Oliva on the Mediterranean Sea Valencia Spain

Description:

Description

The symbols of the standard of the Valencian Community, the Mediterranean and citrus fruits, are united in Oliva, where nature has provided other attractions besides.

Beaches of fine, golden sand, surrounded by naturally formed sand dunes that separate orange groves from the sea, are found close to a municipality in which the streets preserve vestiges of its history and examples of its customs. The docile nature of the climate grants the virtue of being a haven for tourists.

A small dock known as the Goleta, which houses the facilities of a modern marina, divides the Oliva coastline in two.

The most attractive feature here is the large strip of sand dunes which separates the beach from the orange groves. It is almost 10 kilometres of fine sand and varied landscapes ranging from an isolated, unspoilt beach to the liveliest urban beach.

There is a wide selection of water sports: a dinghy sailing school in the yacht club and facilities on the beach itself offering windsurf, catamaran and sea kayak rental and courses.

Golf enthusiasts can also play golf on the excellent course designed by Severiano Ballesteros.

Aigua Blanca Beach

Dunes and Mediterranean vegetation shape the characteristic image of this semi-urban beach of fine sand and clean water, being almost three kilometres long and reaching El Riuet dels Gorgs.

Pau-Pi Beach

More than one kilometre of open fine sand beach located in a residential urban environment. It has two stretches of beach adapted with all necessary services for people with reduced mobility. One of this stretches is at Alfonso el Magnánimo, next to the yacht port, and the other in front of Plaza de Europa, on the southern extreme bordering on the beach Aigües Blanques.

The Easter Week Festivity

The Easter Week festivity in Oliva has gained the recognition of the whole region as being the oldest of the territory. On Holy Friday the religious manifestations begin with the Vía Crucis on the mountain of Santa Ana. At dawn, the images of the Dolorosa arrive with the members of the different confraternities. The evening brings one of the most enduring traditions of Holy Week in Oliva, the desenclavamiento, a lyrical - religious representation in which Christ is lowered from the cross and liberated from his torture. On Easter Sunday the Encuentro is interpreted on the Paseo Juan Carlos I.

Moors and Christians Festival

The Moors and Christians is one of Oliva's most traditional fiestas, and re-enacts the battle between the followers of the cross and those of the half-moon.

 

It is celebrated every year on the third weekend of July. The previous Saturday, captains, ambassadors, flag-carriers and officers prepare with all the passion and enthusiasm of the fiesta the official presentation of their characters.

 

After the pregón, or the official call to the townspeople declaring the festival open, they all join together to enjoy a spicy, succulent puchero - a traditional type of stew - to mark the beginning of the ceremony. Actors and spectators, old and young, participate in the parade to the typical background charanga music characteristic of Valencian fiestas.

 

The most-awaited act is the Entradas, or presentations, of the Moors and the Christians. Watching them parade with their collectives in their elegant costumes offers a colourful show of splendid dances, valiant fights, fantastic representations, artistic equestrianism and horse-drawn carriages.

 

After a long night of fun and excitement, many head straight to the beach without going to bed first to watch the magnificent Desembarco (‘disembarking'). This spectacle involves the arrival on dry land of the Moorish embassy, followed by a splendid sunrise that slowly gives colour and light to the whole show. The Christian embassy remains on the alert on the shore, then a great battle of bows-and-arrows and spectacular fireworks takes place, with the Moors finally defeated. But this victory does not last for long...

 

Sunday is Día de la Hermandad, or ‘day of the brotherhood', in the morning where the various parades visit each other's ‘headquarters' accompanied by their respective musical bands. In the evening you can watch the Reconquering of the Castle on behalf of the Christian troops. Again, the two sides enter in furious combat, letting off arrows and cannons, meeting head-on until the Christian kingdom succeeds in occupying the castle. A spectacular firework display concludes the festival.

Plaza del Ayuntamiento (Town Hall square)
 
You will find particularly attractive buildings presiding the plaza along with the statue of the Admiral Gabriel Císcar i Císcar, one of the most celebrated inhabitants of our town.

 

He was born in 1760 in Oliva and was the nephew of local celebrity Gregorio Mayans. Císcar was a great mathematician and naval officer. He published works related to science and mathematics, all of which had some relation to the seafaring world, and carried out experimental sea voyages. King Carlos IV named him member of the Spanish Naval Commission, which represented the country in the International Reunion in Paris in 1791 where the metric decimal system was officially approved.

 

He was elected as Deputy of the Spanish Houses of Parliament on three occasions during the absence of King Fernando VII. Císcar died as an exile in Gibraltar in 1829 and his remains are in the Pantheon of celebrated naval officers in San Fernando (Cádiz).

The Roman Kiln

On C/ Santísimo, nº 15, one of the clay kilns used by Roman potters in the 1st century A.D. remains in situ, a kiln where bottles, tiles and construction material typically used in rural towns in what is now La Safor was produced 2,000 years ago.

Unearthed in 1988 during the excavation of the plot to build the Savoy cinema, it is part of an extensive network of Roman pottery workshops discovered from 1975 onwards in what is now the centre of Oliva.

The San Roc Abbey

The home of the San Roc Abbotts, which is of Mudéjar origin, is highly-representative of popular architecture in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Access

Via the N 332 towards Dénia. Also via the A-7 at exit 61.

Ayuntamiento de Oliva
Plaça del Ajuntament, 1
46780  OLIVA
(Valencia) Tel.:  962850250
Fax:   962839772