Castellón de la Plana is the capital city of the province of Castellón, in the Valencian Community (Spain). It is located in the east of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Costa del Azahar by the Mediterranean Sea. The mountain range known as Desert de les Palmes rises inland north of the town.

Main sights

Most of the historical buildings are located in the diminutive old town, around the Plaça Major (Main Square). These include:

• The Concatedral de Santa Maria (co-cathedral of Saint Mary), built in a Gothic-style in the 13th century and reconstructed one century later after destruction by fire. The present building is another reconstruction after the demolition ordered by the council during the Spanish civil war (1936).^[9]
• The Ajuntament (City Hall), erected at the beginning of the 18th century. It features a Tuscan-style façade rising up over a colonnade.
• Planetari de CastellóThe free-standing bell-tower of the procathedral, known as El Fadrí (the single man), built in the 15th century.
• The Llotja del Cànem (Hemp Exchange Market), built during the first half of the 17th century to be used by traders in hempen cloth and ropes, a very important activity in the area at the time. Today the building is used by the University for cultural events and temporary exhibitions.
• On the northeast edge of the town, at the end of a broad avenue decorated with orange trees, stands the Basílica of Santa Maria del Lledó (European Hackberry or Celtis australis), a basilica devoted to an image of the Virgin Mary found in 1366 by a farmer when he was ploughing his lands. The original 14th-century chapel was extended to its present Baroque form during the 16th century.
• Espai d’Art Contemporani de Castelló, Museum for Modern Art
• Teatre Principal

Events

The annual festivities in Castellón are a week of celebrations three weeks before Easter every year called La Magdalena. People come from all over the province and many international bands and groups participate.

The city is notorious for its music festivals, among which we find: early in February the Tanned Tin music festival for alternative music and experimental music, in July the Festival Internacional de Benicàssim (also known as FIB, which translates to Benicàssim’s International Festival), at the beginning of August there is the Arenal Sound and during the middle of that same month, we can find the Rototom Sunsplash Festival, known for its reggae music.