Sollana is a

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 ...

in the ''comarca'' of

Ribera Baixa Ribera Baixa () is a ''comarca'' in the province of Valencia, Valencian Community, Spain. Municipalities *Albalat de la Ribera *Almussafes * Benicull de Xúquer * Corbera *Cullera * Favara * Fortaleny * Llaurí * Polinyà de Xúquer *Riola ...

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 wi ...

, Spain. The municipality includes a second village: El Romaní. Situated on the floodplain of the

Júcar River left The Júcar () or Xúquer () is a river on the Iberian Peninsula of Spain. The river runs for approximately 509 km from its source at Ojuelos de Valdeminguete, on the eastern flank of the Montes Universales, Sistema Ibérico. Its most i ...

, the Sollana region is where rice was first grown in Spain 1,200 years ago, and is also the heartland of the famous Spanish dish

paella Paella (, , , , , ) is a rice dish originally from Valencia. While non-Spaniards commonly view it as Spain's national dish, Spaniards almost unanimously consider it to be a dish from the Valencian region. Valencians, in turn, regard ''paella'' ...

. The economy of the area is still based mainly on agriculture: rice, oranges and livestock. Convent de Sollana

In the early

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, Sollana was a small

Visigothic The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...

settlement. Later, records from the

al-Andalus Al-Andalus translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label= Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, al-Ándalus () was the M ...

period name it Sulyanah, chief village of a region including the hamlets of Romaní, Alcahecia and Trullás. After 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 ...

in the thirteenth century,

James I of Aragon James I the Conqueror ( es, Jaime el Conquistador, ca, Jaume el Conqueridor; 2 February 1208 – 27 July 1276) was King of Aragon and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276; King of Majorca from 1231 to 1276; and Valencia from 1238 to 12 ...

gave it to his vassal Ximén d'Urrea, and it eventually ended up part of the Dukedom of Híjar. In January 1932, during the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 ...

, anarchists briefly declared a Soviet Republic of Sollana. The patron saint of Sollana is Mary Magdalene. She is celebrated annually in the summer festivities, which begin on her feast day, July 22, and continue through August 14, when the city council throws a "night of the paellas" in the city centre, and end in late August with a traditional

bullring A bullring is an arena where bullfighting is performed. Bullrings are often associated with the Iberian Peninsula, but they can also be found through Iberian America and in a few Spanish and Portuguese ex-colonies in Africa. Bullrings are ...

Notable people

* Juan José López-Ibor (1906-1991), neuropsychiatrist

References

Municipalities in the Province of Valencia Ribera Baixa {{valencia-geo-stub