Elche ( ca-valencia, Elx) is a city and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, belonging to the

province of Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a province of eastern Spain, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is the second most populated Valencian province. Likewise, the second and third biggest cities in the Valencian Community (Alica ...

, in the

Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid with ...

. According to 2014 data, Elche has a population of 228,647 inhabitants,Elche supera ya los 228.300 habitantes
INFORMACION.es, December 31, 2008, Editorial Prensa Ibérica making it the third most populated municipality in the region (after

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

and

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

) and the 20th largest Spanish municipality. It is part of the

comarca A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, ...

of Baix Vinalopó. Part of the municipality is coastal yet the city proper is roughly away from the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

. A small creek called

Vinalopó The Vinalopó is a small river flowing through the Alicante province, of Spain. It flows from north to south and, with a length of 81 km., it is the longest of the rivers which flows for its entire length within the limits of this province. ...

flows through the city. Elche is the centre of the

footwear industry Footwear refers to garments worn on the feet, which typically serves the purpose of protection against adversities of the environment such as wear from ground textures and temperature. Footwear in the manner of shoes therefore primarily serves th ...

in Spain. The main airport of the province of

( Alicante–Elche Miguel Hernández Airport) is located inside Elche's municipality, and it serves both Elche and Alicante, being the fifth-busiest airport in Spain. Together with Alicante and other municipalities, Elche form a

conurbation A conurbation is a region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ca ...

of some 800,000 inhabitants. The city is noted by its urban

Palm Grove Palm Grove is a suburb of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located about upstream along Ourimbah Creek from the town of Ourimbah Ourimbah () is a small township in the Central Coast region of New South Wales, ...

, designated as

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

History

L'Alcúdia L'Alcúdia is a town and municipality in the province of Valencia, Spain. It is located on the left bank of the river Xúquer. History The locality is named after a 13th-century Moorish farmhouse, granted in 1238 by the Aragonese king Jaume I ( ...

'' is 10 km from the current city's location and the immediate predecessor of current day Elche. This original location was settled by the

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

and then occupied by

Carthaginians The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...

and

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

. Greek Ionian colonists from the Achaean city

Helike Helike (; el, , pronounced , modern ) was an ancient Greek polis (city-state) that was submerged by a tsunami in the winter of 373 BC. It was located in the regional unit of Achaea, northern Peloponnesos, two kilometres (12 stadia) from the Co ...

established their new colony, naming it ''Helíkē'' ( grc-gre, Ἑλίκη) around 600BC. It was a point of resistance against Carthaginian advance in Spain between the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Ital ...

s. The Romans called the city ''Ilici'' or ''Illice'' and granted it the status of colonia; after a brief

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

rule, the

Goths The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...

took over, establishing an episcopal see. Elx, País Valencià (s

Elche lost importance during the period of

Moorish The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or se ...

occupation, when it was moved slightly north to its present location.

James II of Aragon James II (Catalan: ''Jaume II''; Spanish: ''Jaime II;'' 10 April 1267 – 2 or 5 November 1327), called the Just,, an, Chaime lo Chusto, es, Jaime el Justo. was the King of Aragon and Valencia and Count of Barcelona from 1291 to 1327. He ...

took the city from the Moors in the 13th century, during the ''

Reconquista The ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...

''. The city grew throughout the 18th century and became more important during the 19th century with the arrival of the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

and a booming industrial development of what used to be the traditional footwear industry. Many archaeological remains have been found in Elche, with the stone bust of the ''

Lady of Elche The ''Lady of Elche'' (in Spanish, ''Dama de Elche'' in Valencian, ''Dama d'Elx'') is a limestone bust that was discovered in 1897, at ''La Alcudia'', an archaeological site on a private estate two kilometers south of Elche, Spain. It is curren ...

'' (''Dama de Elche/Dama d'Elx'' in Spanish and Valencian, respectively) being the most important. This may date from the Iberian period (4th century BC). The original is in the

National Archaeological Museum of Spain The National Archaeological Museum ( es, Museo Arqueológico Nacional; MAN) is a museum in Madrid, Spain. It is located on Calle de Serrano beside the Plaza de Colón, sharing its building with the National Library of Spain. History The museu ...

. Elche was granted the title of city by King Amadeo in 1871. The

espadrille Espadrilles (Spanish: ''alpargatas or esparteñas''; Catalan: ''espardenyes''; Basque: ''espartinak'') are casual, rope-soled, flat but sometimes high-heeled shoes. They usually have a canvas or cotton fabric upper and a flexible sole made of ...

industry developed in the 19th century, eventually becoming the leading Spanish municipality at producing textile footwear. By the late century, local entrepreneurs began to invest in leather footwear factories. The footwear industry grew during the

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and thereafter.

