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Cliff "Cuevas" (Spain)
Between Valencia and Alicante, around the big village of Bocairent, there is a group of exceptional cliff ‘cuevas’. The major site, ‘Les Covetes dels Moros’, is a community cliff refuge, grouping 49 cavities dug on five levels in the cliff, and connected by 47 narrow bottleneck passages. Each chamber has its own window in the cliff wall. In the same district, there are six others cliff refuges of this kind, for the most part having only some rooms, but two of them feature more than ten openings. All these cavities seem to be part of the same historical group. These ‘coves-finestra’, as they're called in the Valencian Country, are thought to have been dug in the 10th or 11th century and abandoned in the mid-13th century. The use of the natural barrier created by the relief, the ‘Covetes’ bottlenecks and the fortification wall at ‘Bancal Redo’ all bear unmistakable witness to a defensive strategy. With grain silos and room for animals villagers were also able to hide and to protect their means of subsistence. ‘Les Covetes dels Moros’ and ‘Bancal Redo’ are community underground refuges. The other cliff cavities are located at strategic points guarding access roads and defiles. They were most likely used as lookouts and defences, as well as being used as refuges. There are other cliff refuges in Andalusia (southern Spain).
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