Castillo de Santa Barbara has stood guard over the city of Alicante since its first incarnation around 900 AD. Over time, it has traded hands between the Romans, the Moors, the French and the British, but it could only truly belong to Spain.
While we see the castle every night from our balcony, it required a hike to the top to experience the sheer scale and drama of the place.From its bird’s eye vantage point, the castle presented a 360° view of the city, the Mediterranean sea and the surrounding countryside.
We stepped into cleverly-designed exhibit spaces throughout the castle grounds to see artifacts from the Bronze age, early Iberian pottery and maritime antiquities.
My favorite was a darkened prison cell with nothing but a giant illuminated spiderweb spanning the ceiling.
It was the opportunity to literally feel history come alive in the hand-chiseled rough stone blocks and peak through narrow gun turrets to understand why the castle’s control meant everything to warring interlopers.
