Castellon de la Plana Audio Tours

Castellon de la Plana sits on the Costa del Azahar, the Orange Blossom Coast, and takes that name seriously. Before global air freight made tropical fruit universally available, this stretch of the Valencian coast was the primary source of oranges for all of northern Europe, and the wealth it generated left a compact, well-organized city with ceramic tiles decorating buildings across several centuries. The port of El Grao, a few kilometers from the main city, still exports oranges, hemp, and colored tiles across the Mediterranean.

The city's most identifiable landmark is El Fadri, the free-standing octagonal bell tower completed in 1604 that stands 58 meters tall and noticeably out of plumb, a gentle lean that gives it a personality the main cathedral lacks.

The Magdalena Festival, held each March, recreates the city's founding through a candlelit procession to the hilltop hermitage where the original settlement stood before King James I moved it to the plain in 1251. The festival is among the most enthusiastically celebrated in the Valencian Community and is the reason the city's streets are packed each spring with tens of thousands of participants in traditional dress.