Strolling the streets of Xàtiva, a brass plaque glinting in the sun caught my eye. Inscribed on it, in English, were the words: Embassy of the Kingdom of Elfia. I’ve travelled a bit, yet the Kingdom of Elfia is not somewhere I know. Or so I thought. A little sleuthing led to a familiar, yet fantasy place: Kasteel de Haar. Just outside Utrecht, the castle hosts the Elfia festival, a cosplay ‘kingdom’ that evolved into a real world community with a ‘king’ and ‘ambassadors’. One of whom appears to live in Xàtiva.
It seems fitting, Xàtiva is after all fantastical. Its long, storied history dates back to Roman times when it was famed for making linen. Hannibal stayed here in 218 BC on his march to Italy, famously crossing the Alps with elephants. Xàtiva flourished during the Moorish period when it was famed as one of the earliest European paper manufacturing centres.
Traces of the Moors are found everywhere in the town and especially around the castle, sitting precipitously on a ridge above the red tiled houses of the old town, where there are the remains of an Islamic palace. In 1244, the town and castle fell to the Reconquista and Jaume I of Aragon. In the wake of the city’s capture, one of Europe’s most notorious families arrived in Xàtiva: the Borgias.
Originally from Aragon, the Borgias were rewarded for their support of Jaume I, who granted them Xàtiva. The family became very powerful, and in the 15th century two Xàtiva Borgias became Popes. Alfonso de Borgia was Pope Calixto III, allegedly an honest and sober individual; while, Rodrigo Borgia, became the hedonistic and corrupt Pope Alexander VI.
It was Alexander who issued the Papal Bull allowing Isabella and Ferdinand, the Catholic Monarchs who unified Spain after defeating the Moors, to marry. In the 18th century another monarch, Philip V, arrived in the town, but not in a good way. Xàtiva chose the wrong side during the War of the Spanish Succession, when Philip captured the town he deported its population and razed it to the ground.
Commemorating this fact, the local museum hangs a portrait of Philip V upside down. This history is all the more extraordinary for a town that today has only 30,000 inhabitants. We arrived by train and made our way to the Plaza de Calixtus III in front of the enormous Basilica of Xàtiva. Outside are status of the two Borgia Popes, inside is where several Borgias are buried.
We entered the Basilica with a party of older Spanish ladies, who insisted we were in their group to get the group discount from the nice woman in the ticket office. We walked the vast interior but before we could leave the ticket woman grabbed us. Were we in trouble for pretending to be part of a gang of old ladies? No, it was far worse. She insisted we climbed the bell tower.
I lost count of the number of steps. We breathlessly reached the top just as the bells struck 11am. Now breathless and deaf, we admired the views of the town and the castle. The ticket lady was right, the views were glorious but this still felt like punishment for getting a dubious discount. From the cathedral, we walked through the historic centre filled with narrow streets, ancient buildings and pretty squares.
The climb to the castle was long and steep but the views are spectacular. The fortress is hugely impressive, inside its now crumbling walls (thanks to an earthquake in 1748) are the usual military buildings, but also gardens and fountains. It is split into two fortresses connected by high walls, I climbed to the higher of the two first. The views over the fortress, town and wooded hills beyond were beautiful.
There has been a fortress here since Roman times when it was a crucial military position between the Romans and the Carthaginians. Even in its somewhat dilapidated state, it exudes history from every stone. After exploring the second fortress, I gladly descended past the Ermita Sant Josep and back to the medieval centre of Xàtiva for a menu del dia and a glass of local wine as reward for the climb.
