Active tourism in the Ricote Valley
The cultural heritage of Blanca, in the region of Murcia, is a living testimony to the rich history and cultural diversity that characterise this picturesque town. From imposing medieval fortresses to baroque architectural gems, Blanca offers a fascinating journey through time. Monuments, museums and urban spaces reveal the mark left by the civilisations that have populated these lands over the centuries.
We invite you to explore the highlights of Blanca's cultural heritage, which reflect the unique identity and cultural richness of this charming town.
Blanca's cultural heritage is a treasure that reflects its rich history and deep-rooted traditions.
The Castle of Blanca, an imposing medieval fortress, towers over the town as a guardian of the past, offering breathtaking panoramic views. The Parish Church of San Juan Evangelista, with its baroque architecture, is a symbol of faith and artistic splendour. The Old Bridge, of Roman origin, is an architectural jewel that connects the past with the present. The stately houses and cobbled streets are silent witnesses to the history and cultural legacy of this Murcian town.
In every corner of Blanca you can breathe the heritage of past generations, honouring its unique identity.
Cultural tourism in Blanca is an enriching experience that combines history, art and tradition.
The city's museums offer fascinating exhibits ranging from archaeology to local traditions, showcasing the cultural richness of the region over the centuries. In addition, the Victoria Theatre, with its historic charm, is a vibrant stage for plays and cultural events that delight residents and tourists alike. These emblematic places are living testimonies to Blanca's unique identity and add a special dimension to tourism in this beautiful corner of Murcia.
Blanca's fiestas and traditions are vibrant and colourful, reflecting the joy and deep-rootedness of its community.
Blanca's fiestas and traditions are a colourful and exciting expression of its cultural identity. From religious processions to folkloric festivities, the calendar is packed with events that unite the community in celebration. Semana Santa (Holy Week) is experienced with great solemnity, while the patron saint festivities in honour of San Roque fill the streets with music and dance. The Romería de San Isidro Labrador is a tribute to the town's agricultural roots, and the Fiesta de la Santa Cruz is celebrated with decorated crosses and traditional dances. These festivities are an opportunity to enjoy the contagious joy and hospitality of Blanca.
Stately home dating from the end of the 19th century, its gardens were inspired by the Real Alcázar of Seville and also inspired by the Generalife of Granada (Molina Ruiz, Tudela Serrano, Guillén Serrano, 2014). It preserves the pine tree of the araucaria family (Araucaria excelsa) considered to be the tallest in the Region of Murcia.
Don Carlos was an important man in the Ricote Valley due to his properties and his interest in culture and painting (Molina R., et al. 2014). Originally, the house was called "El Alto del Palomo".
It is worth mentioning its living room where its walls are covered with paintings and also the coat of arms of the González family, which can be seen right at the main entrance of the house.
The Casa Conde de La Vallesa, located on the main road of the municipality, is a 19th century manor house built as a home for a noble family: Don Enrique Trenor y Lamo de Espinosa, Count of La Vallesa. It is a neoclassical building which during the Civil War was used as a dining room for soldiers arriving from the Canary Islands.
It was ceded to the Town Hall in 1997, restored and transformed into a country inn, currently closed. In its gardens, of more than 2000 m2, there is a casuarina tree (Casuarina cunninghamiana) more than 130 years old and 25m high. In keeping with the design of the area and of the period, the house has two floors and an attic, and an access gate for the old carriages.
The main façade is distributed along six axes and still preserves the noble coat of arms of the Count of La Vallesa. Materials such as stone and masonry were used alternately, and the decoration was painted in the classic colours of the Ricote Valley: yellow, white and green.
Built in the 19th century, La Favorita is a suburban house, built for the relaxation of those who had it built, a family of noble lineage, the Counts of La Vallesa. It was so called by its owners for their holiday rest.
From the railing on the ground floor, which is accessed by a staircase, there are wonderful views, light and colours that blend together with the river.
Today it reigns peace and tranquillity, another of the reasons that in its time would have been appreciated by the owners, who also owned all the orchards surrounding it.
It has two floors and an attic, and the most notable feature of its exterior are the different ornaments that define it as eclectic, given its variety of combinations of styles. Its maroon and white colour, which apparently would have been yellow at the time of construction, makes it stand out from some of the other houses in the surrounding area. All of its façades are decorated and have windows, but there is only one access door to the house, on the main façade, which is accessed by a flight of steps.
It is currently awaiting refurbishment. Both one of its side façades and part of the central façade are crowned with a triangular pediment and abundant decorative motifs. It still conserves its name with all the letters clearly visible on one of the parts of its façade, the one that stands out the most.
