Inauguration: 18 December 2024 at 12:00 am. It will remain open until 28 January 2025. The exhibition 'De temor y seda. Las torres de vigilancia de la costa' (Of Fear and Silk. The Watchtowers of the Coastline) of the Demetrio Ribes Chair, arrives to the Palacio de Altea. The opening ceremony will be attended by Luis Arciniega, director of the Demetrio Ribes Chair.

The exhibition explores the watchtowers distributed along the almost 500 km of coastline of the Valencian Community. This watchtowers formed a coordinated system to control the territory since the mid-19th century. As the title of the exhibition suggests, its construction was driven by the fear of pirates and corsairs. Their construction was funded by the Generalitat through a tax on silk. At the time, this procedure was considered exemplary in the Hispanic kingdoms. It is a heritage linked to the sea, to vigilance and to security in navigation and in the lives of the people near the coastline. Today, it is part of a very culturally valuable landscape and has very relevant patrimony elements.

The study backing the exhibition i supported by the scientific rigour while its presentation to society is carried out in a didactic way, with a graphic and audiovisual perspective. The information is presented in Valencian, Spanish and English.

•