the result of diverse construction periods. Its structure is robust and austere, with a prominent tower situated next to the epistle and overlooking the old cemetery.
CASTILLO DE LA ORDEN DE CALATRAVA
Ráfales is a village of Muslim origin (its name means farmhouse) and once belonged to Monroyo, under the domain of the Order of Calatrava. Ráfales finally became a village in 1337, whereupon the Order built this castle. There are only a few remains today, the most considerable being the vestiges of the entrance archway featuring the cross of Calatrava on a keystone.
LA TORRETA
This defensive structure from the 14th or 15th century was part of the medieval wall that enclosed the village and protected one of the entrances to it. The tower has a square base and a single window at the top. After losing its defensive role, it became part of ‘Casa de l’Hereu’, belonging to a family of landowners.
PLAZA MAYOR
The most outstanding buildings in Ráfales, such as the church, the town hall and the fountain, are situated in this peculiar L-shaped space. Both sides of the longest part are decorated with porches. There is a fair here in November, in accordance with a tradition endorsed by Pedro IV in 1382.
PORTAL DE BOIRA O DE LA MONEJA
This is one of the wall doors in which many of the masonry walls and the semicircular entrance arch are retained. A house with a side entrance was built on top of the portal. It is an example of traditional popular architecture with some special elements such as the wood-carved handrail and the blue lime-washed wall.
PORTAL DE SAN ROQUE Y PORTAL DE LA VILLA
This is a beautiful place where ‘portal de San Roque’, ‘portal de la Villa’ and ‘la Lonja’ (town hall porches) come together, the results of different construction periods. ‘Portal de San Roque’ (14th century), the oldest, has a Baroque chapel on one of its sides. When constructing the town hall next to the wall, a new part was opened, ‘Portal de la Villa’, where marine fossils (ammonites) can be seen in the walls.
LA FONT VELLA
The municipal boundary of Ráfales has many fountains and springs due to its geological features. ‘La Font Vella’ is one of the most ancient and also the busiest, as a result of its chemical and lime-free composition. It flows plentifully and it has never dried. According to popular tradition, ‘La Font Vella’ supplied two villages at the time of drought in the 19th century: Ráfales during the day and Fórnoles at night.
ERMITA DE SAN RAFAEL
It is a construction of the s. XVIII with a curious architecture, the result of the various reforms. It is, attached to the hermitage the hermit’s house. A pilgrimage and a popular meal is celebrated at the hermitage during the San Rafael festival, the weekend closest to October 24th.
MOLÍ DE L´HEREU
It is an 18th century building that functioned as an oil mill until the 70s. This mill had a predominant role in the economy of the time since it concentrated all the production of the town. When it fell into disuse, the City Council acquired it and began in the early 90’s a project for tourism qualification