Geography

The city is known for the Palmeral de Elche, that is an

UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

and is the only palm grove in Europe with North African origins and the largest on the continent. The Palm Grove also constitutes the northernmost and one of the largest palm groves in the world. Today, the city of Elche contains 97 orchards composed of 70,000 date palms, concentrated in the east bank of the Vinalopó. Outside the Elche city domain, other large plantations contain approximately 130,000 date palms. In total, Elche and its vicinity hold 200,000 palms. The Palm Grove ranges over 3.5 km² (1.4 sq mi), including 1.5 km² (0.58 sq mi) within the city of Elche. The Palm Grove of Elche comprises the National Artistic Garden, Palm Grove Museum, Route of El Palmeral, and Municipal Park. Date Fruit from Palms in the National Artistic Garden

Date Fruit from Palms in the National Artistic Garden

It shares borders with Santa Pola, Guardamar del Segura, San Fulgencio, Dolores, Catral, Crevillent, Aspe, Montforte del Cid and

. The most remarkable landform is Vinalopó River. According to the Spanish Statistical Institute, there are 20 localities in the municipality besides the main town. The main town had a population of 190,821 in 2019 The number of people living in the other localities came up to 41,821 in the same year. Algoda was home to 2,650 people, Algorós has a population of 638, Altabix was inhabited by 2,829 people, El Altet was home to 5,750 people Atsavares was home to 1,328 people, Asprella had a population of 403, Las Bayas was home to 2,975 people, Carrús was inhabited by 1,300 people, Daimés had a population of 1,190, El Derramador was home to 419 people, La Foia was inhabited by 2,804 people, Jubalcoi had a population of 1,215, El Pla de Sant Jose was home to 2,411 people, Maitino was inhabited by 890 people, La Marina had a population of 2,008, La Perleta was home to 1,376 people, Puçol was inhabited by 900 people, Torrellano had a population of 7,480, Vallverda was home to 1,767 people and Los Arenales del Sol was inhabited by 2,019 people. The local government also acknowledges Matola, which is part of Algoda according to the Spanish Stadistical Institute; Penya de les Àguiles, which is part of El Pla de Sant Josep according to the same institution, and Santa Anna, which is not recognised by the Stadistical Institute.

Demographics

10.497% inhabitants are foreigners – 3.267% come from other countries of Europe, 3.369% are African, 2.46% are American, 1.139% are Asian and 15 people from Oceania and stateless people reside in the municipality. The table below shows the population trend of 20th and 21st centuries by the beginning of their decades.

Economy

The economy of Elche is based, in large part, on the

footwear Footwear refers to garments worn on the feet, which typically serves the purpose of protection against adversities of the environment such as wear from ground textures and temperature. Footwear in the manner of shoes therefore primarily serves th ...

industry, with over 1,000 shoe factories, being one of the most important footwear centres in Spain and the rest of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

with brands like

Pura Lopez Pura Lopez (born 29 September 1962 in Elche, Spain) is a Spanish shoe designer, director of the design department of the Pura Lopez brand. She is a shoe designer for Royal Family members and Spanish cinema. Early life Pura Lopez was born in Elc ...

, Kelme or . There are other economic activities in Elche:

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

(

date Date or dates may refer to: *Date (fruit), the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') Social activity *Dating, a form of courtship involving social activity, with the aim of assessing a potential partner ** Group dating *Play date, a ...

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

cereal A cereal is any Poaceae, grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, Cereal germ, germ, and bran. Cereal Grain, grain crops are grown in greater quantit ...

s and

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...

s), although it has lost importance in recent years;

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

industry;

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

, which employs 20% of the workforce; and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

. Elche has a conference centre (called ''Ciutat d'Elx''), an

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...

('' Aeropuerto de Alicante'') a public University,

Universidad Miguel Hernández Universidad (Spanish for "university") may refer to: Places * Universidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico * Universidad (Madrid) Football clubs * Universidad SC, a Guatemalan football club that represents the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala ...

, and a private University,

Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera CEU Cardenal Herrera University (in Spanish: ''Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera'') is a private university located in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is part of the CEU Foundation, being the first private school of Law ever founded in Valenci ...

Climate

Elche has a

hot semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

: ''BSh'') close to a

desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

(''BWh'') with mild, dry winters and hot, dry summers. The city enjoys between 2,900 and 3,000 hours of sunshine per year and the rainfall is scarce year-round. Elche's annual average temperature is above . The hottest temperature ever recorded was on 12 July 2021 while the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 12 February 1956.

