Before 1385, which is when Father Friar Francisco Castillo narrated that Alfonso the Old built a small and modest temporary monastery to house the friars coming from Xàbia, while the main monastery was built, the settlement of Cotalba or Tossalet de Cotalba already existed.
This temporary monastery still exists partially inside the complex of the Muslim settlement.
The origin of this settlement was a Roman settlement, which later became a small Moorish village, with its own Alcazaba fortress and residential buildings for noble people.