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The mountains and valleys of Benifallet were inhabited many years ago. The cave painting of "Cueva de Culla" is of the Neolithic Age. The painting represents two human bodies in black, very thin. In the "Cueva de Aunidiella", there were found some pieces of ceramics, with some pictures in there, and a bell-shaped vase. There were also some stone tools. Two inhabited places have been documented". The first one is dated in the 7th.century b.J.. From it, we can see many Phoenician ceramics. The second inhabited place was called Castellot de Roca Roja was built in the Iberians time: it contains a wall situated in the easiest point of entrance to the village. We also know that the Romans lived there by observing their remains. There are a necropolis, the remains of the village and a dam made in those days. Probably, the present place of the village was taken in the Saracens time, This can be fairly believable because of the place-name of Benifallet. The first document with this name appeared as a result of the conquest of Tortosa because Benifallet belonged to the township of Tortosa. The King in this time was Berenguer IV. The Costumá place was inhabited when the Count who owned the lands gave them to Berenguer Piñol, and he had to repopulate them. From the castle we can only see its name written in a wall of the village: none of its walls have been conserved. During the Civil War, Benifallet had the presence of the army during the "Batalla del Ebro" (the Ebro's Battle).
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FIESTA DE REYES: It is celebrated in the 5th. of January. This tradition started many years ago, and for the children (and also for the adults) it is one of the most expected days in Benifallet. The Jóvenes Asociados de Benifallet (Youth Association), with the help of the A.P.A (Parent-teacher Association), prepare this celebration. The Feast starts with the collect of the presents. During the night, they are given to the children by the Reyes Magos de Oriente. They meet with the children at the Casal Municipal, which is decorated as a Belén (Nativity scene)with alive figures (see the picture). Benifallet is the only village in the counties near the Baix Ebre that has this kind of celebration. This is why there are many visitors that come to Benifallet to participate of this beautiful day.
In 1994, the Town Council of Benifallet started to do commented visits to the Caves. This proposal was so well accepted that is was decided to dedicate one Day to the tourists of the Caves of Benifallet. The chosen day was the 1st. of May, and the first year that was celebrated was in 1995. The Town Council organizes the feast, and there are many volunteers that help and prepare a big meal for all the people. This meal is free for all the inhabitants of Benifallet, and for the visitors that have the tickets of entrance to the Caves. The area outside the caves is full of people that spend this nice journey. Sometimes, moreover than the lunch, there is also a popular dinner for all of them. In the meal, they prepare toasts with garlic and olive oil, wine, "butifarras", sausages and coffee. All the people that celebrate this day, use to visit the Caves after the meal.
The Verbena (fair) de San Juan is one of the most important feasts in Cataluña, and in Benifallet it has been celebrated since ever. The feast starts on the 23rd. of June, in the afternoon. The young people of Benifallet prepare a kind of dolls that are called "Muñecos de San Juan". From 1997, there is a competition prepared by the Jóvenes Asociados de Benifallet (Youth Association) to choose the best ones. The Muñecos are made of old dresses full of sawdust, and they are burnt at the beginning of the night. They represent the bad feelings, and the fire is used to clean all the worst thoughts, etc. It is fairly common to jump over the ashes, because it is said that this helps to eliminate your worst things. After this, the music and the feast start. The Asociación de Mujeres Maravillas (the Women Association) prepares the Verbena (fair). It invites to everybody (Benifallet people and visitors) to dance and have fun during all the night. The Fiestas Mayores of Benifallet start on the 7th.of September and finish on the 11th. of September (day of the Diada de Catalunya). The Culture alderman is the person in charge of preparing them, although there are some associations that use to help him with some activities. They are one of the most popular feasts of Catalunya. It is calculated that there is a mean of 300 visitors every day in Benifallet (which is a very high proportion related to the population of the village). In the Plaza Mayor, there are some traditional dances, conserved for many years in Benifallet. One of this dances is the "Jota", that is danced all the afternoons during the feasts. In the 8th. of September, the single young women show their dance, and dance with the visitors. They are dressed in wonderful dresses, called "Mantones de Manila". The 9th. of September is dedicated to the children, and the next day is for the eldest people.
The "Quintos" are the young men that have to go to the Army, to make the service that the State requires. They celebrate this day so as to gain some money to spend during this service. The days of this feast are the 25th. and 26th. of December. Nowadays there are not many young men that really start the service when they are eighteen years old, but they still celebrate it. The "Quintos" choose a "Madrina", who is one of their best friends. She has to be good and beautiful, and she uses to dance with the "Quinto" that makes the service in the farest region. When he departs, she is in charge of writing him some letters and she takes care of him so that he does not feel alone in his destination. The "Quintos"sell the tickets for two fairs, and keep the money with them until they start making the Service and need the money, in case they do it.
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THE OLD PART: It contains the set of narrow and tortuous streets. They are very inclined, they were around the castle, that does not exist today, and still keep many characteristics of their past.
It is dedicated to the Mare de Déu. It was built in 1635. Its style is the Neoclassical style. It was badly damaged during the Civil War, but it was restored some years after. One of its Corinthian columns was used as a pedestal for a cross, and it situated in the entrance of the village.