It is a baroque style building from the 18th century, a temple of small dimensions that has been very well restored. It consists of a single nave divided into three sections, covered with a barrel vault and a transept with a hemispherical dome. The presbytery is quadrangular, with a barrel vault and lunettes. The most significant feature of the church is the decoration of the mural inside the chapel. The main altar is presided over by the image of San Roque (during Lent and on the day of the pilgrimage), the patron saint of the church and patron saint of the municipality.
Located in Bujerca, in Huerta de Arriba, its purpose was to raise water from the Acequia Principal de Blanca to irrigate some 2.7 tahullas (0.30hz).
The last functional wheel was the work of the master carpenter and hydraulic turbine inventor Antonio Molina Cano (1879-1953). His ingenuity led him to coin a type of wheel that he used in several waterwheels, such as those of La Quinta and Antonio Molina Cano, also in Huerta de Arriba.
The architect from Blancos would increase the number of spokes to eliminate the intermediate rim and thus make it lighter and with more inertia.
Made of wood, except for the shaft and metal plates, the Noria de Miguelico Núñez was 8 metres in diameter, had 14 spokes, 42 blades and the same number of buckets arranged on its left crown. Although the waterwheel was well preserved in 1970, it would not be functional at the end of that decade, as its hydraulic space was irrigated with water from the "El Progreso" motor (1912). In 2002, it was rebuilt from the original shaft and plates, although with a tourist, not agricultural, function.
The Parish Church of San Juan Evangelista acquired its current appearance in the 18th century, a modest and austere Baroque style, far removed from the later eighteenth-century pomposity.
It has a rectangular floor plan, with three naves covered with a vaulted ceiling in the central nave and a barrel vault with lunettes on the sides. The main chapel, also rectangular in plan, is covered with a simple barrel vault, decorated with frescoes by Muñoz Barberán inspired by the Apocalypse, the book of the temple's patron saint.
The supports are square pillars with attached pilasters that contribute to the cruciform appearance of its floors. The triumphal and transverse arches, all of them semicircular, start from these. Above the transept, there is a half-orange copula on perches, with four oculi that provide natural light for the fresco paintings by Muñoz Barberán from 1968, referring to the Assumption of the Virgin. Two of the four pendentives also belong to the same artist, dedicated to the Evangelists, accompanied by their respective symbols, whose work was cut short by the 1968 earthquake, when the artist decided on his own initiative not to continue, possibly for fear of a repetition of the earthquake and the risk involved in working permanently on scaffolding. The other two represent medallions, one with the cross of Santiago and the other with a chalice.
On the outside, the building has an austere ashlar stone façade with few concessions to decoration. The access to the first section is formed by a semicircular arch, the keystone of which is decorated with the cross of Santiago, the military order under whose rule the church was built. The second section rises from the plasterwork that acts as an entablature, above which is a quadrangular opening that is enclosed and flanked by decorative geometric motifs consisting of pyramids on prismatic floors, crowned by balls, very typical of early 17th-century Scurial motifs. The keystone of the lintel of the quadrangular opening, which is decorative on the outside while providing natural light for the choir, contains the ornamental motif of the keys of St. Peter. On top of this new dust cap, on which the aforementioned decorative elements are repeated, on both sides of a cross.
To the right of the façade is the tower, with three sections and a pyramidal capital-like top, where the aforementioned geometric ornamental motifs are repeated.
Built on the Peña Negra de la Sierra del Solán, at an altitude of 556 m and overlooking the town centre, stands this castle built in the 12th century by the Muslims.
The rebellion of Ibn Yusuf in Hud against the Almohads took place in this area during the 13th century. Negra, later renamed Blanca, suffered the clashes between the rulers of the region.
In 1285, Sancho IV, King of Castile, granted the towns and places of the Ricote Valley, including Negra, to the Order of Santiago. This order improved the yield of the land and converted the Mudejars from Blanca to Christianity.
The castle was used as a watchtower and a place of refuge for the inhabitants of the neighbouring farmsteads in times of instability.
It was restored between 2003 and 2006.
The castle, which had become the symbol of the lordly power of the order over the valley and its inhabitants, was to be the scene of a resounding act of arms in the mid-15th century, in the context of the Murcian civil war and the clashes between the adelantado Don Pedro Fajardo and his close relative Don Alonso Fajardo "el Bravo". Thus, in 1448, a military action was directed against the fortress in which some pyrotechnic artillery devices were used, fuelled with eight arrobas of gunpowder bought in Orihuela.
The Pedro Cano Foundation houses some of the best works of the Blanqueño artist and a collection of all kinds of paintings that make up some two thousand drawings, as well as being responsible for a large number of cultural activities in all the arts.
Timetable:
Plant O. It houses the 'Clausuras' series, the reception and a shop.
