Borgia Route Through the Old Town

What it is

Xàtiva is the cradle of the Borgias: the two popes of the family were born here, Calixtus III (Alfons de Borja) and his nephew Alexander VI (Roderic de Borja, pope from 1492 to 1503), father of Joan, Cèsar, Lucrècia and Jofré. The tourist office suggests a self-guided route through the old town that links their traces, with no guide or ticket: it is done along public streets and you only pay if you enter the Collegiate Church, the museums or the castle.

The route, stop by stop

It starts at the church of Sant Francesc, where the Borgias had their funerary chapel in the late fourteenth century; Catalina de Borja, sister of Calixtus III, and Roderic's grandparents were buried there, until in 1470 their remains were moved to the Collegiate Church. It continues along Calle Montcada, one of the most stately, with palaces and convents; tradition says Pere Lluís Galcerà de Borja, last grand master of the Order of Montesa, lived there. The Royal Monastery of Santa Clara, founded in 1325 by Saurina de Entença, widow of Roger de Lauria, is Gothic-Mudéjar and had Beatriz de Borja as abbess.

The Trinitat fountain, from the last third of the fifteenth century, is one of the few Gothic fountains preserved in Spain, with an octagonal basin and the coats of arms of the city and the Kingdom; in the square the doorway of the old Trinitarian convent remains. Then you reach the birthplace of Alexander VI, in the square that bears his name, which in the Middle Ages was called the Borgias' square: the family was already living there in 1378 and a plaque commemorates Roderic's birth. Next comes the church of Sant Pere, Gothic of the conquest, with a single nave with three diaphragm arches and a Mudéjar coffered ceiling, where he was baptised.

Then, the ceramic altarpiece of Casa Artigues, Rococo, eighteenth-century, with illustrious xativins both real and imaginary, among them the two popes. At the Collegiate Church their bronze statues await you, the work of Octavio Vicent, and in its museum the altarpiece of Saint Anne, the chalice of Calixtus III and the great monstrance. The next stop is El Palau, fifteenth-century, seat of the archdeacon, with the coat of arms of Calixtus III over the door. The Fine Arts Museum holds the keystone and a corbel from the chapel Calixtus III built in La Seu. The route ends at the castle, state prison of the Crown of Aragon, where in the sixteenth century Diego de Borja was imprisoned and executed.

Fountains, time and tips

On the way you pass several of the city's royal fountains: the Trinitat and the Aldomar, Baroque, in Plaza de Alejandro VI. Without going into anywhere, it is about an hour and a half on foot along gently sloping streets. If you want to enter the museum and bell tower of La Seu, note that they only open in the morning and close on Mondays, like the municipal museums. You can do it with a dog on a lead, because it is all street.