‹ Back

The Faro de l'Albir Interpretation Centre registers more than 135,000 visits until the month of August

 

L'Alfàs del Pi chosen every weekend as one of the most attractive tourist destinations in the entire province of Alicante, for its natural and cultural heritage offer, with the lighthouse and the Museum of the Roman Villa of l'Albir as two of their main complaints.

 

The natural and cultural heritage offer of l'Alfàs del Pi is consolidated as one of the great tourist attractions of the province of Alicante. This is clear from the 135,036 visitors counted, from the beginning of the year until the end of August, on the way to the lighthouse, one of the routes in the Serra Gelada Natural Park that registers the most influx of public due to its accessibility and having the the only cultural lighthouse in the entire Valencian Community. "By not having an automated control system, the list of visitors on the red route of the natural park is only developed while there is staff at the information point, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., so the real number of visitors is much higher." greater”, has clarified the Councilor for Tourism, Luis Morant.

 

The Faro de l'Albir Interpretation Centre opened its doors in October 2011, becoming the first cultural lighthouse in the Valencian Community, where not only photographic exhibitions are held that reflect what the life of the ancient keepers was like, when the lighthouse was inhabited, and the importance of the flora and fauna of the natural park is described, but talks and concerts are held sporadically. In its first year of operation it received 63,493 visits, and eleven years later, in 2022 it registered a total of 185,003 visitors. “It is evident that our tourism promotion policies, based on the recovery, conservation and dissemination of our natural and cultural heritage, are on the right track,” said the Councilor for the Environment and Tourism of the Alfàs del Pi City Council, Luis Morant. Along these lines, it must be taken into account that a few meters from the lighthouse, it opened its doors in 2011, a pioneer in the application of 3D technology on open-air sites, which offers the visitor the possibility of virtually viewing the entire hot springs thanks to to an iPad application that shows the original architecture on the archaeological remains and offers a tour to understand the functioning of each of the rooms of the baths. In addition to having virtual reality glasses, also pioneers, with which to travel in time. In 2016, thanks to an archeology employment workshop, the museum's visitable area was expanded with the extension of the walkway to one of the main buildings of the town, a fairly large apse-shaped room called oecus.

 

"The Government team is committed to continuing to support the recovery and conservation of the cultural and heritage assets of l'Alfàs, in order to enhance them and turn them into tourist attractions for the municipality," the councilor reiterated. Tourism head Luis Morant. A political strategy of the socialist Government team that has allowed the rehabilitation of emblematic buildings and spaces such as the Albir Lighthouse, the Escoles Velles, the Mànec Molí, the Carabineros Barracks, the Roman Villa of l'Albir, the quarry of Serra Gelada or the Los Carrascos park, converted into a Landscape and Environmental Interpretation Center linked to the Natural Park.

 

The route to the Albir lighthouse among the most attractive tourist destinations in the Valencian Community

 

The Albir lighthouse is the first cultural lighthouse in the entire Valencian Community. The Faro de l'Albir Interpretation Centre, a cultural facility that the Alfàs del Pi City Council, in collaboration with the Serra Gelada Natural Park, launched in October 2011. A unique historical building built in 1863 with the objective of marking the northern end of the Serra Gelada, an area known as les Penyes de l'Albir. From then until today the lighthouse has illuminated our coast continuously, since not even during the Civil War did the lantern stop working. The building was inhabited by two lighthouse keepers until the sixties, when new technical systems made the constant presence of a technician in the lighthouse unnecessary. From that moment on, The lack of maintenance led to a constant degradation of the structure, with the roofs collapsed and the façade greatly altered by repeated acts of vandalism. Between April and July 2011, the Alfàs del Pi City Council rehabilitated the lighthouse building with the aim of preserving this important element of our historical heritage and converting it into an exhibition center where the multiple cultural and environmental values ​​of the city are shown to the public. the Serra Gelada. The Serra Gelada is a mountainous elevation that separates the bays of Benidorm and Altea. It is a unique space where culture and nature have coexisted for centuries to create one of the most spectacular landscapes in the Valencian Community. The numerous and important environmental values ​​it has have led to its protection as a natural area in 2005 by the Generalitat Valenciana. The mountain range and its coastal environment are included in the Serra Gelada Natural Park, one of the most unique in the Valencian Community as it is the first maritime-terrestrial park in this community.