Chapel of Saint Barbara (Bolbaite)

This small, free standing and whitewashed chapel, is located in a wooded and elevated location: Mount Bolantín or the Hill of the Chapel, at a height of 350 m. Since the 17th century, residents have come here to worship the Martyr Barbara, protector against storms. The vantage point opposite it offers a picture-postcard view of Bolbaite and its castle-palace, with the agricultural plain of La Canal de Navarrés in the background.

With a rectangular floor plan and a tiled gabled roof, the façade of the chapel is simple: a lintel door; a small oculus; ceramic panels with the name and effigy of the patron saint; a mixed-style top decorated by four urns and the belfry. Above the belfry, there is a disproportionately sized iron cross that was fitted in the 1960s, and in its pointed opening is a bell dating back to 1943 from the workshop of Hermanos Roses de Silla, which is devoted to the Virgin of Carmel. Behind the presbytery, there is a low and adjoining little house, which once provided shelter for a hermit.

The interior has a ceiling and a succession of pilasters separating murals decorated with frescoes in 2007 by the acclaimed muralist Toni Espinar (José Antonio Espinar, born in Alzira in 1970). They depict landscapes from La Canal de Navarrés and the area around the chapel in a pointillist style and are of such artistic merit and delicacy that they pleasantly surprise visitors. The altar is a crude baroque altarpiece, made from polichromated stucco, which was restored by the creator of the murals. The central niche of the altar is occupied by a carving of Saint Barbara. The floor is black and white tiles which form a geometrical design.