Audioguide Xátiva - english

Audioguide Xátiva - english

Xátiva, the city of a thousand fountains.
A colourful mosaic of civilizations molded the architecture,history, and culture of the alluring Xativa we see today.

Its urban Arab framework hides churches, convents and palaces that witnessed sieges and revolutions, but also legends and traditions we are about to discover in this exciting route.

Ever since the Neanderthal man set the foot in the nearby landscapes of the Black Cove , Xátiva has been inhabited by each and every one of the civilizations that occupied the Iberian Peninsula.

The Iberians in Saitabi (Iberian for Xativa), with renown riders in the campaigns of the Carthaginian general Hannibal, even minted their first coins at the end of the third century before Christ. The Iberian Saitabi would later turn into Saetabis Augusta (Saetábis), a borough under Latin law famous for the quality of its linens, as well as for its strategic position on the Vía Augusta.

Afterwards, under the Visigothic rule, Xativa turned into a bishopric and its bishops took active part in the councils of Toledo. Later, under the Arab domination, Medina Xateba became a flourishing cultural center, and the earliest European center of paper manufacture, as well as home to poets and scholars.

In 1244 the king James I conquered the town and gave it back its Christian character. Under his rule, the Castle was enlarged and turned into a state prison and the town awarded with the title “City” in 1346. Therefore, it turned into the second city in the Kingdom of Valencia.
Renown noble families moved in and enhanced the splendour of Xativa, until the revenge of Felipe V fell on the city. The city of Xativa had sided with the unsuccessful Archduke Charles of Austria in the War of Spanish Succession, and the eventually victorious Felipe V unleashed his wrath by ordering the town to be burned, destroyed and renamed, as he tried to bury Xativa into oblivion.

Fortunately, Xátiva recovered its importance and name over the 18th and 19th centuries. It also struggled to recover its lost bishopric. However, despite being the birthplace of two of the popes who would go down history, and housed a splendorous basilica, Xativa would never become the bishopric.

Today Xátiva is a city with about 28,000 (30,000) inhabitants, capital of a district and an outstanding service center, with a bustling commercial activity.

A city that surprises, which proudly exhibits its past full of illustrious figures of all periods – saints, bishops and cardinals. Some of them deserve a special mentio, this is the case of the Borgia popes, Calixto III and Alexander VI, or artists such as Jose Ribera “The Españoleto”, scholars and writers as the Villanueva brothers, explorers and inventors such as Francisco de Paula Marti (Martí), inventor of the Shorthand and of the fountain pen among many others.

Its streets hide thousands of stories and legends, some of them tragic. Its castle dominates and embraces this magical town, whose history and past will soon surprise you.

Welcome to Xátiva, welcome to the city of a thousand fountains, of the Borgia Popes, of the city burned by the wrath of a king.
You are invited to discover this unique and alluring place.

Ruta 1. Casco Antiguo de Xátiva. Conjunto histórico artístico

1) Introducción histórica

2) Monumento conmemorativo a los defensores de la ciudad, maulets

3) Iglesia de Sant Francesc

4) Fuente real de Sant Francesc, La ciudad de las mil fuentes

5) La calle Montcada, la nobleza de Xátiva

6) Colegiata Basílica o La Seu, Iglesia Colegial Basílica de Santa María

7) Antiguo Hospital. Plaza de Calixto III

8) Antiguo Convento de Sant Doménec

9) Puerta barroca dels Escalons, Tradición de las santas Anastasia y Basilisa

10) Real Monasterio de Santa Clara. Fuente del antiguo portal del Lleó

11) Plaza de la Trinitat

12) Calle del Angel. Palacio del Barón de Sacro-lirio. Fuente del Angel

13) Casa natalicia de Rodrigo de Borja, futuro papa Alejandro VI

14) Plaza de Sant Pere

15) Fuente real de los veinticinco caños

16) Jardiín romántico de Carmen Pérez o del Beso

Ruta 2. La Xàtiva Antigua. Costa del Castell

17) Introducción a la Xátiva Antigua. Costa del Castell

18) Iglesia ermita de Sant Josep

19) Mirador a la ciudad El Bellveret

20) Restos arqueológicos de un palacio árabe

21) Iglesia Sant Feliú

22) Iglesia Sant Feliu. Interior

23) Nevera .Descripción y su historia

Museo Municipal L'almodí de Xàtiva

24) Introducción al Museo Municipal del L'almodí de Xátiva

25) Edificio de L'almodí. Patio renacentista antiguo Almudín o depósito de trigo.

26) Edificio Aduana de Mercaderías o Peso Real. Estructuración de las salas de exposiciones.

27) Planta 3ª Los orígenes de Xátiva.

28) Plantas 2ª y 1ª

Ruta 4. El Castillo de Xátiva.

29) Introducción al Castillo de Xátiva.

30) Plaza de armas

31) Decantación. Sistemas de aljibes

32) Escalera cañones.

33) Cañones

34) Torre redonda

35) Acceso al segundo recinto fortificado. Pavimento de opus spicatum

36) Jardines árabe, romano, cristiano

37) Dehesa y conjunto de cuatro aljibes de origen islámico

38) Puerta Santa María. Defensa en codo y dependencias nobles.

39) Capilla gótica de Santa María

40) Cárcel Historica, prisioneros ilustres del Castillo. Historia del Conde de Urgel

41) Sala del Duque de Calabria

42) Torre de Baset