New roads, territory and landscape in the Coastal Region (Valencia). The look of the travellers

Abstract

For its physical conditions, the Costera valley has historically been a place of obligatory passage in the itinerary from the Valencian coastal plain to the south and peninsular center. At the end of the 18th century a modern road was built and the railway between Madrid and Valencia came into service in the middle of the 19th century. In this paper we analyse the relationship established between the roads and the landscape, and how this has been reflected in the writings of the travellers who, between the end of the 18th century and throughout the 19th century, travelled the Costera valley by road and rail. Their stories integrate these modern public works with the sequential vision of the landscape obtained along the journey, where certain cultural images are defined.