Millenium Olive Walk – 22nd September

Sally’s Local Walks 2019-20

Walk 1 – Lavadero and Millennium Olive

32 people and a handful of dogs met at La Rana (the lavadero complex in Gata) for the first walk of the 2019-20 season. This is one of the slightly longer walk which takes about 1 hour 40 plus stops. It was a beautiful and unexpectedly cloudless day.

It started at the irrigation complex in Gata de Gorgos, which dates back to the Muslim era. This area includes the lavadero (washing facility), a windmill, two wells and a fountain. The ceiling of the washing area is missing but there are still 5 well-preserved arches. The lavadero was still in use in the early C20th where the women would gather to do their washing. The area has been recently renovated and some Roman remains were unearthed here.  There is also a eucalyptus tree that reaches 30 m tall and the circumference of the trunk measures 8 meters. It clearly loves the waters in the ravine. It was planted by Doctor Moratal in 1915 when he was the mayor of Gata.

Our second, brief stop was just around the corner, to highlight recent archaeological work in a nearby field. 3 sites have been dug but at the moment all work by archaeologists and students from Alicante University, has ceased due to a lack of funding. The excavation has already unearthed many ceramic artefacts, in particular amphora which was used to carry to wine. There is evidence that these pots made their way to several Mediterranean cities including Rome.  The authorities are hoping to restart work sometime within the next year.

The walk continues through quiet country lanes and paths. It is necessary to cross a barranco which is difficult to find unless you know where you are going. It feels as if you are going to have to walk through a curtain of reeds but there is, actually a quite well defined but rocky path.  This leads to the to the Millennium Olive which is at least 800 years old and there is some evidence that it was planted in 1025 a.d. The fruit is still harvested regularly today.

Throughout the walk there are excellent and unrestricted views of Montgó, the vines in the campo and features such as the three towers of Jesus Pobre. In addition, we saw people harvesting the vines and several horse and cart (and tractors) laden with capazos (rubber buckets) full of grapes.

Sally Merrett

29 September 2019