Ladee's Travels

Elche is filled with interesting sites.  This is likely due to the mix of cultures of the years, and the preservation of bits and pieces of prior and current cultures. This map shows our path as we walked the area. The smiley faces mark the major areas that I photographed. (Source: googlemaps) I had to make this map to figure out what the blue and white dome was.  From what I can see on the map, is simply a blue and white dome. A variety of cafeterias line the streets. This tiled piece was on the outside of the building and depicts the story told in "The Mystery of Elche".   Click here for a great description of the medieval play, how it is performed, how long it is performed, and other tidbits . This brown wooden window shutter is quite fancy. Flags displayed on the side of a building. The plaza was a combination of small stones and slate. This sign caught my eye! Great price for a coffee and croissant! The sculpture is in Placa...

We got off the tour bus at the plaza near the Altamira Castle and slowly made our way to the Basilica. 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 ( Museo Arqueológico y de Historia de Elche ). (Source and more info) MAHE (Museum of Archaeology and History of Elche) runs under the plaza. This opening, showing the old walls, is visible to us as we walk across the plaza. Our next destination is the Basilica de Santa Maria.  It is the building across the plaza with the blue dome. The Santa Maria Basilica is a beautiful church which holds the Myster...

Elche is known for the large groves of palm trees.  Our bus tour started in Alicante (where the ship docked). We drove to Elche. The landscape of Elche is noted as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Palmeral of Elche, a landscape of groves of date palms, was formally laid out, with elaborate irrigation systems, at the time the Muslim city of Elche was erected, towards the end of the tenth century A.C., when much of the Iberian peninsula was Arab. The Palmeral is an oasis, a system for agrarian production in arid areas. It is also a unique example of Arab agricultural practices on the European continent. Cultivation of date palms in Elche is known at least since the Iberian times, dating around the fifth century B.C. (Source)  We started at a beach area in Alicante.  This was a very nice beach, lined with wide beaches and wide walkways. The housing section of the city had buildings with four to five stories. As we drove out of the city, the farming communities...