To understand why this is so, one has to go back to the origins of the legend of the Santa Casa (the Holy House), the dwelling in Nazareth (Israel) where the Virgin Mary was born, where the Annunciation occurred, where Jesus lived until his 30th year, and where Joseph died. In the year 1291, when the Moslems definitively expelled the Crusader Knights from Palestine, legend has it that this house was miraculously transported by angels through the skies, first to Tersatto in Dalmatia (Croatia). Then a few years later in 1294, after a few other stops, it was put down by the angels in its final resting place, a laurel grove, (in Latin : lauretanum), from which Loreto is named, near Ancona, Italy. (Another story for the name was that the angels put the house down on the land of a noblewoman named Loreta). Here it stands to this day within the Basilica of the Holy House, one of the most visited Marian shrines in the world.

A version which may be more plausible for us today, is that the wealthy Italian Angeli family had the Holy Family´s house disassembled to save it in the face of the Moslem invasion of 1291. They had it shipped to Italy via modern-day Croatia. The efforts of the Angelis turned into the legend that the angels had scooped up the holy abode. Science has proven that the house is in fact built with bricks that date back to the time of Christ and are of the same substance as other houses in Nazareth at that time.

The „flight“ of the house and its long conservation explains why in 1920 the Virgin of Loreto was officially decreed the patroness of aeronautics and builders.

So how come she became the patron saint of the fishermen of Xàbia ?

Here too there is more than one legend.
One popular story goes like this : in 1850 an Italian ship went aground off the coast of Cap Prim. Some fishermen went in their boats to save whom they could, but found only an icon of the Mare de Deu de Loreto to save.

Another version is based on a document written in the 18th century. In March 1679 a skirmish between a Genovese ship called the „Virgen de Loreto“ and an armada of seven Turkish ships was seen by local fishermen off the coast of Xàbia. Miraculously, the Italian ship won the combat. This prompted the fisherman to pronounce the Virgin of Loreto as their patron saint.

But in actual fact, we do not know when or why the fishermen of Xàbia chose the Virgen de Loreto as their patron saint. What we do know is that there was a chapel already dedicated to her in 1515 near the Puerta del Mar in the eastern part of the town, an area mainly inhabited by fishermen. However, we do not know whether she was revered by the inhabitants of Xàbia​ generally or whether the fishermen had already chosen her as their patron saint. A document  of 1847 describes the chapel as rectangular with a large portico with 3 Mudejar-style naves, supported by 8 columns. The local school was also held here and there was an annex for the teacher´s quarters which was most probably added in 1556. We also know that in the 18th century some fishermen, who had died in a misfortune on the sea, were buried in this chapel.

The chapel seems to have been renovated towards the end of the 18th century. Almost a century later it had again become so dilapidated that it was demolished after a major accident, where a part of the nave fell, killing one man.

Today there is a public garden where the chapel stood. The only element that remainds us of the chapel is the „Jardinet de Loreto“, an edifice with a neo-Gothic style stone cross (1954), and the fountain decorated with a representation of the Holy Family´s House and a figure of the Virgin of Loreto carrying her son Jesus, built in 1923. This square is next to the Restaurant Trinquet and is called Plaza Vicent de Gràcia, in honour of the sandstone craftsman who made it.

Since 1896 the fishermen´s annual fiestas in the Port are held in honour of their patron saint, Mare de Deu or Virgen de Loreto . These begin towards the end of August and end always on the 8th of September, the birthday of the Virgin Mary. (The official day of the Virgin of Loreto is celebrated in most countries on the 10th of December, the day when the Santa Casa arrived in Loreto)

The fishermen´s new church, built in the mid 60s, is also dedicated to the Virgin of Loreto, but that is material for another article ……….

On Saturday 26 November AMUX members enjoyed a guided tour of medieval Xàtiva. With our excellent guide, Esther Polop, we learnt a lot of history, including among many other things: why there were once 12 convents, why the windows of a palace are offset to one side, why the cathedral is so huge and why it was never finished; who wrote on the walls, the controlled price of staple foods in the 17th century, the mystery of an Islamic marble bath and why the portrait of King Philip V is hanging upside down...and much more.  

