A Little Village With a Lot of Character
We love discovering places that aren’t necessarily on everyone’s list, and Agost turned out to be exactly that kind of place.
Just 18 kilometres from Alicante, Agost sits between the hills and the countryside of the province. It’s a small, quiet Spanish village with narrow streets, old houses, a beautiful church and lovely views from the higher parts of the town. There’s nothing you have to rush around to see. For us, that was part of the fun.
We could simply wander, look around, stop for a coffee and take in the atmosphere. And then we started discovering what Agost is really known for: pottery.
A village built around clay
Pottery has been part of life in Agost for generations. The local white clay is particularly suited to making ceramics, and the village became famous for its traditional botijos clay water containers designed to keep water cool.
The pottery industry became especially important after the railway between Alicante and Madrid opened in 1858. It gave the local workshops access to much larger markets, and Agost pottery was eventually exported as far away as France, Morocco, Algeria, Cuba and other parts of Latin America. At its peak, the town had around 25 pottery workshops.Today, that world has changed considerably.
Modern production and factories have made it difficult for small traditional workshops to compete, which makes the people who continue the craft today all the more interesting.
Meeting the people behind the pottery
During our visit we discovered Agost Alfareria and the Boix family, and this was probably what made the day feel so special.
The Boix family has continued working with pottery through generations. Seeing the work up close gives you a completely different appreciation for something as simple as a ceramic pot.
There’s time, skill and a lot of knowledge behind it. The local pottery museum gives an even better idea of how important the craft once was. It is housed in a former ceramics factory dating from 1902, where the original Arab kilns, clay settling basins and workshop spaces have been preserved. The factory closed in 1975 and became a museum in 1981. Today the collection contains more than 4,500 objects.
We found that fascinating because it puts the whole story into perspective. You can actually see how the pottery was made, rather than just seeing the finished products in a shop.
Why this was such a nice day
What made our visit to Agost enjoyable was the combination of everything.
It wasn’t just about pottery. It was a chance to discover a little Spanish village, walk around without a plan, meet people who are keeping an old craft alive and learn a few things about the history of the area along the way.
And that’s exactly what we enjoy when exploring Spain.
Not every day needs to be about the biggest sights or the most famous places. Sometimes a small village, a good coffee, an interesting conversation and a bit of local history are more than enough.
Agost was one of those days for us.
A quiet village, beautiful surroundings and a pottery tradition that has travelled much further than you might expect.
Definitely a place we were happy we took the time to discover.