Morote Estate
The Morote farm, is a magnificent piece of traditional rural architecture located in the transition from the 17th to the 18th centuries, when its eponym Mr. Pere Morote, received from the hands of the Count of Villafranqueza, the useful domain of its lands and a batch of water from the pond of Islamic origin in the Orgegia area (Alicante) declared an Asset of Local Relevance.
The Morote estate constitutes in itself a valuable museum of the old Huerta de Alicante. The crops grown are centuries-old olive trees, almond trees, cereals, vines of different varieties that were recovered from the area, and fruit and vegetable crops.
On the Morote farm, in addition to the traditional housing units, there is a varied collection of farming tools and other belongings. It has a modern oil mill and another old one in use, with two cups for treading the grapes and a winery with very old barrels, where wine continues to be made from native grape varieties. Currently the entire property is declared an Asset of Local Relevance.
At the beginning of the 20th century, in the midst of a crisis in wine production as a result of the phylloxera plague, the Morote family solved this misfortune, saving the vineyards of this estate thanks to the acquisition in Castalla (Alicante) of hybrid vine strains on which They grafted the native varieties, managing to protect about 20 varieties. The rest of the vineyards in the Alicante Huerta succumbed to the plague, losing all fondillón wine production. The curious thing was that in small dry land vineyards located in the Condomina area or on farms in El Cabo, such a plague did not affect them.
Did you know what…?
The Morote farm, an oasis of traditional culture in an environment subject to strong developmental pressures, is the living expression of the traditional way of life that fed the irrigation system of the Huerta Alicante, highlighting the extraordinary value of this centuries-old system, and of the cultural elements linked to it. Also highlighting its environmental and natural value.
The different agricultural activities are known during the cultural and ethnological meetings carried out by the current owners in collaboration with the University of Alicante; being its basis the Mediterranean trilogy. Planting with plows pulled by horses, harvesting by hand, threshing the cereal, harvesting, “calcigada” or treading of the grapes, the production of wine or the setting up of the old oil mill (1690) to obtain of oil pulled by a cavalry, are activities that would take us back to works from past centuries.
