ELCHE

The palm grove that surrounds Elche on three of its sides, has over 300.000 palm trees and, apparently, was sown by the Phoenicians around the year 300 BC.  A part of the palm grove, that goes under the name of Huerto del Cura, has become a private garden.
One of the palm trees has four stems growing from its trunk, and it was dedicated to the empress Elizabeth of Austria, who visited the place in 1894.

The first human settlement in the area took place around the year 5000 BC in Alcudia, where in 1897 the Lady of Elche, the bust of an Iberian priestess carved in stone in the 5th century BC, was found; the original remains in the Archaeological Museum in Madrid, although it is possible to see several reproductions spread all around the city.

Saint Mary’s Basilica, in Baroque style including a blue dome, was erected in the 17th century, and it provides the perfect setting for the representation of the Misteri of Elche. The Gothic tower of La Calahorra, remainder of the city’s defence system, is nearby.

The Elche City Hall clock contains two mechanical figures from the 16th century that strike the hours by hitting some bells.

The museum is located inside the Altamira Palace, also known as the “Alcàsser de la Seyoria”. The MAHE (Elche Archaeology and History Museum) introduces a journey along the city's history, from its beginnings to the current times, in an entertaining and interactive way.

The Elche Museum of Paleontology (MUPE) allows the visitor to go through the different stages of life in our planet with the exhibition of findings from several archaeological sites and the dissemination of scientific knowledge acquired over centuries of research.

The original idea for the creation of the Festa Museum was to capture in a certain space and time part of the magic that surrounds the Festa, in order to introduce it to visitors coming to Elche throughout the year. It consists of two rooms: one of them displays the staging and the other one revives the emotion that surrounds this extraordinary representation with the aid of new technologies.