Main sights

* ''

Palmeral of Elche The Palmeral or Palm Grove of Elche ( es, Palmeral de Elche; Valencian: ''Palmerar d'Elx'') is the generic name for a system of date palm orchards in the city of Elche, Spain. The Palmeral was planted in Roman times and underwent modifications ...

'' ("The Palm Grove of Elche", ''Palmerar d'Elx'' in Valencian). It is an orchard of over 200,000

palm tree The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm trees ...

s that was declared a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

in 2000. * Altamira Castle, also known as ''Alcázar de la Señoría'', located next to the Municipal Park (which, in turn, is a part of the Elche Palm Grove). It was originally built in

Almohad The Almohad Caliphate (; ar, خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or or from ar, ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ, translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn, lit=those who profess the Tawhid, unity of God) was a North African Berbers, Berber M ...

times (12th-13th centuries), and was later renovated with brick exterior in the 15th century. A former fortress, in 1913 it became a fabric plant, it has also been used as the town hall and as a prison during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

, while today is home to the

Elche Archaeology and History Museum Elche ( ca-valencia, Elx) is a city and municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2014 data, Elche has a population of 228,647 inhabitants,Rabic origin, it represent the last relic of the old city walls. * ''Municipio'' (Town Hall): it includes a tower named ''la torre del consell'', and it is the most ancient structure in the south of the

. It was built in the mid-15th century. * ''Convento de la Merced'': it was built in a place where there were Arabic baths. It dates back to 1270, when the prince Juan Manuel bestowed the baths to the grand master of a religious order. * '' Huerto del Cura:'' it is part of the ''Palmeral of Elche'' and hosts nearly 500 palm trees''.'' There are individuals of the imperial palm species. * Elche Palaeontological Museum: more than 1,200 fossils are on display in the museum. Some elements such as remains of mastodons and replicas of dinosaurs are placed in the building. * Elche Municipal Festa Museum: it was built in 1997 and it hosts elements about the ''Misteri d'Elx'' performance. * Palm Groves Museum: This museum is allocated in a traditional 19th century building. This museum is devoted to the history, the evolution and the characteristics of the ''Palmeral of Elche''. The Mystery Play of Elx (better known as ''Misteri d'Elx'', in Valencian) is a sacral-lyrical medieval drama, dated from the 15th century, which was declared a

Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity The Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity was made by the Director-General of UNESCO starting in 2001 to raise awareness of intangible cultural heritage and encourage local communities to protect them and th ...

in 2002. It is played every year in mid August, in the context of the local holidays dedicated to the Assumption of Virgin Mary. Also as a part of this celebration, on the 13th of August is the date of a celebration in Elche called Nit de l'Albà (Night of the Dawn) in which a citywide night-long show of fireworks takes place.

Transport

The Alicante–Elche Airport, the fifth-busiest in Spain is located in the municipality of Elche, around east from the city centre. The

Autopista AP-7 The ''Autopista AP-7'' (also called ''Autopista del Mediterráneo'') ( ca, Autopista de la Mediterrània) is a Spanish Highways in Spain, autopista (controlled-access highway). It runs along the Mediterranean coast of Spain. AP-7 has two differ ...

serves the outskirts of the city, and the railway linking

and Murcia del Carmen runs through a tunnel underneath the city, with two underground stations; Elche-Parque ( ca-valencia, Elx-Parc) and Elche-Carrús ( ca-valencia, Elx-Carrús). These are served by line C–1 of the

Cercanías Murcia/Alicante Cercanías Murcia/Alicante ( ca-valencia, Rodalia de Múrcia/Alacant) is a commuter rail service (''cercanías'') in the provinces of Alicante and Murcia. The line connects Alicante and Murcia with San Vicente del Raspeig, Elche, Orihuela, Totan ...

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

service, along with

Media Distancia Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...

trains between Valencia Nord station and Murcia. The

Madrid–Levante high-speed rail network The Madrid–Levante high-speed network is a network of high-speed rail lines that connects Madrid with the Mediterranean coast of the Levante Region, specifically with Castilla-La Mancha, the Valencian Community and the Murcia Region autonomo ...

was extended to reach a new station named Elche-Matola in 2021, branching off from the line to Alicante near Monforte del Cid. The new

AVE ''Alta Velocidad Española'' (''AVE'') is a service of high-speed rail in Spain operated by Renfe, the Spanish national railway company, at speeds of up to . As of December 2021, the Spanish high-speed rail network, on part of which the AVE s ...

station contains parking space for 500 cars and 50 motorcycles.

