Sax (Alicante)

Sax
	Sax - town view with castle hill
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Valencia
Province :	Alicante
Comarca :	Alto Vinalopó
Coordinates	38 ° 32 ′ N , 0 ° 49 ′ W Coordinates: 38 ° 32 ′ N , 0 ° 49 ′ W
Height :	472 msnm
Area :	63.48 km²
Residents :	9,845 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	155.09 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	03630
Municipality number ( INE ):	03123
administration
Website :	Sax

Sax ( Saix in Catalan ) is a small town and a municipality in southeastern Spain ( municipio ) with 9,845 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the province of Alicante in the Valencian Community . It is located on the Ruta de la Lana , a medieval trade and pilgrimage route.

Location and climate

Sax is located on the Río Vinalopó, which only carries water in winter and spring and after prolonged or heavy rainfall, about 46 km (driving distance) northwest of the provincial capital Alicante at an altitude of about 470 m . The lovely city of Elx (Spanish: Elche ) is located about 43 km south. The small town is dominated by an imposing castle hill (Peña del Castillo) . The climate in winter is temperate, while in summer it is warm to hot; the rather low amounts of precipitation (approx. 450 mm / year) fall - with the exception of the almost rainless summer months - distributed over the whole year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2019
Residents	2,952	4,582	4,055	8,625	9,845

Due to the mechanization of agriculture , the abandonment of small farms and the resulting loss of jobs in the countryside, the population of the municipality has increased significantly since the middle of the 20th century.

economy

For centuries the inhabitants of the place lived directly or indirectly (as traders or craftsmen) from agriculture. Viticulture played a major economic role in the 19th century until the outbreak of the phylloxera crisis . In the meantime, agriculture has been replaced as the basis of life by small craft, industrial and service companies. Nevertheless, there are olive and almond tree plantations and vineyards in the municipal area .

history

The presence of humans in the Bronze Age has been proven by excavations on the castle hill ; an Iberian burial ground was also discovered. The place is possibly identical to the Segisa mentioned by Ptolemy , which belonged to the territory of the Iberian Bastetans ; In any case, two Roman country estates ( villae rusticae ) were found during excavations . In the 8th century the place came under Islamic rule and remained so during the conquest of Valencia and its surrounding area by El Cid in 1094. Due to the arrival of the Berber tribes led by the Almoravids in 1102, the reconquest ( reconquista ) was delayed again Century, until the troops of King Jacob I of Aragon took control of the area in the 1230s and 1240s , with the Knights of the Calatrava Order particularly prominent. In 1480 the Catholic Kings Isabella and Ferdinand made the area into possession of the crown. During the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714), units of the troops fighting on the side of the Bourbons against the Habsburgs fled to the castle hill of Sax during the Battle of Almansa (1707), which they defended for several days with the support of the population.

Attractions

Ermita de San Blas and Castillo

Iglesia de la Asunción

The most important attraction of Sax is the late medieval castle (castillo) which dominates the silhouette of the city on the top of a rock. Parts of the walls and two towers are still preserved - the larger of the two is the free-standing keep (torre del homenaje) with its walls up to 2 m thick; the smaller one is called Torre de Albarrana . Inside the castle walls there is a cistern (aljibe) , with the help of which the water supply was ensured.

The St. Blasius , the patron saint of the city, consecrated Ermita de San Blas , was built in the 13th century on the rectangular foundation walls of a mosque . The apse is likely a later addition. In the 17th and 18th centuries the building was repeatedly adapted to current tastes.

The Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción , built in the 16th century with a single nave but with side chapels for stabilization, is the largest church in the city. It unites simple provincial late Gothic forms with Renaissance and Baroque elements . Nave (nave) and apse are rip arched .

Another so-called hermit church, the Ermita de la Soledad , is located on the site of the former cemetery, which has been converted into an inner-city square. It hides a figure of the Virgen de la Soledad , who plays an important role in the processions of Holy Week ( Semana Santa ) .

On the north side of the castle hill there is an ice cellar (pozo de nieve) , in which the snow ice fetched in winter from the mountains about 15 km further east and over 1000 m high was stored until late summer and sold to wealthy interested parties.

Surroundings

In the northeast of the municipality there is a park (La Torre) with finds from Roman and Moorish times. There are also two buildings from the 19th century - the Ermita de San Pancracio and the Casa de la Torre . A spring (Fuente del Amparador) ensured the water supply of Sax until the middle of the 20th century.

Festivals

At the beginning of February, in honor of San Blas , the city's patron saint since 1627, the city holds parades with groups disguised as Moros y Cristianos .
A week later, on February 12th, the feast of the former patron saint, St. Eulalia celebrated.