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Albocàsser. A walk for the history of Europe.
Due to its location, Albocàsser has historically been a communications hub towards the North of the Province of Castellón, and between the flattest lands of the coast and the mountainous and rugged interior that today is called Maestrazgo, a region of which it is the capital and the gateway natural access.
Few places can boast like the towns of this Region of having witnessed the passing of History, which is endorsed by its multiple vestiges and by chronicles.
Prehistory has a special visible presence in what is the largest park of cave art in Europe of Paleolithic origin, The Museum of the Valltorta, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, and which offers the possibility of discovering and visiting seventeen shelters and caves with samples of Rock Art. Hunting scenes and animals in Levantine style, but also paleolithic and schematic figures populate the walls of the mountains. In Albocàsser there are twenty-two caves and shelters cataloged, although only one, the Abrigo de Centelles, can be visited (by reservation).
In it we can appreciate more than 150 naturalistic figures, where archers, female figures and hunting scenes predominate, in which the most characteristic animal is the deer with large antlers.
Like the rest of the territory, the Iberians of the Trubu of the Ilercavones, Romans and Arabs have passed through these lands and left their mark. The town of Albocácer was born as such from the town charter granted by Don Blasco de Alagón, lieutenant of King Don Jaime I, on January 25, 1239, to Juan de Brusca and thirty other settlers who were governed by the Fueros of Aragon (Aragon old kingdom laws) . In 1243 it appears as a lordship of the Order of Calatrava, which confirmed its charter on January 24 of that same year. On June 2th, 1275, the order exchanged the district with Artal de Alagón, who in turn will hand it over to King Jaime II on June 14th, 1293. It was elevated to the category of town during the rule of Artal de Alagón (1275-1293). The following year it is the monarch who delivers this and other places to the Order of the Temple, whose castle was completely destroyed. Upon its dissolution, it became part of the heritage of the Order of Montesa until the 19th century.
During the 19th century, it was the scene of frequent confrontations in the course of the Carlist wars, which had a leading scene in the Maestrazgo and Els Ports, with the election of General Cabrera de Morella as its Capital and final stronghold.
During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) he was, together with Ares del Maestrat, Benasal and Vilar de Canes, victim and object of experimentation by Nazi Germany aviation. Nazi German aviation bombed these towns in May 1938 to test the capabilities of the Stuka (Junkers Ju 87) bombers. The result of the bombings was 38 dead.
