The Serra Mariola Natural Park (; ) is a mountain range in the

Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wit ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, one of the most peripheral offsprings of the

Baetic System The Baetic System or Betic System () is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain. Located in the southern and eastern Iberian Peninsula, it is also known as the Cordilleras Béticas (Baetic Mountain Ranges) or Baetic Mountains. The n ...

. Most of its territory is included in a natural park founded in 2002, covering an area of 17,257 ha. The park is surrounded by the towns of

Cocentaina Cocentaina (; ) is a locality and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Comarques of the Valencian Community, comarca of Comtat, in the province of Alicante (province), Alicante, Spain. The village is located between the mountainous Serra d ...

and

Bocairent Bocairent (, ) is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Vall d'Albaida in the Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous ...

and the cities of

Ontinyent Ontinyent is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Vall d'Albaida, Valencian Community, Spain. It is situated on the banks of the Clariano River, a tributary of the Xúquer, and on the Xàtiva–Alcoi railway. Ontinyent is near the Sierra d ...

and

Alcoy Alcoy (; ; officially: / ) is an industrial and university city, region and municipality located in the Valencian Community, Spain. The Serpis river crosses the municipal boundary of Alcoy. The local authority reported a population of 61,135 r ...

. It has a rectangular shape and altitudes higher than 1,000 metres, the highest peak being the Montcabrer, at 1,389 metres high. To the north the Benicadell Mountain Range has a peak bearing the same name and is 1,104 metres high. The ''Serra'' is predominantly composed of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. The climate is largely

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

. Covering these mountain ranges are some 200 or more different aromatic and medicinal plants with hundreds of different trees, which include a variety of

yew Yew is a common name given to various species of trees. It is most prominently given to any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus '' Taxus'': * European yew or common yew (''Taxus baccata'') * Pacific yew or western yew ('' Taxus ...

unique to this area.

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Serra Mariola Natural Park
(Spanish, Valencian) Baetic System Green Spain Natural parks of Spain Natural parks of the Valencian Community Mariola Protected areas of the Valencian Community Protected areas established in 2002 Landforms of the Province of Alicante Mariola Alcoy, Spain {{Protected-area-stub

See also

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