Cava de Sant Blai

Before refrigerators, cold was kept in snow pits: the cavas or neveros. The Cava de Sant Blai is behind Bocairent's medieval quarter, beside the path to the Covetes dels Moros, and is the one you can visit inside the town. The visit is short, about 20 minutes, and costs €2.50.

The snow trade

According to the Tourist Info, the snow trade had its heyday between the 17th and 19th centuries. It was a complete cycle of collecting, storing, transporting, selling and consuming, in which day labourers, muleteers and merchants worked. Snow was tipped into the pits through high openings and the meltwater drained along channels to an outlet. It was used as a remedy, for preserving food and in cooking, among all social classes. Ice from the Sierra de Mariola supplied Xàtiva, Ontinyent or Gandía and other towns in the Vall d'Albaida, La Costera and La Ribera.

The Mariola municipalities preserve many cavas, some of them very large. In the Bocairent municipality there are, besides this one, the monumental Cava d'En Miquel and the Cavetes de Xàtiva.

What the Cava de Sant Blai is like

There are documents of its use from the 18th century. It is a circular pit 7.70 metres in diameter and 11 deep. The dome is hemispherical, partly of rubble masonry and one third carved from the rock, with a covered opening at the top. An upper door was used for workers to enter and to load the snow. From the bottom a gallery about 20 metres long, 1.80 high and 1 wide leads off, with a drainage channel to one side into which channels cut in the rock run. The inner walls keep a reddish coating and the remains of a small door, now walled up, which opened to the outside at mid-height.

Opening hours and price

Admission costs €2.50. According to the Tourist Info timetable, it is open Tuesday to Sunday from 11:00 to 14:00, with last entry at 13:40, and on Saturdays also from 16:00 to 18:00. Closed on Mondays. Tickets for the Covetes dels Moros, which depart on the hour, are sold right here.

It is included in the €6 municipal pass, which gives access to three attractions of your choice from the cava, the bullring, the Covetes del Colomer and the archaeological museum. Tickets are also available at entradas.bocairent.org and at the Tourist Info.

What to combine it with

It is a short visit, good for anyone who can't or doesn't want to crawl through the Covetes. The logical thing is to combine it with the Covetes dels Moros, on the same path, and with a walk round the old town. Anyone who wants to see the big cavas of the sierra, such as the Cava Gran or the Caveta del Buitre, can follow the cavas and Montcabrer route published by the Tourist Info, in the Sierra de Mariola Natural Park.