 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Carcaixent" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(September 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Carcaixent | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Carcaixent Location in Spain Show map of Province of Valencia Carcaixent Carcaixent (Valencian Community) Show map of Valencian Community Carcaixent Carcaixent (Spain) Show map of Spain | |
| Coordinates:39°7′20″N0°26′56″W / 39.12222°N 0.44889°W /39.12222; -0.44889 | |
| Country |  Spain |
| Autonomous community |  Valencian Community |
| Province | Valencia |
| Comarca | Ribera Alta |
| Judicial district | Alzira |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Carolina Almiñana (2023) (PPCV) |
| Area | |
• Total | 59.3 km2 (22.9 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 21 m (69 ft) |
| Population (2024-01-01)[1] | |
• Total | 21,317 |
| • Density | 359/km2 (931/sq mi) |
| Demonym(s) | Carcaixentí, carcaixentina |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 46740 |
| Official language(s) | Valencian andSpanish |
| Website | Official website |
Carcaixent (Valencian:[kaɾkajˈʃent];Spanish:Carcagente[kaɾkaˈxente]) is a town andmunicipality in theprovince of Valencia, easternSpain, with c. 20,000 inhabitants. Its origins go back to prehistoric Iberian and Roman times, with some remainders in its area. It is located in theRibera Altacomarca, 40 km south of the provincial capitalValencia. It is the birthplace of the orange growth and its flourishing commerce in the 19th and 20th centuries. Currently, its inhabitants live basically on agriculture and the service sector.
Remains ofNeolithic,Iberian andRoman settlements have been found in the area of Carcaixent, although the municipality actually originated from aMuslim farmhouse.King Philip II awarded Carcaixent the title of University in 1576. After upgrading it to Villa Real, the king issued Royal Privileges granting it the right to vote in the Courts of Valencia. Economy and population boomed in Carcaixent in the 18th century thanks to the sound production of silk, although crops were replaced by orange trees in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Carcaixent was awarded the title of city in 1916.
Theorange is thefruit made fromSpain, throughValencia, and spreading throughout the rest of the world. InGreek mythology theGarden of the Hesperides is a mythological grove where apples grew tended to by nymphs and a dragon.Hercules, the hero of classical literature, killed the guardian, entered the garden and plucked those golden apples –In later years it was thought that the "golden apples" might have actually beenoranges, a fruit unknown toEurope before theMiddle Ages. Several scholars defend that the etymology of the word comes from theSanskrit term narang and thePersian word narensh. WhenArabs brought orange farming to theIberian Peninsula, they called the fruits naranjah. TheRegion of Valencia maintained the orange-farming tradition after the Arabic period, with references to orange trees in the city of Valencia dating back to the 14th century. In fact, there is an Orange Courtyard inside Valencia’s 15th-century Silk Exchange market(La Llotja de la Seda), aUNESCOWorld Heritage Site.[3] The first references to commercial orange plantations date back to the 18th century.[4]
According to the historical records, in 1781 parish priest Vicente Monzó and two acquaintances, notary and scribe Carlo Maseres and pharmacist Jacinto Bodí, planted the first fields of orange trees in the municipal area of Carcaixent known as Les Basses del Rey. The trees thrived in the land, favoured by the benignMediterranean climate, and adapted perfectly to Valencian soil both on rain-fed farmland and irrigated land fed by river Júcar, whose extensive irrigation channel distributed fertile water around the whole of theRibera Alta. In the early 19th century, orange trees gradually started to replace other crops, such asrice,cereal andmulberries, taking over as the main local crop. Wholesale exports of oranges commenced in this century, fuelled by the arrival of the railway that connectedValencia,Xàtiva,Algemesí,La Pobla Llarga,Alzira and Carcaixent (1853). The rail line from Carcaixent toGandía andDénia that opened in 1864 continued to operate until the early 1970s. The Carcaixent-Dénia line was one of the oldest narrow rail tracks in mainlandSpain.
Carcaixent has developed the Orange route to introduce national and foreign visitors to this interesting and celebrated agricultural, commercial and cultural legacy. The project analyses the history of the fruit, providing information on its origins and on the municipality of Carcaixent’s standing as the birthplace of oranges. Visitors will also learn about parish priest Monzó’s pioneer action, and the different architectural styles used in the construction of orange warehouses from antiquity to present times. The itinerary analyses how oranges have been handled and marketed from the late 18th century to the present.[5]
Carcaixent has ahot summer mediterranean climate (Csa in theKöppen climate classification) with mild, moderately wet winters and hot, dry summers. The rainiest season of the year is autumn, due to thecold drop episodes that are more common during the months of September, October and November.[6] On 15 May 2015, Carcaixent recorded the highest temperature ever recorded inSpain andEurope for a month of May, which was 44.4 °C (111.9 °F).[7][8][9]
| Climate data for Carcaixent (2009-2024), extremes (2008-present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 29.5 (85.1) | 28.4 (83.1) | 32.5 (90.5) | 37.5 (99.5) | 44.4 (111.9) | 41.6 (106.9) | 44.2 (111.6) | 46.4 (115.5) | 42.7 (108.9) | 35.7 (96.3) | 32.7 (90.9) | 26.9 (80.4) | 46.4 (115.5) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 17.2 (63.0) | 18.2 (64.8) | 20.5 (68.9) | 23.1 (73.6) | 27.3 (81.1) | 31.2 (88.2) | 34.1 (93.4) | 34.0 (93.2) | 30.1 (86.2) | 26.4 (79.5) | 20.9 (69.6) | 18.1 (64.6) | 25.1 (77.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 11.0 (51.8) | 11.6 (52.9) | 13.8 (56.8) | 16.3 (61.3) | 20.0 (68.0) | 24.1 (75.4) | 27.3 (81.1) | 27.4 (81.3) | 23.9 (75.0) | 20.1 (68.2) | 15.0 (59.0) | 12.1 (53.8) | 18.6 (65.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 4.7 (40.5) | 5.0 (41.0) | 7.1 (44.8) | 9.4 (48.9) | 12.8 (55.0) | 17.0 (62.6) | 20.5 (68.9) | 20.9 (69.6) | 17.7 (63.9) | 13.9 (57.0) | 9.1 (48.4) | 6.0 (42.8) | 12.0 (53.6) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −4.8 (23.4) | −6.5 (20.3) | −2.1 (28.2) | 0.6 (33.1) | 5.4 (41.7) | 9.7 (49.5) | 14.0 (57.2) | 13.3 (55.9) | 9.9 (49.8) | 3.7 (38.7) | −0.3 (31.5) | −4.2 (24.4) | −6.5 (20.3) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 67.5 (2.66) | 35.7 (1.41) | 109.2 (4.30) | 60.5 (2.38) | 31.9 (1.26) | 19.0 (0.75) | 9.5 (0.37) | 18.1 (0.71) | 93.0 (3.66) | 69.2 (2.72) | 108.0 (4.25) | 56.1 (2.21) | 677.7 (26.68) |
| Source:Agencia Estatal de Meteorologia[10] | |||||||||||||
Media related toCarcaixent at Wikimedia Commons| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
| Other | |
.svg)
