Illeta dels Banyets

Curious features are carved into the wave-cut platform on the shore. Local legend has it that this place was once the bathing site of a Moorish queen, who sat atop carved thrones and let the waves wash her. But romantic as this idea may be, the “baths” in question were actually the holding tanks of a Roman fish processor.

The Romans took advantage of the sea’s bounty, building stock ponds and other facilities to capture and hold fish. The pools they tanks they created still stand today, though they’ve unfortunately suffered from a fair amount of sea erosion over the centuries. There’s even a snorkeling trail around the peninsula that’ll take you to the fish farm and its tank from the seaward side.

Though the Roman remains are the most dominant, you can also find remains from the Neolithic, Iberian, Bronze Age, and Moorish periods of Alicante’s complex history. It’s one of the most extensively excavated archaeological sites in the region.

The site, originally a peninsula, was separated by an ancient earthquake. When the causeway was built 1943, it was connected to the mainland and became a peninsula once again. Unfortunately, the resulting roadworks destroyed a large necropolis.