Discover Vallivana: Pilgrimage, Hiking Trails and Dinosaur Footprints

Vallivana offers an unusually tangible combination of pilgrimage, ancient paths and geological history. The GR 331 E13 starts at the Santuario de la Mare de Déu de Vallivana.

Trails and Nature

The GR 331 E13 follows old transhumance routes that once connected former hostels, farmsteads and hamlets such as Salvassoria, which is now abandoned. It is also connected with the ZEPA L'Alt Maestrat, Tinença de Benifassà, Turmell i Vallibana Special Protection Area for birds, as well as with the Tinença de Benifassà, Turmell y Vallivana Site of Community Importance, or SCI. The route, distance and duration can be considered separately when planning your own day.

The Yacimiento Icnológico del Barranco de Vallivana fossil site consists of a sequence of lacustrine limestones with around 25 clearly recognisable three-toed dinosaur footprints and several partially preserved tracks that form a distinctly developed dinosaur trample surface; the footprints were made by theropods. In Vallivana, the GR 331 E13 and the Yacimiento therefore represent different ways of experiencing nature and different timescales. Visiting the Vallivana dinosaur fossil site involves an easy route lasting approximately 30 minutes. The site has been prepared to make it more accessible to visitors. When planning your day, you can consider the approximately 30 minutes for the fossil-site route and longer trail sections as different measures of time and distance.

More local pages: Benafer, Alcalà De Xivert, Castell De Cabres, La Vall D'uixó, Segorbe, Almenara, Villafranca Del Cid, Torre la Sal.

Culture and Pilgrimage

The Sexenni of Morella is celebrated every six years around the third Sunday in August in honour of the Mare de Déu de Vallivana. During the Sexenni, residents walk the 24 km from Morella to the sanctuary of Vallivana.

The Sanctuary of the Virgin of Vallivana is located approximately 20 km from Morella on the N-232 towards Vinaròs. The Chapel of the Apparition is approximately 600 metres from the Sanctuary of Vallivana.

Building History and Tradition

The sanctuary complex of Vallivana comprises a hermitage and a guesthouse; both can currently be visited. The present Chapel of the Apparition was built in 1922 on the initiative of the Colonia de morellanos ausentes. According to tradition, it marks the place where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared. The image of the Virgin of Vallivana is a 25 cm tall terracotta figure. Baroque-style garments almost completely cover the original figure of the Virgin of Vallivana.

When choosing a holiday apartment in Vallivana, travel dates, room category and cancellation conditions can constitute different criteria. These accommodation considerations stand alongside Vallivana's local associations: pilgrimage, ancient paths and geological history are presented as separate topics. This allows you to align your choice with your preferred focus. The choice therefore remains guided by the relative importance assigned to these three topics.

For the wider travel overview: Castellon.