L'Alcúdia

L'Alcúdia is a town and municipality in the province of Valencia, Spain. It is located on the left bank of the river Xuquer.

History

The locality is named after a 13th-century Moorish farmhouse, granted in 1238 by the Aragonese king Jaume I (James I) to Pere de Montagut. On January 17, 1252 this latter conceded the right to found a township upon these lands to 54 Christian pioneers after the reconquista of the Valencian Moorish territories. The town took active participation in all the conflicts that shook Spain along the history: it was sacked during the "Revolta de les Germanies" in the beginning of the 16th century; in the 18th century, during the War of the Spanish Succession, the Bourbon troops plundered it again, and finally, during the Peninsular War it lodged a camp of French troops that looted everything from the villagers, leaving them in the red. In the Spanish Civil War, it was lucky to keep on the rearguard, although it did not spare the town being bombed by the Italian fascist planes, supporting Franco’s uprising.

A former name for this locality in Spanish is Alcudia de Carlet, which was in use during Franco's regime. After Franco's death in 1975 and the institution of democracy in Spain, the name fell into disfavor and the population unanimously voted to change it.^[1]

Economic resources

Up to not many years ago the town relied almost exclusively on its agriculture production (mainly oranges and vegetables), some years ago a new and pretty exotic product was re-introduced into the orchards of l'Alcudia and the surrounding district, the caqui (Persimmon) which has become a major source of revenue for Alcudian growers. l'Alcúdia has recently become an industrial town, with a number of factories producing furniture and general light industry.

Main sights

Notable architectural structures in the municipality include:

• The Franciscan convent, ca. 1600, in ruins but with plans for restoration in progress
• Church of the Immaculada (Verge de la Purisima) in Montortal, 17th century.
• Church of Sant Andreu.
• The Waterwheel (La Noria), dating from the 19th century,
• La Mota, an aqueduct from the 19th century that pumped water from the Royal Irrigation Canal of the river Xuquer and provided water to almost the whole zone
• The House of Culture, inaugurated in 1987, a modern and singular building.
• L'Hort de Manus, where the Verge of the Church of Sant Andreu was reportedly hidden under a cattle trough during the Spanish Civil War

References

• ^ see es:Alcudia de Carlet (Valencia)

External links

• Website 2.0 about L'alcudia