The old town of Jávea: a complete walking route past the church, museums and market

What makes Jávea's old town special?

Jávea's old town stands out for its compact medieval street plan of white facades, arched tosca-stone portals, Gothic windows and wrought ironwork, all built up around a church that once served as a fortress. That mix of defensive architecture and everyday residential streets gives the centre an atmosphere found nowhere else in Jávea.

That tosca stone, a golden fossil sandstone, was quarried for centuries at the two Muntanyars on the coast and at the Cova Tallada, from Roman times until quarrying was banned in 1972. In the old town the material turns up in arched portals and facades, and it is this stone that gives the centre its distinctive, warm colour.

The historic centre is small enough to cover in a single morning, yet densely built enough that there is always something new to spot: a door with wrought ironwork here, a Gothic window there. Wander without a fixed route and you will rarely miss a highlight, since they all sit within a few streets of each other.

How do you walk the route through the old town?

The route starts at the Plaça de la Constitució, runs via the Plaza del Convent past the Convento de las Agustinas to the Plaça de l'Església with the church of San Bartolomé, continues to the Capella de Santa Anna and Casa de Tena, and finishes at the Museo Soler Blasco and the Mercat Municipal. Everything lies within walking distance.

The walk begins at the Plaça de la Constitució, the square where the weekly market sets up on Thursdays and from which the narrow streets of the old centre fan out in every direction. A few minutes on, at the Plaza del Convent, the Convento de las Agustinas catches the eye (if you look the building up on Google Maps, search for Iglesia San Felipe Neri y Santa Mónica; it is not listed there under the convent name), before the route arrives at the heart of the old town, the Plaça de l'Església.

On that square you find both the church of San Bartolomé and Tourist Info Xàbia Centre, and nearby also concept store Hinédito and the two stately buildings Palau dels Sapena and Casa dels Bolufer. From here it is just a few streets to the Carrer d'Avall, home to the Capella de Santa Anna, and to Casa de Tena, now an exhibition space known as CA Lambert.

The route ends at the Museo Soler Blasco on the Plaça dels Germans Segarra and at the Mercat Municipal, within walking distance of wine shop Bodega Miguel. The whole circuit is compact enough to complete in an unhurried morning, with time to spare for a short stop at each of the facades along the way.

What is the history of the church of San Bartolomé?

The Iglesia de San Bartolomé on the Plaça de l'Església is a Gothic fortified church whose oldest section, the presbytery, dates from 1304. The main structure, built in Isabelline Gothic style, took shape between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, with later extensions in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and since 1931 the church has held National Historic-Artistic Monument status.

A major defensive extension followed between 1513 and 1517, led by master builder Domingo de Urteaga: thick walls and a defensible shape that recall a time when the coastal population regularly had to reckon with danger from the sea. That defensive character still shows in the church's robust mass.

San Bartolomé is open to visitors during the day, in the morning between 10am and 12.30pm and in the afternoon for half an hour before each mass begins. Anyone arriving just too late can happily fill the wait with a visit to Tourist Info Xàbia Centre on the same square.

What is there to see at Museo Soler Blasco and the other historic buildings?

Museo Soler Blasco is Jávea's archaeological and ethnographic museum, housed in the seventeenth-century Casa-Palacio of Antoni Banyuls on the Plaça dels Germans Segarra. Across thirteen rooms the museum traces the history of the area, from Neolithic finds to underwater archaeology recovered from the coastal waters.

In summer, from July to September, the museum is open Tuesday to Friday from 10am to 1.30pm and from 6pm to 9pm, and at weekends and on public holidays only in the morning from 10am to 1.30pm; it stays closed on Mondays. From October to June the afternoon hours shift to 5pm to 8pm, with the same opening days otherwise.

Even without stepping inside, there is plenty to see: the town hall dates from the eighteenth century and was renovated in the twentieth, the Capella de Santa Anna stands on the Carrer d'Avall, and on the main square the fifteenth-century Palau dels Sapena and the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Casa dels Bolufer both stand out. Casa de Tena, from 1867, now serves as an exhibition space under the name CA Lambert.

When is the market in the old town, and what does the Mercat Municipal offer?

Every Thursday, from 8.30am to 2pm, Jávea's weekly market takes over the Plaça de la Constitució. Nearby, on the Plaça Celestino Pons, stands the Mercat Municipal, a covered neo-Gothic market hall from 1946 that is open for fresh produce from Monday to Saturday.

Morning is the best time to visit the Mercat Municipal, when the stalls are stocked at their best. The market hall has its own fish auction and a handful of bars where you can eat cocas between rounds of shopping.

Where is the best place to park near the old town?

Two official car parks sit next to the old centre: Parking Plaça de la Constitució, right on the square itself, and Parking del Portal del Clot on the Camí Tàpies, both with free charging points for electric cars. On Thursday mornings, when the market takes over the square, Portal del Clot is the more sensible choice.

Prices and any time limits at either car park are not known, so check on the spot. What is certain is that from both car parks you are in the middle of the old centre within a few minutes, so the choice mostly comes down to which side of town you are arriving from.

Where can you eat and drink in the old town?

The old town holds four addresses with their own entry in this guide: restaurant La Tasca Rebotica on the Carrer Sant Bartomeu, restaurant Volta i Volta on the Calle Santa Teresa, concept store Hinédito on the Plaza de la Iglesia and wine shop Bodega Miguel by the market hall. All four lie within walking distance of the route.

La Tasca Rebotica and Volta i Volta sit a few streets apart, both right in the middle of the old centre and so easy to combine with a stop at the church or the museum. Hinédito, just by the Plaça de l'Església, suits anyone keen to browse a little after the walk, and Bodega Miguel is around the corner from the Mercat Municipal, a natural last stop after the market hall.

How do you combine the old town with the harbour and the Arenal?

From the old town it is 2.4 kilometres to the harbour, Duanes de la Mar, and 3.9 kilometres to the Arenal. Both combine well with the walk through the centre: a morning in the old town followed by an afternoon by the water splits the day neatly into two distinct moods.

Anyone who prefers to walk rather than drive should allow a good half hour towards the harbour and around three quarters of an hour towards the Arenal, with the Montgó a constant presence in the background. For anyone in the old town on a Thursday, it makes sense to combine the walk with the weekly market, and at the end of the day an afternoon on the beach at the Arenal or a drink by the harbour makes for a pleasant close.