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Xàbia : Facts and Anecdotes - Did you know that Cap de Martì (also called Cap Sant Martì ) is the easternmost extremity of the Comunidad Valenciana, and lies on a centuries-old sea route between the Western and the Eastern Mediterranean?

29/6/2023

Often taken as another name for Cap Prim, it is in fact the whole promontory from Cap Prim in the North, to Cap de la Nao further East, and Ambolo in the South ( see map below ) and consists not only of the coast but the inland too. There is a legend, which has no archaeological basis - so far !!!! - that there was a famous St. Martin´s monastery there in the 6th century, which gave its name to the Cape. San Gregorio de Tours, a cleric and historian living in the 6th century wrote in his De Gloria Confessum that this monastery was attacked and ransacked by soldiers of the Visigoth King Leovigildo (568-586 a.d). All the monks had already fled to a nearby island, and only the old abbot remained. When a soldier raised his sword to smite the abbot, he suddenly fell to the ground and died. On hearing this, the king ordered his men to return all the booty they had taken from the monastery. While there must be some truth in this event, it is questionable whether it took place here in Xabià. Gregorio de Tours wrote that the monastery was "between Sagunto and Cartago Spartaria" (Cartagena). It could have been anywhere ! No remains have been found on Cap Martì. But on the other hand, Roc Chabàs (1845-1912) also cleric and historian, wrote about a document he had seen of a 1556 notarial sale of a piece of land in Cap Martì that was next to the ruins of a monastery. Unfortunately, he did not submit the actual document.

The belief that this monastery existed in Xabià persists and some believe it had been where many centuries later the Augustine Convent was built in the Pueblo ( today the covered market, Mercado de Abastos ). Others believe it to have been on the Cap Sant Antoni where many chapels, ermitas and monasteries have been built over the centuries.

However, as long as there is no archaeological proof, this St. Martin`s monastery remains in the realm of legends.

Cap Martì was originally the name of today´s Cap de la Nao. That we know as a fact. A conjecture is that the name was given by Venetian mariners who, from the sea, saw the prominent headland as a "capomartino", the commanding post or captain´s bridge of a galley. So Venetian cartographers, who were the great marine cartographers of the Middle Ages, called it Capo Martino in all their maps. Centuries later, towards the end of the 18th century, and maybe due to some confusion, it became Capo San Martino. This could have been because of the existence of a defence post called Castillo San Martì not so far away, marked probably on the map as C° San Martino (C° being an abbreviation either of "castillo" or of "cabo"). This same error, made by a certain Tofiño (1732-1795), was most probably also the reason why he saw the whole promontory as the cape, and not just the one headland, thus changing the latter´s name which was then called Cap de la Nao (nao = ship) for its shape.

Nowhere do we have documents that really depict the history of Cap de Martì. Assumptions are made, theories are developed, but in the end, each one has to decide what he/she wants to believe. It is interesting to see how fact and fiction intertwine over the centuries and probably we shall never find out what really happened. Today Cap Martì is so strewn with tourist houses, that modern archaeological methods cannot be used to study the terrain. Cap Martì will surely continue to guard its mystery for a long time.

Cap Martí

Cap de la Nau

Cap Martí

STATUE OF THE VISIGOTHIC KING LEOVIGILDO EN MADRID

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VISIT TO THE PORTITXOL ANTI-AIRCRAFT BATTERY - June 17

11/6/2023

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Although Xàbia remained in the rear throughout the war (1936-39), the importance of the defense
and control of the stretch of coast between Dénia and Xàbia, made the government of the Republic
create a coastal defensive line between the Marines and Portitxol with the installation of various
defensive constructions whose purpose was to stop possible attacks by the Francoist army and
protect coastal shipping in the area. The most important defensive structure built in Xàbia was the
great battery of Portitxol. Built about 90 meters above sea level, this robust and extensive semi-
subterranean battery, built with thick cement concrete walls, protected the wide bay of Xàbia, to the
northwest, and the small bay of Portitxol, to the south-east.

On Saturday, June 17, we will be able to visit, thanks to the kindness of the owner of the plot where
it is located, Pasqual Pastor Cardona, the preserved remains of this construction.
The route will start at 10:30 a.m. in the Caleta car park, we will walk to the Portitxol viewpoint, visit
the remains of the battery and return to La Caleta.

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Xàbia : Facts and Anecdotes - Did you know that Cap de Martì (also called Cap Sant Martì ) is the easternmost extremity of the Comunidad Valenciana, and lies on a centuries-old sea route between the Western and the Eastern Mediterranean?

VISIT TO THE PORTITXOL ANTI-AIRCRAFT BATTERY - June 17

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