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Elche Elche / Elx
Municipality
Altamira Castle and panoramic view of Elche
Flag Coat of arms
Elche Location in Spain
Coordinates: 38°16′1″N 0°41′54″W / 38.26694°N 0.69833°W / 38.26694; -0.69833Coordinates: 38°16′1″N 0°41′54″W / 38.26694°N 0.69833°W / 38.26694; -0.69833
Country	Spain
Autonomous community	Valencian Community
Province	Alicante
Comarca	Bajo Vinalopó
Judicial district	Elche
Founded	Iberos; 5th century BC
Government
• Alcalde	Carlos Gonzalez (2015) (PSOE)
Area
• Total	326.10 km2 (125.91 sq mi)
Elevation	86 m (282 ft)
Population (2014)
• Total	228,647
• Density	700/km2 (1,800/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Ilicitano, ilicitana
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	03200-03299
Dialing code	966 - 965
Official language(s)	Spanish and Valencian
Website	Official Website Official tourism Website

This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Spanish. (December 2009) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Spanish article. Machine translation like Deepl or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary (using German): Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at [[:de:Exact name of German article]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template es to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Elche (/ˈɛltʃeɪ/, Spanish: [ˈeltʃe]), or Elx (Valencian: [ˈɛʎtʃ]),^[1] is a town located in the comarca of Baix Vinalopó, Spain. According to the 2014 census, Elche has a population of 228,647 inhabitants^[2] (called il·licitans in Valencian and ilicitanos in Spanish), ranking as the third most populated city in the Valencian Community (after Valencia and Alicante) and the 20th largest Spanish city.

Part of the municipality is coastal but the main city is some 11 km (6.8 mi) from the Mediterranean Sea. A small creek called Vinalopó flows through the city splitting it in two parts.

Elche is so close to the city of Alicante, that both cities form a de facto conurbation of some 800,000 inhabitants that can very well double during the summer peak-season.

History

La Alcudia is 10 km from the current city's location and the immediate predecessor of current day Elche. This original location was settled by the Greeks and then occupied by Carthaginians and Romans. Greeks Ionian colonists from the Achaean city Helike established their new colony, naming it Helíkē (Greek: Ἑλίκη) around 600 BC. It was a point of resistance against Carthaginian advance in Spain between the First and Second Punic Wars.^[3] The Romans called the city Ilici or Illice and granted it the status of colonia; after a brief Byzantine rule, the Goths took over, establishing an episcopal see.

Frontal view of the Lady of Elche.

Elche lost importance during the period of Moorish occupation, when it was moved slightly north to its present location. James II of Aragon took the city from the Moors in the 13th century, during the Reconquista. The city grew throughout the 18th century and became more important during the 19th century with the arrival of the railway and a booming industrial development of what used to be the traditional footwear industry.

Many archaeological remains have been found in Elche, with the stone bust of the Lady of Elche (Dama de Elche/Dama d'Elx in Spanish and Valencian (or Catalan), respectively) being the most important. This may date from the Iberian period (4th century BC). The original is in the National Archaeological Museum of Spain.

Economy

The economy of Elche is based, in large part, on the footwear industry, with over 1,000 shoe factories, being one of the most important footwear centres in Spain and the rest of Europe with brands like Pura Lopez or Panama Jack. There are other economic activities in Elche: agriculture (dates, olives, cereals and pomegranates), although it has lost importance in recent years; rubber industry; trade, which employs 20% of the workforce; and tourism.

Elche has a conference centre (called Ciutat d'Elx), an international airport (Aeropuerto de Alicante) a public University, Universidad Miguel Hernández, and a private University, Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera.

This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Spanish. (May 2013) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Spanish article. Machine translation like Deepl or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary (using German): Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at [[:de:Exact name of German article]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template es to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Climate

Elche has a hot subtropical semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSh).

Main sights

Basilica of Santa María de Elche.

Palmeral of Elche (The Palm Grove of Elche)

Old part of the city, Barrio del Raval.

• 
  Palmeral of Elche ("The Palm Grove of Elche", Palmerar d'Elx in Valencian (or Catalan)). It is an orchard of over 200,000 palm trees that was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000.


• Altamira Castle, also known as Alcázar de la Señoría, located next to the Municipal Park (which, in turn, is a part of the Elche Palm Grove) It was originally built in Almohad times (12th-13th centuries), and was later renovated with brick exterior in the 15th century. A former fortress, in 1913 it became a fabric plant, it has also been used as the town hall and as a prison during the Spanish Civil War, while today is home to the Elche Archaeology and History Museum
  


• 
  Baños Arabes (Arabic Baths), which re-uses old Roman baths.


• Basilica of Santa Maria


• Calahorra Tower, of rectangular plan and Rabic origin, it represent the last relic of the old city walls.


• 
  Municipio (Town Hall)


• Convento de la Merced


• Huerto del Cura


• Elche Palaeontological Museum


• Elche Municipal Festa Museum


• Palm Groves Museum

The Mystery Play of Elx (better known as Misteri d'Elx, in Valencian (or Catalan)) is a sacral-lyrical medieval drama, dated from the 15th century, which was declared a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2002. It is played every year in mid August, in the context of the local holidays dedicated to the Assumption of Virgin Mary. Also as a part of this celebration, on the 13th of August is the date of a celebration in Elche called Nit de l'Albà (Night of the Dawn) in which a citywide night-long show of fireworks takes place.

Notable people

• Saúl Ñíguez


• Aarón Ñíguez


• Silvia Soler Espinosa


• 
  Francisco Mojica, a microbiologist noted for his research on the CRISPR gene editing technique

Twin towns

• 
  Oran, Algeria, since 1939


• 
  Toulouse, France, since 1981


• 
  Jaca, Spain, since 1983


• 
  Subotica, Serbia, since 2004


• 
  Kasukabe, Japan, since 2010


• 
  Kanpur, India, since 2014

See also

• Elche CF


• Medieval Festival of Elx


• Route of the Castles of Vinalopó

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Elche.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Elche.

• 
  Tour virtual 360° por la ciudad de Elche (in Spanish)
  


• 
  Economical and social information about the city 2007 (in English)
  


• 
  Ajuntament d'Elx, Town Hall of Elche (in Catalan) (in Spanish)
  


• 
  Instituto Valenciano de Estadística City official statistics.


• 
  Turisme d'Elx, City council official Tourist guide (in English) (in Catalan) (in Spanish)
  


• 
  Elche, City overview from a local citizen (in English)
  


• 
  Cultura d'Elx, City council Cultural events website (in Catalan) (in Spanish)
  


• 
  FuturElx, City council strategical development guidelines (in Spanish)
  


• 
  The first ever Elche Home Page (in English)
  


• 
  Miguel Hernandez University of Elche (in Catalan) (in Spanish)
  


• 
  BBC Radio 3 programme on Mystery Play - available to listen online 14-21 October 2006 (in English)
  


• 
  Festival of street arts Elx al Carrer (in Spanish)
  


• 
  Museums of Elche (in Spanish)
  

Panoramic view of Elche from the Basílica de Santa María: the Altamira Castle is to the left, next to the Municipal Park.