Floor 1. Living by painting'. A chronological tour. You can see the first oil painting that Pedro made at the age of eleven and works as significant in the painter's artistic career as 'Portrait of my mother', 'Baggage' and 'Pompeyano'.
Others from some of his most important series, such as '59 East 7th Street', 'Hortus' and 'Il Fiume.
Floor 2. Work on paper', which brings together, among other pieces, his travel notebooks and his 55 watercolours on 'The Invisible Cities' by Italo Calvino, as well as some pieces from 'Closures'.
Floor 3. Temporary exhibitions'.
This centre is located on the banks of the Segura river, taking advantage of the old hydroelectric factory, the building that for 25 years has been the driving force behind the development of the town of Blanca, known as "La fábrica de la luz" (The factory of light).
Its aim is to show the historical process to get the most out of water. The hydraulic inventions shown in this centre are related to the geography of Blanca.
The idea of this exhibition space is to show visitors the historical origins of these inventions, to motivate them to reflect on the different uses of water and how they can vary in different cultures. A very significant space in this centre is occupied by a recreation of the Segura river in Blanca, and all the possible uses of water in it: the waterwheels, the public washing place, the electric lifts for irrigation or consumption and this "Light Factory".
The theatre was built in 1937. It has a simple layout. The façade consists of three axes, the central one being the one in which two bay windows protrude from the façade, each with three windows. It is crowned with a wavy crest with six peaks at its vertices. The interior has a very simple structure: it has a stalls and two floors of boxes. The ornamentation of the interior responds to popular types of colour and designs very common in the Region of Murcia. After many decades of offering theatre performances, revues, zarzuelas, cinema... the company that exploited it decided to close it due to the scarce audience that lately attended, not covering expenses.
It was put up for sale and the company that acquired it planned to demolish it to build a site for housing: the municipal corporation decided to buy it from the construction company that had acquired it, so that after its restoration it could be returned to the use and enjoyment of all Blanqueños and visitors.
Restoration work began in 1995 to restore it to its original function and it reopened its doors on 24 April 1999.
The layout and volume of the theatre is in keeping with the popular architecture of the period. The building consists of two clearly differentiated bodies. There are four levels: the first with the entrances, audience area, stalls, stalls and stage, the second for the amphitheatre, the third for the projection booth and a fourth in the cassock, where the dressing rooms and storage area are located.
The Despedida de las Animas is celebrated in Blanca on the 6th of January (Epiphany).
Throughout Christmas, the "cuadrillas", presided over by the banner with the picture of the Virgen del Carmen (advocate of purgatory), go from house to house in the different districts and streets of the town; on arriving at each one, the brother carrying the alms bag asks if it is played or not, and if it is played, three or four coplas are performed and "la despedía" is sung.
On Epiphany Day, the final stage begins at the Chapel of "La Milagrosa" and then the streets near the parish church are walked. On this day, all the members of the "cuadrillas" join together in one group and the people of the village join in. On arrival at the parish church, the "cuadrilla" stands at the foot of the main altar and begins the "despedía", which is sung in two different parts:
- The first one is a couplet about the prayers of the souls in purgatory to be rescued.
- The second asks the saints for graces to put an end to the sufferings of these souls.
- Finishing "despedía" couplets.
At the end of the farewell ceremony, the phrase "Cheers for the coming year" is said.
The traditional pilgrimage in honour of the patron saint, San Roque, is one of the most important days in the calendar for all Blanqueños and, together with the Running of the Bulls during the August Fair, forms part of the most important festivities in the municipality.
The day begins at 7 a.m. with the arrival of the Tío de la Pita in the municipality, which travels through the streets of the town until it reaches the Plaza de la Iglesia, from where the pilgrimage begins at 8 a.m., with the saint accompanied by more than a thousand of the faithful to his hermitage, located some 5 kilometres from the town centre in the Campo de San Roque area.
At 11 o'clock in the morning a huertana mass is celebrated, enlivened by the group of Coros y Danzas de Blanca, from the Peña Huertana El Ciecón, and officiated by the local parish priest, as consiliary of the Brotherhood of San Roque.
Once it is over, thousands of Blanqueños and visitors spend a day together tasting the traditional monas and passing a sprig of thyme over the sores of the saint, to later enjoy family meals in the San Roque field.
Our elders tell us that since 1739, the Romería has been repeated, year after year, on the Friday following Good Friday, except for the sad period of civil war from 1936 to 1939, when it was not held.
The Rosarios de la Aurora have been held on Sundays in October in Blanca since 1573-1585, with the Hermandad de Nuestra Señora Virgen del Rosario (Brotherhood of Our Lady Virgin of the Rosary) being in charge of this tradition.
Running of the bulls in the streets of the town, in honour of San Roque.
