DISTANCE: 1,6 KM
REQUIRED TIME one way: 1 h 10 min.
DIFFICULTY: Low.
ALTITUDE: 330 m.

INTEREST:
Although this is the shortest route, it is of great interest as it offers beautiful panoramic vistas of the southern part of Dénia (Lloma del Castanyar, Les Rotes) and its surrounding areas. There is a roman inscription beside the cave called “Cova de l’Aigua”.

THE ROMAN INSCRIPTION:
A few metres away to the left of the cave entrance, there is a roman inscription.
The text is a document that tells us of the existence of a military detachment which was to keep watch over the coast. Around the year 238 B.C. Lucius Alfius Donatus was commisioned to carve this epigraph into the rock thus proving the presence of a “vexilatio” from the 7th Gemina Legion in the surroundings of the “Cova de l’Aigua”. Its job was to impede any possible military intervention by the enemies of the emperor Maximino. (Source: Parque Natural del Montgó. Estudio multidisciplinar. Agència del Medi Ambient, Generalitat Valenciana)

COVA DE L'AIGUA (WATER CAVE):
Steps lead us to the entrance of the cave. Once in the cave, one must continue on the left hand side until one finds water on the cave floor. The cave is made up of three compartments and reservoirs. Only the first part of the cave is accessible.

FINDING IN THE “COVA DE L’AIGUA” :

• Preroman and classic times: Common roman pottery, especially fragments of oil lams (4th and 5th centuries B.C.) have been found suggesting that the cave was used for religious ceremonies during which food and drink were offered. Lamps used for illuminatin the cave and related to different religious acts have also been found.
  
  
• Muslim times: Fragments of containers for liquids prove that this cave continued to be used.
  
  
• 16th and 17th centuries: The cave was fitted with clay drains for catching rain water so it could be used as a reservoir which was to supply a predetermined area of Montgó.