La Vila Joiosa / Villajoyosa |
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La Vila Joiosa or Villajoyosa (Valencian: La Vila Joiosa, Spanish: Villajoyosa) is a coastal town and municipality in the province of Alicante, and of the comarca of the Alacantí, in the southern part of the Valencian Community, Spain, by the Mediterranean Sea. It is the historic and administrative capital of the comarca of Marina Baixa and is located 32 km from the city of Alicante and 10km south og Benidorm, in the coastal area known as Costa Blanca (White Coast). La Vila Joiosa literally means Joyful Village, although the inhabitants often abbreviate it to La Vila (The village). The river Amadorio runs through La Vila. Villajoyosa has a number of buildings from its historic past. Villajoyosa's church is a Gothic building whose elaborate renaissance doorways provide an entrance to the old walled town centre, although these have been somewhat changed by Neo-classical alterations carried out in the 18th century. There are roman bridges, a 16th century watch tower that gave warnings against raids from Berber Pirates. Once a fishing village, the tiny houses that crowd along one half of the seafront are still painted in bright, gaudy colours that were originally used to help returning fisherman find their way home. As with many of the east coast towns, La Vila Joiosa, (Villajoyosa) suffered from attacks by the Barbary Coast Pirates. According to legend and possibly a little history, on the 29th of July 1538 36 boats carrying Algerians arrived to ransack the town but the inhabitants were able to fight them off thanks to the intercession of Saint Martha. Since that day, she has been the towns Patron Saint and the fact is commemorated with regular re-enactment of the landing of the Moors. Alphons Xlll granted city status to Villajoyosa in 1911.
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