Excursions with
narrated history,
homemede food
and relaxation classes
Cavall
Vert
La Vall de Laguar has
seen many civilizations, the Iberos, the Romans, the Arabs; and
they have all left their influence in the cultural customs, in
food, language, festive rituals and crafts.
One of the most influential
cultures to have touched this area was the Moorish one, leaving
physical as well as more subtle evidence.
The name of Vall de
Laguar is said to come from Arabic origin, el-aguar means caves
in Arabic, there are many caves in this area, some were occupied
since Neolithic times. Another theory is that the name derives
from 'Garden of Allah'.
Anyway, we know this
was one of last strongholds of the Moorish civilization in Spain.
In 1609 king Felipe III ordered the expulsion of all moors from
Spain.
A group of them in the Vall de Laguar, lead by a baker called
Amed Al Mellini, did not accept they should abandon the land they
had worked on so hard and buried their dead in. They rebelled
and there was a bloody battle, they were forced back to a castle
(Castell de Pop) which lay at the top of a mountain called the
Green Horse(Cavall Vert). A legend, perhaps made up by the Christians
to cover the true events, says the last moors who did not want
to surrender and face certain death awaited salvation from their
land on what was like the saddle of the green horse, and as it
did not come they threw themselves off the mountain to their deaths.
Another more probable
theory about the name of the mountain Cavall Vert is that it comes
from the Iberos; vert could come from the word bart, meaning damp
banks, which would refer to the area of Fontilles where many water
fountains are born and the Cavall Vert overlooks these. Cavall
may come from Latin:Capot Vallis, meaning the head of the valley.