Cultural Environment
Puntal dels Llops
Come to Olocau and discover one of the most important archaeological sites of the Iberian period in the Valencian Community. Located in the southern foothills of the Sierra Calderona, at an altitude of 427 meters, the site of Puntal dels Llops overlooks an extensive landscape that reaches the entire Camp del Túria, l’Horta de València and the coast.
MORE INFORMATION
PARKING AND ACCESS AREA:
The access is located next to the CV25, 1.5 km from the village. Up to here you can go by car and park in a designated area. From this point, a low-difficulty footpath is signposted, which ascends to the village in a 1.5-km, 130-meter ascent.
GUIDED TOURS:
Free guided tours are available by appointment from Wednesday to Sunday throughout the year.
FREE VISIT:
Access is free and open all year round. It is mandatory to request permission from the City Council of Olocau for group visits.
It is a watchtower for the defense and surveillance of the Edetan territory occupied between the V and II centuries BC, which was the residence of an aristocrat, a member of the equestrian warrior elite of Edeta, his family and their dependents. It highlights its impressive wall, the watchtower and a set of rooms open to a central street that runs longitudinally through the settlement.
The archaeological excavations, completed in the 1980s, show that daily domestic activities were carried out in the settlement, such as those related to food preparation, ritual practices and agricultural, mining and craft activities. Part of these materials can be visited in the Puntal dels Llops Museum Collection, located in the Casa de la Senyoria.
Free guided tours are available from Wednesday to Sunday by reservation.
Specialized archaeologists will take you back to the Iberian era for a unique experience. A plan for the whole family!
Route Puntal dels Llops
Another way to know the Puntal dels Llops is through the hiking route, with a distance of 5.8 km and a difference in height of 140 meters that offers two options; a longer one with departure from the town of Olocau from the parking area of the Puntal dels Llops next to the cemetery of Olocau, where only the ascent and descent from the beginning of the access path to the Puntal dels LLops.
If you dare to do the complete route you will start from the Casa de la Senyoria and after crossing the old town to leave the village you will cross the Barranco del Carraixet to l’Horta de Dalt, visiting the historical irrigated land and the macollades. When you reach the Amara pond you must continue west until you reach the foot of the Puntal dels Llops mountain, where the ascent path begins, marked by a large poster of our Iberian warrior Nauiba.
From this point you will enter a landscape of ancient carob and olive groves next to a Mediterranean forest where the Aleppo pine stands out among a variety of species. Along this path you will make a journey of 1.5 km and 130 meters of unevenness, very similar to what the Iberians did in the past, until you reach the top and reach the archaeological remains of Puntal dels Llops.
We recommend a free guided tour to learn about the landscape, the history of its inhabitants and the archaeological remains recovered from its excavation.
Guided tours
Free tour service from Wednesday to Sunday throughout the year.
Since 2013 the City Council of Olocau and the Museum of Prehistory of Valencia collaborate to offer a service of free visits from Wednesday to Sunday throughout the year. This project was born with the aim of disseminating the Iberian culture through the Puntal dels Llops and encourage public use of the site for heritage and educational enjoyment in a way that is compatible with its protection.
The guided tours are conducted by specialized archaeologists who accompany visitors from the beginning of the route, walking the 1.5 km path with the group. The experience to know the Puntal dels Llops begins by walking the path that leads to the site and discovering the flora and fauna that surrounds us today and the one that the Iberians would have observed 2500 years ago when doing this same route.
During the school months it is common to visit with school groups of all levels, from elementary school to university. This is a different extracurricular activity, since it combines hiking, nature and cultural heritage. Educational materials are used in these visits to make them more dynamic.
It is also very common for associations, groups of friends and families to visit. It is necessary to arrange the visit in advance and there is no minimum group size.
The mountainous environment surrounding the site, the spectacular remains of the Puntal dels Llops, the extensive landscape that can be reached from there and the explanations of our guides, specialized archaeologists, make this visit a unique experience.
Museum collection
Discover the details of the life of the inhabitants of Puntal dels Llops.
The municipality of Olocau has a permanent archaeological exhibition, inaugurated in 2013. It is a set of archaeological pieces through which the details of the life of the inhabitants of Puntal dels Llops are discovered.
Through the tour of the exhibition hall it is possible to learn about the last 40 years of work at Puntal dels Llops, from the excavations in the 70s and 80s to the Iberfesta. This story is told by the archaeological pieces themselves, some of them exhibited to the public for the first time, as well as graphic material and archival documents from the excavations.
