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Xàtiva (; ) is a town in eastern
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, in the
province of Valencia Valencia ( , ), officially València (), is a provinces of Spain, province of Spain, in the central part of the autonomous Valencian Community. Of the province's 2.7 million people (2024), almost one-third live in the capital, Valencia, whic ...
, on the right (western) bank of the river Albaida and at the junction of the
Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...
Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...
and Valencia 
Albacete Albacete ( , , ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, the area around the city is known as Los Llan ...
railways. It is located 25 km west of the Mediterranean Sea. During the
Al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...
Islamic era,
Arabs Arabs (,  , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...
brought the technology to manufacture
paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...
to Xàtiva. In the 12th century, Xàtiva was known for its schools, education, and learning circles. Islamic scholar
Abu Ishaq al-Shatibi Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Mūsā al-Shāṭibī (538 – 590 A.H./1320 – 1388 C.E.) was an Andalusí Sunni Islamic scholar. He was regarded in his time as among the leading jurist and legal theoretician in the Maliki school of law. He was ...
's last name refers to Xàtiva where he lived and died. After the
Reconquista The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...
by Northern Christian kingdoms and the following Christian repopulation, the city became the cradle of one of the most powerful and controversial families of the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
, the
House of Borgia The House of Borgia ( ; ; Spanish language, Spanish and ; ) was a Spanish noble family, which rose to prominence during the Italian Renaissance. They were from Xàtiva, Kingdom of Valencia, the surname being a Toponymic surname, toponymic from ...
, which produced Popes like
Callixtus III Pope Callixtus III (, , ; 31 December 1378 – 6 August 1458), born Alonso de Borja (), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 April 1455 to his death, in August 1458. Borgia spent his early career as a professor ...
(Alfonso de Borgia) and
Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI (, , ; born Roderic Llançol i de Borja; epithet: ''Valentinus'' ("The Kingdom of Valencia, Valencian"); – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 August 1492 until his death ...
(Rodrigo de Borgia).


History

Xàtiva (''Saetabis'' in Latin) was famous in Roman times for its linen fabrics, mentioned by the Latin poets
Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...
and
Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; ), known as Catullus (), was a Latin neoteric poet of the late Roman Republic. His surviving works remain widely read due to their popularity as teaching tools and because of their personal or sexual themes. Life ...
. Xàtiva is also known as an early European centre of paper manufacture. In the 12th century,
Arabs Arabs (,  , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...
brought the technology to manufacture
paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...
to Xàtiva ( ''Shāṭiba''). It is the birthplace of two popes,
Callixtus III Pope Callixtus III (, , ; 31 December 1378 – 6 August 1458), born Alonso de Borja (), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 April 1455 to his death, in August 1458. Borgia spent his early career as a professor ...
and
Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI (, , ; born Roderic Llançol i de Borja; epithet: ''Valentinus'' ("The Kingdom of Valencia, Valencian"); – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 August 1492 until his death ...
, and also the painter José Ribera (''Lo Spagnoletto''). It suffered a dark moment in its history at the hands of
Philip V of Spain Philip V (; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was List of Spanish monarchs, King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 14 January 1724 and again from 6 September 1724 to his death in 1746. His total reign (45 years and 16 days) is the longest in the ...
, who, after his victory at the Battle of Almansa during the
War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...
, had the city besieged then ordered it to be burned and renamed ''San Felipe''. In memory of the insult, the portrait of the monarch hangs upside down in the local museum of l'Almodí. Xàtiva was briefly a provincial capital under the short-lived
1822 territorial division of Spain The 1822 territorial division of Spain was a rearrangement of the territory of Spain into various provinces, enacted briefly during the '' Trienio Liberal'' of 1820–1823. It is remembered today largely as a precursor to the similar 1833 territ ...
, during the ''
Trienio Liberal The , () or Three Liberal Years, was a period of three years in Spain between 1820 and 1823 when a liberal government ruled Spain after a military uprising in January 1820 by the lieutenant-colonel Rafael del Riego against the absolutist rule ...
''. The Province of Xàtiva was revoked with the return to absolutism in 1823.


