History of la Vall d'Uixó

Prehistory and the Iberians

The Cave of San José shows occupation since the Upper Palaeolithic, with cave paintings around 16,000 BC according to the source consulted. In the Bronze Age there were fortified villages in the mountains, and in Iberian times there were the town of Punta d'Orleyl, with four lines of walls, and the settlement of San José, with a wall and towers.

Rome, the Visigoths and Islam

In Roman times the economy was agricultural and the San José aqueduct was built. In the 6th and 7th centuries there is a Hispano-Visigothic necropolis with 66 individuals. The name is of Arabic origin; in that period the castle of Uixó (10th century) and the tower of Benizahat (12th century) were raised.

Conquest and lordship

James I conquered the place in 1238 and the founding charter was granted in 1250. In 1436 Alfonso the Magnanimous handed the town to his brother Henry, under the lordship system. After the expulsion of the Moriscos in 1609, Christian settlers repopulated it.

From the 18th century to today

In the 18th century the population grew and the Poble de Dalt and Poble de Baix took shape, joining in a central square in 1860. In the 20th century, after the emigration of the early years, the footwear industry developed, with more than four thousand workers in a single company, alongside citrus. By the late 1960s the San José caves received more than two hundred thousand visitors a year.

Timeline

10th century

Uixó castle built.

1238

James I conquers La Vall d'Uixó.

1250

Founding charter.

1436

Alfonso the Magnanimous gives the town to his brother Henry.

1609

Expulsion of the Moriscos.

1860

The two historic centres join in a central square.