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The VillageAigues: I'ts legend, It's history"Aigues cures without doctors,here no pharmacy can be found,only its pure air, its waters and the shadow of its pine trees". For as long as one can remember, Aigües has been famous for its health tourism, hence all its economy at the time came from the well-known Balneario. Today, it is closed and the major sector of the local economy is about services, mainly anything around gastronomy and outside activities bound to the nature. In short, in-land tourism. The history of the villageAigües has always been a place known for its artistic tradition, made by the local artists as well as by many others who came there to live because of its genuine hospitality and its marvelous landscape. A small sample of those artists, either native from the village or fully residents, are the painters de la talla de Agrasot, Juan Ribes, Pepe Mas, Burguete, Vila, J.P. Kwinkelenberg etc…. Additionally, antiques and restaured objects can also be found in the village. Aigües means water in Valenciano. The origin of its name comes from its underground thermal water reserves to be found in the “Cabeco d’or” (or the Sierra del Hombre). The name of Aigues is first saw in an ancient paper written in 1842 by Fernando the Catholic. This document was written in Latin and it is the first one to give the Valenciano name of Aigues to the site. The historical value of the village is tremendous. During the Middle Age, Aigües played an important role due to the fact that it was a bordering municipality located between the reigns of Aragon and Castilla and its name is mentioned in various important documents at the time. The first one is the Pact of Cazola (1179), in which Alfonso II of Aragon and Alfonso VIII of Castile determined the location of their frontier from Bihar till Aigues. The second document is the Treaty of Almizra (1244) signed by Jaime I of Aragon and the infant D. Alfonso of Castilla, in which both parties agreed to rectified the initial border, using the “Barranco” of Aigues as a natural limit alongside its bed until the south of Villa Joiosa. Another important document for the history of Aigües is the one about the creation of the council of Alicante and the confirmation of its ??? (involving Aigues) and signed by Alfonso X el Sabio. At a later stage, Fernando the Catholic brought Alicante to the level of city and he ratified the inclusion of Aigües. One has to wait until 1841 for the segregation of Aigües from Alicante. Some vestiges that prove the long lasting history of the village are the ruins of a little Arabic style castle located just outside the village borders as well as the Tower known as “Torre de Aigues” hung up on a small hill dominating the village. During the Modern age, the name of Aigües was linked to the Martinez de Vera family who bought in 1604 from D. Pedro Mora and Rocamora some of his heritage found on Alicante land, called “Aigues and Baranes”. Further down during the 17th century, the title of Marquis del Bosch was created and the village became bound to it since then. Nowadays, the family still owns large plots of land and numerous buildings. Another noble title was later associated to that family: the Conde de Casas Rojas. 
Among all the belongings of the Marquises del Bosh comes out the big pine forest to be found in the Cabeco d’Or with its numerous walking paths filled with old stone-made benches and sight spots where the walkers can rest. Precisely within this area, one can also found the ancient fountain of la Cogolla with its large viewpoint from which the coast of Alicante can be divided in, the caballerizas de El Ciscar and the Ermita de Carmen where the people meet every year during its pelerinage. Close from there and in a pretty good state of conservation, one can find the villa Begoña recently sold by this noble family. Others properties owned by the Marquises in the same district are: Vicalvaro, La Cava, Villa Salud and the Balneario. |
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