Xàtiva

"Jativa" redirects here. For the genus of moth, see Jativa (moth).

Xàtiva
Municipality
View of Xàtiva View of Xàtiva
Flag of Xàtiva Flag Coat of arms of Xàtiva Coat of arms
250px
Xàtiva Location in Spain
Coordinates:
Country	Spain
Autonomous community	Valencian Community
Province	Valencia
Comarca	Costera
Judicial district	Xàtiva
Government
• Mayor	Roger Cerdà i Boluda (2015) (PSPV)
Area
• Total	76.60 km2 (29.58 sq mi)
Elevation	115 m (377 ft)
Population (2009)
• Total	29,386
• Density	380/km2 (990/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Setabense
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	46800
Official language(s)	Spanish and Valencian
Website	Official website

Xàtiva (Valencian pronunciation: [ˈʃativa], locally: [(æj)ˈʃætɪʋæ]; Spanish: Játiva [ˈxatiβa]) is a town in eastern Spain, in the province of Valencia, on the right (western) bank of the river Albaida and at the junction of the Valencia–Murcia and Valencia Albacete railways. During the Al-Andalus Islamic era, Arabs brought the technology to manufacture paper to Xàtiva. In the 12th century, Xàtiva was known for its schools, education, and learning circles. Islamic scholar Abu Ishaq al-Shatibi's last name refers to Xàtiva where he lived and died.

History

Xàtiva (Saetabis in Latin) was famous in Roman times for its linen fabrics, mentioned by the Latin poets Ovid and Catullus. Xàtiva is also known as an early European centre of paper manufacture. In the 12th century, Arabs brought the technology to manufacture paper to Xàtiva (Arabic: شاطبة‎‎ Shāṭiba).

It is the birthplace of two popes, Callixtus III and Alexander VI, and also the painter José Ribera (Lo Spagnoletto). It suffered a dark moment in its history at the hands of Philip V of Spain, who, after his victory at the Battle of Almansa during the War of the Spanish Succession, ordered the city to be burned. The name was changed to 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, during the Trienio Liberal. The Province of Játiva was revoked with the return to absolutism in 1823.

Main sights

File:ComunidadValenciana Xàtiva1 tango7174.jpg

Panoramic view of Xàtiva

Xàtiva is built on the margin of a fertile plain, and on the southern slopes of the Monte Vernissa, a hill with two peaks, each surmounted by a Castle of Xàtiva.

Its 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 period.

Other sights include:

• the 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.
• Church of St. Felix (13th century)
• Church of St. Peter (14th century). The interior has a coffer 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 la Enseñanza, Xàtiva

Gallery

• XATIVA van den Wyngaerde.jpg

  Drawing by Anton van den Wyngaerde in 1563, commissioned by King Philip II of Spain.

• 

  Portrait of Philip V of Spain exhibited upside down in the es

• ComunidadValenciana Xàtiva2 tango7174.jpg

  Collegiate church

See also

• Route of the Borgias

External links

• Official website
• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons
• Xàtiva travel guide from Wikivoyage

There is plenty of information available about Xativa and the surrounding area on the English language website;

• www.xativatourismguide.com

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: