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Elche History

Elche

Elche History
Elche History


Elche known all over the world as the city of the palm-trees, it's history goes back to more than five millenia, in such a way that many civilizations have endowed the city with unsurpassable cultural and landscaping richness.

A number of peoples have contributed to the culture and character of Elche and its present-day inhabitants. The first remains discovered at the archeological site of L'Alcudia date from the Neolithic period, or about 5,000 B.C.

This original settlement continued its development to be become the Iberian town of Helike in the 5th century B.C. To this period belongs the famous Dama de Elche, a treasured sculpture of an Iberian priestess dressed in ceremonial robes constituting one of the most important master works of Iberian art ever to be found.
Elche History The town was later destroyed by Carthaginian troops, but when the Romans arrived, it was renamed as the Iulia Illice Augusta colony, and thereafter enjoyed a period of prosperity. In the Paleochristian (3rd-5th C.) and Visigothic (5th-8th C.) periods, Elx was known as the Basilica de Ilici a sign of its importance as an Episcopalian seat.

Under the Moorish dominion in the Lower Middle Ages, the town was established in its present position, in the area known as the Vila Murada. The name was changed to Elx, whence Elche. It was at this time that agriculture was developed to the full, with a complete irrigation system being introduced. The Christian conquest in the year 1265 ousted the Moors from the town itself, and they were obliged to build a new town in the environs of the Vila Murada, known as the Raval de Sant Joan.


After a long silence, the 19th century saw the rise of an important sandal industry, the origin of the present-day shoe industry, which unshed in a period of growth, both economic and cultural.

On August 4th, 1987 during an archeological dig for roman artifacts, the bust of a woman was uncovered. The sculpture donned a very elegant hairstyle indeed.

It is from this site that the bust known as the Dama d'Elx was discovered, and there is a museum recounting the history of this significant and ancient city at the actual discovery site. Suspected to be a priestess or a noble woman, you can admire the bust at the archeological museum in Madrid.


Elche Dama d'Elx

The city was abandoned in the 10th century and its inhabitants moved to the site of present day Elche. The Moors surrounded the new city of Elche with palm trees, which led some Islamic chroniclers in the 11th century to compare the city to Mecca, the Holy city of Islam. In 1265 the city finally passed to the Catalan/Aragon crown under Jaime II. The Christians occupied the Vila Murada whilst the Moors moved south to the el Raval quarter.

The Vila Murada contains the finest elements of Elche's historical heritage - the Palace of Altamira, the Citadel of the Sentoría, the Basilica of Santa María, the Moorish Calaforra fortress, the Ayuntamiento, the Moorish Baths and the Convent of the Mercé in Elche.