DK Travel : Costa Blanca : Top 10 Historical Figures

Costa Blanca : Top 10 Historical Figures

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1. Dama de Elx (4th century BC)

Historical or mythical? – no-one knows. The origins of this exquisite Iberian sculpture are shrouded in mystery (see Elx (Elche)).
2. Hannibal Barca (c.247–c.183 BC)

The Carthaginian general who famously crossed the Alps with elephants.
3. Abd al-Rahman II (790–852)

Abderramán II founded the city of Mursiya (Murcia) in 825.
4. El Cid (1043–99)

This charismatic knight won considerable lands around Valencia from the Arabs.
5. Jaime I (1208–76)

The first to make major gains against the Arabs in the Costa Blanca.
6. Isabella I (1451–1504) and Ferdinand V (1452–1516)

The Catholic monarchs held court at Orihuela in 1488, with the city at its most influential.
7. Rodrigo de Borgia (c.1431–1503)

The infamous Pope Alexander VI, father of 10 children including Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia, was born in Xàtiva.
8. Barbarroja (d.1546)

Turkish pirate Jayr al-Din – better known as Barbarroja (“Red Beard”) – was the scourge of the Mediterranean.
9. José de Ribera (1591–1652)

One of Spain’s finest painters, he was born in Xàtiva but spent most of his life in Italy.
10. José Moñino Redondo (1728–1808)

A key figure in the Spanish Enlightenment. Born in Murcia.