Moorish settlement

After entering the complex, on your right hand side can be seen the hamlet. It is a pre-existing Moorish settlement, which most probably formed part of the hamlet of Cotalba, where the monastery was founded.

Notable features are the freestanding defensive tower from the 14th Century, prior to the construction of the monastery. This was remodelled in the 17th Century and has a quadrangular floor plan and a gabled roof, very similar to the ones that can be seen today in Alfauir.

Cotalba probably means: Cota (hill), Alba (white): white hill.

The hamlet of Cotalba was donated to the Hieronymite monks in 1388 by the first Duke of Gandia, Alfonso of Aragon, known as “Alfonso the Old”, who had previously purchased it from the Moors for the sum of 550 sous, and which consisted of a total of 8 heredades (plots of inherited land) and 5 cuartones (quadrangular plots of cultivated land).

Immediately after the donation construction was started of the monastery, with a licence from the Cardinal of Valencia, Jaime, the brother of the founding Duke.