Festivities

* Holy Week: as generally in Spain, several

procession A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner. History Processions have in all peoples and at all times been a natural form of public celebration, as forming an orderly and impressive ceremony. Religious ...

s (festive religious parades) occur during the festive period. * Moros i Cristians: it occurs in the first fortnight of August. The theme of this festivity is the Muslim rule that occurred in the High Middle Ages and part of the Late Middle Ages and the battles which took place between Christians and Muslims as a consequence of this occupation. A more specific subject of this festivity is the ''

''. * Nit de la Roà: it takes place in mid August. * Christmas: A nativity scene is placed in the town and a living nativity scene also occurs during the festive period. A parade which theme is the Three Wise Men is also performed in the Epiphany's Eve (5 January).

Notable people

* Marceliano Coquillat (1865–1924), architect. *

Saúl Ñíguez Saúl Ñíguez Esclapez (born 21 November 1994), known as Saúl Ñíguez or simply Saúl, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Atlético Madrid and the Spain national team. After coming through Atlét ...

(b. 1994), a footballer. He is currently playing in

Liga BBVA The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

for Atlético de Madrid. *

Aarón Ñíguez Aarón Ñíguez Esclápez (born 26 April 1989) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a winger. A Valencia youth graduate, he was capped by Spain at various youth levels, and competed mainly in Segunda División during his career, ...

(b. 1989), a footballer. *

Sílvia Soler Espinosa Sílvia Soler Espinosa (; born 19 November 1987) is a retired Spanish tennis player. In her career, she has won one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as five singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 21 May 2012, she ...

(b. 1987), an ex-tennis player. She played in tournaments in the WTA. Her record position was semifinalist in the Strasbourg tour. *

Francisco Mojica Francisco Juan Martínez Mojica (born 5 October 1963) is a Spanish molecular biologist and microbiologist at the University of Alicante in Spain. He is known for his discovery of repetitive, functional DNA sequences in bacteria which he named CR ...

(b. 1963), a microbiologist noted for his research on the

CRISPR CRISPR () (an acronym for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) is a family of DNA sequences found in the genomes of prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria and archaea. These sequences are derived from DNA fragments of bacte ...

gene editing technique.

Twin towns

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

, France (since 1981) *

San Bartolomé de Tirajana San Bartolomé de Tirajana is a village and a Spanish municipality in the south-eastern part of the island of Gran Canaria in the Las Palmas province in the Canary Islands. With an area of , San Bartolomé de Tirajana is the largest municipa ...

, Spain (since 1982) *

Jaca Jaca (; in Aragonese: ''Chaca'' or ''Xaca'') is a city of northeastern Spain in the province of Huesca, located near the Pyrenees and the border with France. Jaca is an ancient fort on the Aragón River, situated at the crossing of two great ...

, Spain (since 1984)

Culture

Cultural theatrical spaces

The Grand Theater

The Elche Grand Theater is a theatrical space constructed at the beginning of the 20th Century, created by the architect Alfonso Garín. It was opened in 1920 with the name Kursaal Theater. The interior of the room is in a horseshoe shape, where an orchestra section in front of the stage and two amphitheaters with box seats on the sides can be found. At the beginning of the 90s, the building was acquired by the local government, becoming municipal property. After a reform, the theater was reopened on May 16, 1996, by Queen Sofía. The theater is found in the historical area of the city, very close to the Glorieta. The Grand Theater houses all types of theatrical, dance, and musical performances.

L’Escorxador Center for Contemporary Culture

Opened on November 7, 2008, in the installations of the old Elche Slaughterhouse - constructed in the decade of 1940 - is a 5000 m² space oriented to the young public. The complex is divided into four pavilions: in the first one there is a theatrical space with more than 150 chairs, allocated for housing theatrical, resonant, and visual art shows; the second pavilion, called The Nave, is home to the multipurpose room where plastic art exhibitions, as well as open essays and special representations of performance, theater and music, are celebrated; in the third, rehearsal rooms that are available for rent, loan or assignment for the sound arts can be found; the fourth pavilion is the most spacious of the four, and houses the different studios that the center has as well as a small room of temporary exhibitions called Sala Lanart. In addition to the pavilions, the center has - since 2009 - a terrace in which performances and projections can be carried out outside.

La Llotja Cultural Room

The room is located in the remodeled installations of the old fruit and vegetable market from the Altabix neighborhood constructed between 1941 and 1942. It was opened on April 12, 2008, and is a place where dance, theater, and music shows intended for young audiences are carried out, as well as school graduations and other events that can take place in it. In the time of elections, it is used as an electoral college.

