BENISSA COSTA BLANCA

Deliberately built inland from the coast to escape the Berber raids, the streets of the historic old town of Benissa slope gently downhill. This tawny colored town, with its one long main street shaded with orange trees, seems a million miles from the razzmatazz of the big coastal resorts. Lovely old houses and mansions, the gable and porch designs clearly Moorish, and the windows protected by the traditional rejas, line streets such as the Calle de la Purisima. The huge church of the Purisima, known as La Catedral de la Marina, dominates the central square, planted with palms and cooled by fountains. At the top of the town stands the peaceful Franciscan Convento de la Purisima, and there's an odd little Museo Etnologico (ethnographic museum) in the 15^th century agricultural exchange.