We broke up the long drive from Valencia with a stop in Peñiscola, a small seaside town with a large and historic castle.

The scenery that we encountered on our drive down the coast was somewhat disappointing. A lot of the Spanish coast is highly developed with blocky vacation apartments such as the ones in this shot and the last shot. Peñiscola has two distinct sides - the rather ugly side, north of the castle, with its vacation rentals, and the south side of town, which is older and a lot prettier.

The castle sits up on a hill. We started climbing the hill and got to this point overlooking the Mediterranean Sea to the north.

Continuing our climb, we got a view of the sea to the south of town.

We purchased entrance tickets to the castle and went in.

The Peñiscola castle is ancient, having been built by the Knights Templar in the 1200's and 1300's. It sits on a foundation that was built by the Moors before that. The castle was the home of Pope Luna briefly, during the period in which the papacy was not resident in Rome. Throughout the castle are remains of the Knights Templar, such as this shield.

A banner in the castle's meeting hall.

The altar in the chapel of the Knights Templar, right in the castle.

A picture of me in the castle.

A view of the old part of Peñiscola, from the top of the castle.

The old town and the sea, again from the top of the castle.

A nice tile built into the walls in front of a seafood restaurant at the foot of the castle.

Peñiscola old town, from the castle.