It is possible to take a guided tour of the exhibition and discover all the details from the hand of specialized archaeologists. Complete your visit to Puntal dels Llops with a visit to the Museum Collection in the Casa de la Senyoria!
The visit to the Museum Collection is an opportunity to learn about exceptional archaeological materials in the very municipality where they were excavated. The exhibition does not only focus on the Iberian period, but also shows materials from an earlier phase of the Bronze Age documented in the settlement.
The archaeological excavations at Puntal dels Llops were carried out between 1978 and 1985 by the Museum of Prehistory of Valencia, under the direction of Helena Bonet and Consuelo Mata. The materials recovered were deposited in this museum, where part of them are exhibited in its permanent room.
Special activities
A different way to approach the Iberian culture.
The guided tour is not the only way to discover Puntal dels Llops, throughout the year there are special visits that offer a different way to approach the Iberian culture.
La Mirada dels Deus is a dramatized visit where a group of visitors follows the access route to Puntal dels Llops hand in hand with different Iberian characters who are doing their chores to prepare a propitiatory ritual. Through them they discover how they lived, how news came from far away from the hand of the merchants and how they interacted with each other. Finally, the group helps in the preparations and participates in a ritual to the gods inside the village.
La Memòria del guerrer is a dramatized visit where the spirit of the warrior Nauiba appears during the visit to the village and tells the public in first person how were the last moments of life in the watchtower, a conflictive and warlike context between two great Mediterranean powers of that time.
In the summer months, nocturnal visits to the site are organized, A la lluna del Puntal. Taking advantage of the summer temperatures, a visit is made at sunset during which you can discover the Puntal dels Llops with a guided tour with specialized archaeologists, but with a different atmosphere, under the moonlight.
These visits are organized by the Puntal dels Llops Visits Service and the date will be announced through all channels. It is essential to register in advance, since the capacity is limited.
Virtual Tour
Using VR glasses and motion sensors.
A virtual reality room was installed in the Casa de la Senyoria in 2019. The Puntal dels Llops has been virtually reconstructed in 3D, reconstructing the original elevations to recreate the settlement at the time it was inhabited 2500 years ago.
Using VR glasses and motion sensors this virtual reality room you can have an immersive experience and tour the Puntal dels Llops, enter its rooms or interact with objects and characters.
The virtual visit is an experience for all audiences, with great success among children, but it is also an opportunity to bring the Puntal dels Llops to those who have difficulty accessing the site.
Iberfesta
A cultural event with an Iberian theme
The Iberfesta Olocau is a cultural event set in the Iberian theme that has been held since 2013, with its origin in the research and dissemination project of the Puntal dels Llops. It is held the second weekend of June with the aim of publicizing and disseminating the Iberian heritage of the municipality.
It is a full weekend with a wide variety of activities for all audiences where you can experience the history of the inhabitants of Puntal dels Llops in first person.
For the youngest visitors, there are several educational workshops known as the 5 Tests of Nauiba, where they will enjoy javelin and slingshot shooting, pottery modeling, esparto grass work and a quiz with questions about Iberian culture. In addition, the Casa de la Senyoria houses the children’s library of the Museum of Prehistory of Valencia. Another important activity is the visit to the Museographic Collection of Puntal dels Llops.
During the weekend, scenes of the Iberian period are represented by theatricalizations performed by the olocauinos and olocauinas themselves. These scenes are supervised by the Museum of Prehistory of Valencia, so they have great quality and historical accuracy. Iberfesta is also a member of the Spanish Association of Historical Festivals and Recreations.
In the Town Hall Square and Main Street is located the Fireta, a craft fair where you can find local products handmade using traditional techniques and the municipalities of the Ruta dels Ibers, which give information about the Iberian sites that can be visited in the province of Valencia.
This event offers not only a cultural but also a gastronomic experience. During the two days, local businesses prepare tapas with ingredients that existed more than 2500 years ago, documented in the archaeological excavations of Puntal dels Llops. This gastronomic tour is known as the Iberian Tapa Route.
The Ibers Route
Get to know the Iberian world.
The Ibers route offers the possibility of getting to know the world of the Iberians by visiting the most important Iberian settlements in the province of Valencia, a cultural heritage located in areas of great natural and scenic value. El Puntal dels Llops is one of them!
In addition, the visit to the places where the Iberians lived is completed with a visit to the Museum of Prehistory of Valencia, where you can learn about the most relevant archaeological materials, and the local museums of each municipality.
In Olocau you can find all these elements, an archaeological site at the gates of the Sierra Calderona and the Museographic Collection of Puntal dels Llops where remains of great cultural value are exhibited. Come and meet the Iberian Edetans and discover what life was like 2500 years ago.
