Alcoy or Alcoi is a city and municipality located in the Valencian Community, Spain. The Serpis river crosses the municipal boundary of Alcoy. The local authority reported a population of 61,135 residents in 2018.
The first traces of human presence in the area is when Neanderthal hunters settled here, in a site now called El Salt. A site with rock paintings, has been discovered near la Sarga. From around the mid-3rd millennium BC people started to move from the caves to the plain where cereals were grown, while mountain fortifications were erected (Mola Alta de Serelles, Mas del Corral, Mas de Menente, El Puig).
After the Roman conquest of the Iberians, several rural villas were built in the area, as well as a necropolis. The town was established in 1256 by James I of Aragon, with the construction of a castle on a strategic position over the Serpis river, to secure the southern frontier of the Kingdom of Valencia during the Reconquista.
In 1291 the town was donated by King James II of Aragon to the Sicilian admiral Roger of Lauria; it did not return to royal possession until 1430.
During the War of Spanish Succession, Alcoy sided for the cause of archduke Charles, and was therefore besieged and stripped of numerous privileges, which started a period of decline.
In 1873 the workers of Alcoy revolted in the Petroleum Revolution.
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