Main sights

Xàtiva is built on the margin of a fertile plain, and on the northern slopes of the Monte Vernissa, a hill with two peaks crowned by Xativa Castle. The Collegiate Basilica, dating from 1414, but rebuilt about a century later in the Renaissance style, was formerly a cathedral, and is the chief among many churches and convents. The town-hall and a church on the castle hill are partly constructed of inscribed Roman masonry, and several houses date from the
Moorish The term Moor is an exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a single, distinct or self-defi ...
period. Other sights include: *Royal Monastery of the Assumption, Gothic and Baroque style, built during the 14th century and renovated in the 16th–18th centuries. * Natal house of the Pope Alexander VI. * Sant Feliu (St Felix) – 13th century church. * Sant Pere (St Peter) – 14th century church. The interior has a
Coffered ceiling A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault. A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, also ...
decorated in Gothic-Mudéjar style. * Hermitage of Santa Anna (15th century), in Gothic style. *''Almodí'', a 14th-century Gothic edifice (1530–1548) now housing a Museum. * Casa de l'Ensenyança, Xàtiva. * Sant Francesc. *Village of Anahuir.


Climate

Xàtiva 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 sem ...
(
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
: ''BSh'') with mild winters and hot to very hot summers. September is the wettest month of the year as a result of cold drop episodes that occur mainly in autumn. Despite being located inland, its lower altitude means that temperatures below are rare, while in summer it is common for temperatures to approach or exceed . Summer nights are warm, often hovering around . Xàtiva also recorded the highest temperature ever in
peninsular Spain Peninsular Spain is the part of the territory of Spain located within the Iberian Peninsula, thus excluding other parts of Spain: the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta, Melilla, and several islets and crags off the coast of Morocco kno ...
in a month of March, on 23 March 2001 which registered .


Notable people

* Abu al-Qasim al-Shatibi (538–590 AH / 1144–1194 CE) *
Abu Ishaq al-Shatibi Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Mūsā al-Shāṭibī (538 – 590 A.H./1320 – 1388 C.E.) was an Andalusí Sunni Islamic scholar. He was regarded in his time as among the leading jurist and legal theoretician in the Maliki school of law. He was ...
(720–790 AH / 1320–1388 CE) * Pope Calixtus III (1378–1458) *
Pope Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI (, , ; born Roderic Llançol i de Borja; epithet: ''Valentinus'' ("The Valencian"); – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 August 1492 until his death in 1503. Born into t ...
(1431–1503) *
Tomás Cerdán de Tallada Tomás may refer to: * Tomás (given name) * Tomás (surname) Tomás is a Spanish, Portuguese, or Irish surname, equivalent of '' Thomas''. It may refer to: * Antonio Tomás (born 1985), professional Spanish footballer * Belarmino Tomás (18 ...
(1530–1614) * Diego Ramírez de Arellano (1580–1624) *
Jusepe de Ribera Jusepe de Ribera (; baptised 17 February 1591 – 3 November 1652) was a Spanish painter and Printmaking, printmaker. Ribera, Francisco de Zurbarán, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, and the singular Diego Velázquez, are regarded as the major artist ...
(1591–1652) * Jaime Villanueva (1765–1824) * Raimon (born 1940) * Joan Ramos (born 1942) * Toni Cucarella (born 1959) * Feliu Ventura (born 1976)


Gallery

File:XATIVA van den Wyngaerde.jpg, Drawing of Xàtiva by Anton van den Wyngaerde in 1563, commissioned by King
Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...
. File:Xàtiva. Almodí. Felip V i cadira-2.jpg, Portrait of
Philip V of Spain Philip V (; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was List of Spanish monarchs, King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 14 January 1724 and again from 6 September 1724 to his death in 1746. His total reign (45 years and 16 days) is the longest in the ...
purposefully exhibited upside down in the File:ComunidadValenciana Xàtiva2 tango7174.jpg, Collegiate church File:0.1. Hospital Municipal (Xàtiva, País Valencià).jpg, Hospital File:1. Ajuntament de Xàtiva (La Costera, País Valencià).jpg, Town hall


See also

* Route of the Borgias


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Xativa Route of the Borgias