Museums

Alejandro Ramos Folqués Archaeological and History Museum of Elche

The Alejandro Ramos Folqués Archaeological and History Museum of Elche has been turned into an archaeological cultural model at a regional level of great importance. Situated in the interior of the Altamira Palace - in the Elche historical center and very close to Saint María basilica - it was opened on May 18, 2006, with a grand exhibition about Iberic culture, among where the Lady of Elche was found - one of the most significant pieces of Iberic art, transferred temporarily by the National Archaeological Museum for six months (from May 18 to November 1 in 2006). Like a permanent exhibition, the museum offers a general overview of the distinct stages that have been taking place in the city, such as the Neolithic, the Copper Age, the Bronze Age, the Iberian stage, the process of Romanization, the Visigothic era, and the Islamic settlement (current site of the city) until the present. The archaeological remains come from, among others, the Alcudia site, Elche Park (situated in one of the gardens in the city and which has provided important sculptural remains) and El Arenero de Monforte del Cid.

Festa Museum

The Festa Museum, about the Mystery of Elche, originated with the intention of showing La Festa to the visitors that come to the city throughout the year. The museum is made of two rooms: the first is where scenic tradition that involves the Mystery is collected, which can be posters, sketches, crowns, costumes, guitars...and the other is a more dynamic room, where new technologies are used, combining many visual images like typical smells and sounds from La Festa. Part of the museum is located in what was Saint Sebastian's Shrine, which is also closely linked to Assumptionist drama and was restored for the purpose of creating the museum. Palm Grove Museum (Palmeral Museum)

Museo del Palmeral

The Palm Grove Museum, found in a traditional house of the Garden of Saint Placidus (Huerto de San Plácido), close to the Garden of Healing (Huerto del Cura). The museum is dedicated to recognizing the municipal relationship with the palm groves. It shows the origins, history, culture of the palm grove, as well as the uses and its evolution. In the rooms, an overview of the history of the Palm Grove is shown through videos, panels, demonstrative elements and sounds, which continues with a visit to its own garden outside.

The Traditional Culture Center Pusol School Museum

The Traditional Culture Center Pusol School Museum was created in the year 1969 as an activity linked to the Pedagogical Project “The School and its Fear,” which developed the study of the purposes and traditions of the Field of Elche (Campo de Elche). In the museum, unique collections are housed that show distinct ethnological aspects (agriculture, business, industry, folklore, traditions, etc.) available for scientific studies at all levels. In 2009, it was included by UNESCO in the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices for Intangible Cultural Heritage. In addition to these, other museums and places of interest exist in Elche: * Paleontological Museum in the plaza of Saint Juan Church. * Alcudia Museum, situated in the archaeological site where the Lady of Elche was found. * Museum of Contemporary Art, in the Raval neighborhood. * Museum of the Assumption of the Virgin, Patron Saint of Elche Museum dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin. * Visitors center in the Municipal Park, with audiovisual projections about the city. * Municipal Center of Exhibitions, with seasonal nature exhibitions. * The Center of Exhibitions of the Lonja, which is situated on the first floor of the Town Hall, occasionally houses exhibitions, primarily with themes related to the city. * Espai d’Art, which is a walk near the Municipal Park where we can contemplate contemporary art sculptures. * Arabian baths, which are found in the inside of the Clarisas Convent.

Notes

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopedia. "Elche". Encyclopædia Britannica, 9 Feb. 2014, https://www.britannica.com/place/Elche. * The Editors of Spain.info. “Tourism in Elche.” Spain.info, https://www.spain.info/en/destination/elche-elx/. * The Editors of WordReference. “Word Reference.” Wordreference.com, n.d., https://www.wordreference.com/. * The Editors of Wiktionary. "Dándose." Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. 25 May 2017, https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=d%C3%A1ndose&oldid=44505375. * Royuela, María. “The Register of Good Safeguarding Practices for Intangible Cultural Heritage: The Pusol School Museum.” ResearchGate, Dec. 2018, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341119955_The_Register_of_Good_Safeguarding_Practices_for_Intangible_Cultural_Heritage_The_Pusol_School_Museum. * *

External links

Ayuntamiento de Elche
Elche Municipality
Instituto Valenciano de Estadística
City official statistics
Turisme d'Elx
City council official Tourist guide {{Navboxes , title= Articles related to Elche / Elx , list= {{Baix Vinalopó {{Municipalities in Alicante, state=autocollapse {{Cities in Spain {{Authority control Municipalities in the Province of Alicante Greek colonies in Iberia Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Spain