Xilxes
The town of Xilxes lies 27 kilometres from the provincial capital of Castellón and 38 kilometres from the city of Valencia. It has a surface area of 13.04 km2 and stands at an altitude of 7 metres above sea level. Xilxes is a beautiful town with a warm climate – typical of the Mediterranean coastline – with an urban centre and maritime settlement. One of our town’s main pillars is family-friendly, accessible sports tourism. Xilxes is renowned for the tranquillity, peace and harmony of its beaches, where locals and visitors alike can practice sports and enjoy the wide range of amenities available on our accessible beach and seafront promenade, as well as the different cultural activities held at the Biblioplaya beachfront library. The richness of Xilxes’ natural environment will leave you eager to explore its surroundings along a network of rural trails and routes. You will also feel an urge to sample our typical Mediterranean gastronomy enhanced by our locally grown produce, such as the Xilxes melon. This fruit is produced in our marshland using traditional techniques, making it one of the town’s hallmarks. Visitors can explore Xilxes at their own pace along its network of pedestrianised streets, including Calle Mayor, Calle Arbelló, Calle de la Iglesia and the Plaza Alfonso XIII. During your visit around the town, you will discover Xilxes’ Christian necropolis (13th-18th century), its parish church (Asunción de María, dating back to the late 17th century) and La Unión fountain, which was the first to provide drinkable water to the town in 1916: all of these are found in Plaza España, which is also home to the Xilxes Town Hall. There are recreational areas and cooking stations on the outskirts of the town, representing a good place to enjoy the beautiful natural surroundings. Also, sitting just 3 kilometres outside the town are the gently sloping Les Cases and El Cerezo sandy and pebbly beaches, which are moderately deep. They are separated by a central square which leads into a fantastic viewpoint. From here, visitors can watch the sun rise slowly over the Mediterranean as they look out across its shimmering waters.
Experiences
Castellón Mediterranean en 3 etapas cicloturísticas
Desde 476€ /persona
Xilxes histórica
Desde 12 € (grupo mínimo 20 personas)
Photo gallery
Nuestra Sra. de la Asunción parish church
Around the year 1685, a new church of larger dimensions was constructed on the site of the old church and the abbey house. Proof of this church was documented in the will of Gilabert of Centelles (1365), with a dedication to the Virgin Mary. Due to the XYZ Line that was established in the area, the town had to be evacuated and subsequently rebuilt by the National Service for Devastated Regions, since more than 75% of it had been destroyed. The new town was inaugurated on 25 October 1945 by the bishop of Tortosa (the diocese to which it belonged until 1960). It has a counter-reformation floor plan with a single nave, as well as interconnected side chapels located in the buttresses. The façade is a rectangular masonry structure, reinforced in stone on the side and topped off by a series of Herreran balls. Prior to the reformation carried out by the National Service for Devastated Regions, the church had assumed two different architectural styles: baroque, in the 17th century; and neo-classical, in the 18th century. However, these styles were later unified. Inside the church are the original altar dedicated to the patron saint Santísimo Cristo de la Junquera, which dates back to 1625; the altar dedicated to San Vicente Ferrer; and the central altar dedicated to the Virgen de la Asunción, which was rebuilt by the National Service for Devastated Regions to look like the previous one, which came from the Virgen de los Desamparados chapel in Valencia. In 2007, after a three-year restoration process, the church was finally completed both inside and out.
Xilxes christian necropolis
These are the main remains of the medieval Christian cemetery that were uncovered during the improvement works carried out on the Calle Juan Carlos I in 2007. The remains are understood to date back to the 13th-18th centuries. Six disk-shaped funerary steles can be seen in the glazed enclosure. There are two distinct phases. One, which dates from the 13th to the 15th century, which contains the disk-shaped steles; and another, which covers the period from the 16th century to the 18th century, where there are three important monetary collections and funerary remains such as rosaries, medals and crucifixes.
La Unión fountain
This fountain is one of the town’s most iconic landmarks, since it was the first one to provide drinking water to its inhabitants all the way back in 1916. It was later reconstructed in 1986. It was named Font de la Unió (Union Fountain, in English) due to the work carried out by the town’s inhabitants, as it was they themselves who built it: either by making financial contributions, offering their services as labourers or by lending their horses to help transport construction materials. The charm of the La Unión fountain lies in the fact that it stands two metres beneath the altitude of the town. The fountain’s centenary year was marked in 2016 by carrying out several improvement works. Various cultural events were also held to commemorate this significant milestone.
Cristo de la Junquera hermitage
Standing amongst orange trees two kilometres outside the town, this religious building is found on the street of the same name. Built in the year 2000, this hermitage indicates where the model of Christ, the town’s patron saint, was found by the brothers Pedro and Juan Margalló on 18 January 1625. It has a Latin cross floor plan and features an eastwards-facing longitudinal nave, a north-south transversal transept and a circular presbytery in the western part of the temple. There is a barrel vaulted ceiling in the naves, which give rise to the groin vault which marks the meeting point between the transept and the hermitage’s longitudinal nave. The apse is covered by a semi-conical quarter sphere vault. The façade ends in a curved pediment with a brick cornice that comprises the belfry and a wrought iron cross. The main entrance door, made of wood, is wide, forming a semi-circular arch with large and uneven voussoirs. Above it are two large windows, also semicircular, and a niche with a ceramic altarpiece representing the discovery of Christ. The decoration is completed with some tiles bearing the name of the hermitage and the year in which it was constructed.
Old municipal washhouse
This old municipal washhouse, which dates back to 1924, is found at the entrance to the town. It is strategically located close to La Llosa spring and was used by the town’s inhabitants to wash their clothes before their houses were equipped with running water. Despite being restored in 1941 by the National Service for Devastated Regions, it was left unused after the 1960s. The washhouse, which originally measured 22.5 x 7 m, was reduced by one third in 1997 owing to the construction of the town’s ring road.
Houses built by the national service for devastated regions
Owing to the establishment of the XYZ Line, a large part of Xilxes was destroyed during the Spanish Civil War. During the 1940s, the National Service for Devastated Regions worked to remodel the town centre, which included the construction of new streets. Visitors can appreciate the different kinds of houses that were built on Calle Martires, Calle Obispo Bienvenido, Calle Arquitecto Romaní and Calle San Isidro, with structures being built for labourers and farmers. The works were completed with the construction of houses for master artisans in the Plaza Santísimo Cristo de la Junquera.
Viewpoint
The beachfront promenade’s viewpoint is a popular tourist destination. Jutting a few metres into the sea, it is a great place to appreciate the immensity of the Mediterranean and to marvel at the town’s stunning summer sunrises.
Plaza Stmo. Cristo de la Junquera
The square is named after the town’s patron saint. Its beautiful gardens are laid out in two concentric circles, with a charming wooden pergola in the smaller one. It is the first thing visitors see when they arrive in Xilxes and is also one of the town’s main social hubs. The train station is located on one side of the square. Inaugurated on 16 September 1863, it still retains some of its original features.
Els plans cooking stations
This space includes covered picnic tables and benches, cooking stations and a recreational area that can be enjoyed by the whole family.
Birdwatching Xilxes
On Chilches beach, mainly sandy and with dunes that are home to unique flora species, a multitude of birds from coastal and migratory environments await us. In addition, the rice fields and marshes, belonging to a protected wetland, constitute shelters for resident and nesting waterfowl, which spend their breeding period here in the spring and summer months. There are a multitude of different habitats ideal for observing a large number of species.