It is situated in the cross of the Ebro Axis. It is the memory of one
village and its population that do not forget the work and the effort
of the last sailors of the Ebro river. In a F.Cots's poem, we read "el
homenaje de una tierra que no olvida el trabajo y el esfurzo de los
últimos navegantes del Ebro".
The site is situated on the top of a rocky spur, near the steeps over the Ebro river. There is a big wall that isolates the village and closes the spurs. Probably most of the structures have been uncovered, although it is very difficult to see them because of the vegetation. It is thought that there are still some deposits to discover, and that the research should continue. This idea is perfectly compatible with starting to build a Museum. We have to notice the excellent conservation of the walls. In some cases, the stone structures reach the level of the beams, which is an extraordinary thing in an Iberian inhabited place. There is almost a perfectly conserved street and could have been the main street of the village center. The site of Castellot de Roca Roja is one of the most peculiar and extraordinary Iberian sites of the country. It has been well conserved, and it is placed in a wonderful landscape. In the other hand, the reduced dimension of the site helps to construct finally the Museum. The Benifallet Town Council is for announcing a project for building the Museum in the short-term. The project would be like the picture below. It would contain the basic services, a shop and the box-offices. Nowadays, the Castellot de la Roca Roja is closed to the visitors, so as to protect the site.
"Cardó, montaña santa de nuestra querida tierra, yo te veo como otra sierra de nuestra lejana Montserrat, en tu huída del pensamiento espectro de la guerra y dejas...el gusto mágico...de la felicidad". It is a poem about the Cardó mountain, in which it is compared to the Montserrat Mountains, very famous and characteristic of Catalunya. It was written by Francisco Planas, a friar that used to spend his holidays in the Cardó Valley, and really loved it. The monastery and the hermitage of Cardó were founded in 1606. The disalced Carmelites' community started to live there. Near the monastery there were a set of fourteen hermitages spread along all the Desert of Cardó. There are still there the hermitages of San José, San Roc, San Simeón or the Ermita de la Columna, Santa Agnés, y Santa Margarita de Borboll (see the plane of the Desert of Cardó for knowing the exact situation). In the last thirty years of the 19th.century, it was created a thermal, using the medicinal properties of the water (very rich in bicarbonate and arsenic). The water, which flows from some fountains, was declared of public interest in 1887. The thermal was a republican hospital in 1938. It was again opened as a thermal in 1967. The waters are sold nowadays.
Nowadays, the most important components of the Benifallet tourism industry are the Caves and the activity through the river (navigation and fishing). Probably, one of the most beautiful trips that can be done, is the one that links Xerta-Benifallet-Miravet, when the Ebro has the lower inclination and quantity of water. It is amazing to see the contrast between the vegetable-gardens and the higher inclined terraces. Nowadays, the terraces are uninhabited places, but we see some evidences that they were not uninhabited places a long time ago, and surely the people who used to live or work there must have done big efforts to be there. Until the next year the Town Council will not have a small boat to do this trip, and meanwhile there is one company, AMPOLLA MARINÉ, which attends the matter of doing the trips when the tourists require it. AMPOLLA MARINÉ prepares different excursions trough the river. The departures are from Xerta, Miravet and Benifallet. It prepared the following tours: 4. Benifallet-Illa-Galtxo (1 hour)
Tours 1-3: Tour 4: For bookings in advance, call to the following telephone number: 977.46.04.22
In the Spring of 1968, a group of speleologists of the Espeleología de Gracia Association, found some caves while they were doing a research in the Cardó mountain range. They already knew the existence of some caves in Benifallet, as for example the Aumidiella Caves, which contain some Neolithic remains. By chance, they discovered some more caves, as the Cueva de "Marigot", La Sima del Sifó (the Sifó abyss), and the Cueva "Maravillas". The whole of them constitutes what is called the CUEVAS DE BENIFALLET (the Benifallet Caves). They are very important because of all the structures that contain. We have to mention the CUEVA MARAVILLAS and the CUEVA DEL DOS, the ones that are nowadays opened to the visitors, although that they are not entirely opened. The CUEVA MARAVILLAS is 510 meters long and has an unevenness of 9.82 meters. The Maravillas Cave has a big quantity of concretions, specially the eccentric ones. The water filters through the stones. The water is very rich in carbonates, and forms amazing figures in the stones, which is really nice to see. We find the typical stalactites and stalagmites, and within the cave there are some other original and varied structures, as the columns, defiles, "banderas", "macarrones" and the eccentrics that look to defy the Gravity Law. The CUEVA DEL GOS is 253 meters long and has an unevenness of 12 meters To find it, we have to walk the way that comes from the Cueva de E. Marigot and arrives in a place with two cavities. In the first seven meters there is a small inclination that brings you to a big gallery that contains many inactive concretions, that are loosing calcium. We have to notice the columns that are in the left side of the gallery and the "banderas". In the following gallery there are some eccentrics similarly to the ones in the Maravilla Cave.
Winter: Summer: For bookings in advance, call to the telephone number: 977.46.20.05
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It
was built in the 13th.century. It is of the Romance style. It is the
old parish church of Benifallet. It is situated in the highest part
of the village, on a big stone. To get in, we cross an pointed arch
with a nice keystone. The Piñol family used to had their sepulchers
in its walls, in the 13th. and 14th. century. We can still observe the
family's coat of arms, and the Latin inscriptions of their names.
