Alzira

Raise a city to live it

Alzira is located 36 kilometers south of Valencia, it is the administrative capital of the Ribera Alta region of the Júcar river. The city has 45,451 inhabitants registered in the census in 2022.

It is very close to the Albufera, and twenty minutes from the Costa del Azahar. It is 372 km away. from Madrid. It has adequate communication with the most touristic coastal cities (Gandía, 35 km.; Cullera and Tavernes, 20 km.). It has a good suburban train service to communicate with the capital of the province, Valencia.

It has a Mediterranean climate and an average altitude of 16 meters above sea level. With a fertile orchard of orange trees and Kaki denomination of origin Persimon. The Murta Municipal Natural Park, with the interesting ruins of the Murta monastery, declared a Site of Cultural Interest (BIC) and La Casella are, along with the neighboring Aigües Vives Valley, ideal and attractive spaces for resting or the practice of hiking.

Alzira is a tourist municipality, with important natural, cultural and festive resources. The modern city preserves the Vila neighborhood, a historical complex (BIC), in which it is interesting to wander through its streets and follow the traces of its history, in the buildings and monuments. Throughout the year, a wide and varied festive calendar enlivens the city. Holy Week and the Fallas (BIC) were declared of National Tourist Interest in 1985 and 2005 respectively. In addition, the Fallas from March 15 to 19 hold the category of Intangible Heritage of Humanity, in the same way as the Tamborada, which is celebrated prior to Easter. Among other festivals throughout the year, the patron saints are celebrated in July and September, the Moors and Christians the first week of October. Every Wednesday of the year it celebrates the bustling weekly market.

Its economy is eminently industrial, agricultural and commercial, with the services sector having a great weight. The tourism sector tries to enter by promoting among its values ​​and attractions, already indicated, the gastronomic one, where baked rice or paella are typical dishes, which can be tasted together with “els bunyols de carabassa” in fallas; the “arnadí de moniato i carabassa” “les mandonguilles d’abadejo” (cod meatballs) at Easter; “les mones” at Easter, or the “Reganyà de carabassa” throughout the year; in desserts, ice cream (inherited from the old Avidesa factory) or fruits, such as orange and kaki.

Monuments

  • The Covered Cross. The legend that Jaime I the Conqueror died in the place where the cross is located, while being transferred to Valencia, is the basis for some for its construction in honor of the monarch. However, historians place his death in the residence that the king had in Alzira, considering the cross as a symbol of the conquest of the city for the Christian-Western civilization.
  • The Cueva or Torre de las Maravillas is located in the Vilella de Alzira district, near the border with the municipality of Carcagente. This cave has the peculiarity of having a quadrangular tower erected in 1912 to close and control its access.
  • The Monastery of Santa Lucía, also known as Convent de les Llúcies, is a Renaissance convent complex, erected during the 16th century in Alzira, of which the cloister, nave and façade of the church remain.
  • City hall. 16th century building. It occupies a Gothic-Renaissance style palace, typical of Valencian mansions, built between 1547 and 1603. In 1930 it was declared a
  • National Monument. The Municipal Archive of Alzira, guarded in this Town Hall, contains some of the most valuable documentary legacies of the Valencian Community. Among the documentation it keeps, the series of parchments from the Royal Chancellery stands out, the collection of the Llibres dels Actes dels Jurats e Concell, the repertoire of Notarial Protocols, the Registers of the Acequia Real del Júcar, and the most valuable, the illuminated codex from the 14th century “Aureum Opus Privilegiorum Regni Valentie”, containing a record of privileges. It dates back to 1380, although more privileges were added in the 15th and 16th centuries.
  • Casalicios of the San Bernardo Bridge. Old Bridge of San Agustín, SXIII. In 1717 the weddings with the patrons were installed, becoming known as the San Bernardo bridge. In 1967, the removal of the arm of the Júcar that crossed the city led to its disappearance and the urbanization of the current avenue of the Patron Saints, respecting the monument in the middle of this road.
    Archpriestal Church of Santa Catalina. This building dates from the 13th century. Built on top of the main mosque, its current architecture is in the Baroque style. Its cover was made by Gaspar Díez in 1692. It is the seat of the Archpriesthood of Alzira, called San Bernardo Mártir, within the Archdiocese of Valencia.
  • Círculo Alzireño, popularly known as La Gallera because it was originally a cockfighting circle and cockfights were held there, is a neoclassical building built in the second half of the 19th century by the thriving local landowning bourgeoisie. From its spacious hall, a large staircase leads to the first floor, where the Arab room stands out, with its rich ornamentation. On the ground floor, the Valencian room stands out, richly decorated with wood and ceramics.
  • Great theater. Modernist building with an interesting interior, built in 1921. Throughout its history it has been affected by several fires, the last one occurred in January 2004. The most serious of all was that of 1987, which affected the entire roof of the theater . In 2021 the centenary was celebrated and different improvements were carried out in the building.
  • The Pious Schools. Today House of Culture. Imposing 19th century building, which housed the Piarist Fathers until the 1940s.
  • Shields of San Roque de Alzira street. The shields of San Roque street are two noble shields located in the buildings of numbers 8 and 13 of said alzireña street.
  • The Villa and the Wall of Alzira. La Vila is the oldest neighborhood and corresponds to the old town, completely surrounded by the wall until the second half of the 20th century. It has an irregular pattern with narrow streets and small squares. The knights and aristocrats linked to James I of Aragon after the Reconquest established their residence there, such as the Serra, Santiago, García de Aguilar, Venrell and others, who had their palaces built there next to the royal residence of the monarch. Currently, the archpriestal Santa Catalina, the Town Hall, and several historic houses and palaces such as the Casa del Empeño (City Museum), the Tena house, the Cassassús palace or the Cucó-Gisbert de Alzamora, as well as various archaeological remains. The walled circuit of the old Al-Jazeera or Algezira (the Island), was built between the 9th and 10th centuries and surrounded the urban nucleus, surrounded in turn by the 10th, whose passage it strategically controlled. Throughout its history, the wall of Alzira suffered attacks by El Cid and those of the Reconquista, as well as various damage caused by the revolts of the Moors and later during the war of the Germanías.
  • Royal Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lluch. Temple added to the Basilica of Santa María la Mayor in Rome since 2008, it is located on top of a mound integrated into the urban fabric of the city, called Muntanyeta del Salvador, in the place that was occupied by the Hermitage of El Salvador. It was built from 1927, financed by citizen collections, finalizing its total construction with the coronation of the bell tower in 1966. It houses the image of the Patron Saint of the city, Santa María del Lluch, the work of the sculptor Antonio Ballester Vilaseca.
  • La Murta Monastery. In the heart of the Murta Valley, the remains of the historic Jeronimos Monastery subsist, in its time an emporium of culture and spirituality and a pilgrimage center for kings, nobles and religious leaders. To highlight the tower of the pigeons and the access bridge to the ruined church. Also noteworthy within the complex is the 19th century romantic house and garden. https://www.alzira.es/ciutat/guies-medioambientals/guia-botanica-del-jardi-romantic-de-la-murta/
  • Route of the Monasteries of Valencia, El Paso del Pobre. Alzira is located within the itinerary of this monumental and cultural route inaugurated in 2008, which runs through the town, an unavoidable visit of which is its historic La Murta Monastery.
  • The Casassús Palace is a stately palace structured on three floors. On its ground floor, the Gothic arches stand out and on the façade its noble coat of arms, which is of cultural interest (number R-I-51-0011340).
  • Alzira Pawn Shop, headquarters of the Municipal Museum of Alzira, MUMA
GUIDE TO ALZIRA