​Cine Jayan - is the sole family-owned cinema in the whole region to survive the onslaught first of TV, then video rentals and finally internet  movie channels like Netflix, HBO and Amazon Prime ? By the 1930s almost all the towns around Xabìa had their own family-owned cinema theaters. Xabìa´s first cinema, Cine Espinos, was opened around 1915 by Antoni Espinos Llopis. This was located in what is today the parking lot of Restaurant Trinquet. It had been a casino before Antoni bought it to convert into a cinema with approximately 800 seats, a film reel office and a piano, all films being silent films in those days. It became extremely popular, with people even coming from the surrounding towns and was always fully booked. First it opened only on Sundays, later also on Saturdays and even later even on Thursdays. It became customary on Sundays that the men went to a football match after lunch, while the women spent time together  and then at 7 pm they would all look forward to the latest cinema film. A second session would be shown at 10.30 pm. In the 1940s the family opened a cinema in the port. It also had a summer terrace close by. Cine Espinos in the village would be closed in the summers.

In the 1930s, before the Civil War, Jaime Ortuño and Angela Devesa, a couple who were bakers, moved from La Nucia to Xàbia to open their own bakery in the Calle Nazareno, no.20. Angela, known to all as Angelita, was very enterprising (surprising for a woman of her day !) and saw that there was great scope for a second cinema in Xabìa. She convinced the numerous members of her family (she was the thirteenth of thirteen children) to lend her money to open a new cinema which they then called Cine Central, opening in 1955 next to what is the Museum today. This had a capacity of 700 seats. Three years later Angelita opened a terrace for open-air viewings in the summer at the location of today ´s Cine Jayan in the Port. Very successful, both cinema and terrace were run solely by the family, her two sons taking charge of the acquiring and programming of the films, and the rest running the daily shows including the bars.

In 1973 Antonio Català Bover married Immaculada, one of Angelita´s daughters, who was studying in Valencia to be a pediatrician. He joined the family business and became a very active participant. A year later, the terrace in the port was converted into a cinema hall with a terrace on the roof. This was called Cine Jayan, an acronym of the names of the founders Ja-ime y (and) An-gelita.The theatre originally had a capacity of 420 seats, but due to a necessary anti-humidity reformation in 2003, it had to be reduced to the 347 seats it has today.

In the early 1980s, Antonio, who had brought a lot of quality films to Javea, including original versions of films, suggested opening a drive-in autocinema, which the open-minded Angelita (by now close to her 70 s) agreed to, inspite of resistance from the family. This was opened in1982 in the area near the camping site. A year later yet another open-air terrace was opened behind the Arenal, next to the petrol pump. 

Then came 1985, a disastrous year for small family theatres in all of Spain. Ever since the advent of TV, the public´s interest in cinemas had already declined. However, when videos came on the market in the early ´80s and then video rental shops appeared everywhere, it was the final blow for many cinema halls (Cine Espinos had already closed in 1972). By the middle of that decade 50% of the cinemas in all Spain had to close, including those around Xàbia. Angelita´s world of cinemas struggled on. Then in 1995, when the Ayuntamiento showed serious interest in buying the building of Cine Central, they closed it and sold. It has remained unused and empty until this day…….

They were losing the battle against the new era of cinema culture. They had to close other places : in 2000 the terrace in the Arenal and in 2009 the auto-cinema. To keep up with the times Antonio, who had already been running the cinema for many years, had to make a big decision in 2011 : either go digital, which meant a huge investment, or close down. For all six of Antonio´s and Imma´s offspring there was no doubt. Fortunately for Xàbia, the passion is in their veins too !

Now Cine Jayan is almost the only one left of its kind in all the region. And it continues to be a family affair. After 58 years, we still have Antonio in the ticket office and Imma, who worked all her life as a pediatrician in Denia and in the evenings at the bar of one of the cinemas, is also still there. It is only thanks to their fervour and dedication that Xàbia still has its oh so charming cinema that we cinefiles are so enchanted by.
There´s nothing like a night out at the cinema…….not forgetting the popcorn of course !!
​