Llíria


Llíria is a medium-sized town off the CV35 motorway to the north of Valencia, Spain. Known as Edeta in ancient Iberian times, it is the musical capital of the region. On October 30 2019, Llíria was declared a Creative City in the category of Music by the UNESCO.

Location

Llíria is the capital of the area known as Camp de Túria in the province of Valencia. It is approximately north-west of the city of Valencia. It sits at an altitude of 164m. The population in 2006 totalled approximately 21,500. The traditional economy is based on agriculture, but industries such as textiles, construction materials, plastics, and furniture are becoming increasingly important. The city is at the end of the Metrovalencia train system. Construction of a new general hospital in Llíria began in 2007 and finished in 2015. Due to the severe financial crisis, the building of the hospital took much longer than initially expected.
The local Fiestas are Romería of San Vicente Ferrer, and Saint Michael.

History and architecture

Pre-Roman Age

Under Llíria lie the ruins of what was one of the most important Iberian cities in Spain. The city was then known as Edeta and it was the administrative centre of Edetania, an extensive territory between the rivers Júcar / Xúquer and / Riu Palància.
Edeta was built on a hilltop known as Sant Miquel, which overlooks the modern city. The city was moved downhill to its current location by Quintus Sertorius after Roman troops destroyed the town in 76 BC.

Roman Age

Under the Romans, Llíria was as important as Valencia or Sagunt. The town is very rich in Roman finds, including a large Roman leisure centre with a temple, shops, pools, and hot baths.
Recent archaeological excavations have uncovered one of Spain's largest-ever caches of buried coins. Popularly known as the Treasure of Carrer Duc de Llíria, it totals some 6,000 silver denarii minted in the first and third centuries. Another archaeological find was a mosaic of The Twelve Labours of Hercules, which was excavated from a Domus Romana at Can Porcar or Casa de Porcar in Llíria. It is currently displayed at the National Archaeological Museum of Spain. Additionally, Llíria's own archaeological museum contains imagery from its original location including details of each of the labors along with other Roman artifacts from the town.

Mediaeval Period

The first church in Llíria was built in 1238 by King James I of Aragon, after his victory over the Moors and the conquest of the Valencian region. The Church of the Blood was built on the site of a mosque and is a typical example of Valencian Gothic architecture with Roman and Valencian influences. Some remains of the original mosque can still be seen.
In 1919 the church was gazetted as a National Monument and was the first religious monument in the Valencian Community to receive this distinction. The church was recently restored and opened to the public.

Climate

The climate is Mediterranean, but with slight continental influence due to the inland location with occasional cool nights in winter, snow is a very rare phenomenon. The average temperature is between 10°/11° C in January and 26°/29 °C in July and August. Rainfall is very irregular but with heavy showers common in September and October.

Population

The city has about 21,500 residents of which some 16,500 live in the city centre and 5,000 live in surrounding residential estates. Llíria and the surrounding area has one of fastest rates of population growth in the entire nation. Utility services are struggling to keep up with largely unplanned growth. Sedesa SA has been given approval to construct a golf course with a hotel and luxury housing on a site some three kilometres to the north-east of the city. Work on the development was expected to begin in 2007, but now seem to have been suspended following the economic downturn. The largest immigrant communities are from Morocco, Romania and the United Kingdom.

Festivals

Several thousand of Llíria's residents play musical instruments and the city is well known for its two intensely rival bands. The first band, the "Banda Primitiva", was formed by a Franciscan friar Antoni Albarracín Enguídanos in 1838 and the subsequent band divided in 1903 to form the rival Unió Musical.
The Conservatory of Lliria is a public center created by the city council on the 90's.

Language

Both Spanish and Valencian are spoken in the town; however, the number speaking Valencian in their homes is steadily decreasing as the town is slowly absorbed into the Spanish-speaking conurbation of Valencia.

Schools

Spanish & Valencian language schools : Sant Vicent, Sant Miquel, Camp de Túria, and Laurona.