Just to the south in Xativa is the wonderful castle of Xative (Jativa in the native language) which was one of the strongholds in the early periods of conquest of Spain by the Carthaginians under the Hamilcar Barca (Hannibal’s father). Their main base of operation was even further south at Cartago Novo (Cartagena).
After the First Punic War (264 to 241 BC) with the Romans Hamilcar Barca took his son Hannibal to Cadiz and established a military occupation throughout southern Spain. Hannibal was first born and under Carthaginian religious rites the first born males were sacrificed to their fierce war god Baal. Burial urns by the thousands have been unearthed in old Carthage. Hamilcar took Hannibal to the altar and made his swear eternal hatred for things Roman before sacrificing a lamb instead of his eight year old son. This took place in Valencia according to local tradition.
At age 26 Hannibal succeeded his father as military commander after Hamilcar’s early death.
At Xativa it is said Hannibal’s wife gave birth to their first child.
To provoke the Romans Hannibal successfully laid siege to Saguntum, a Roman protectorate located just north of Valencia setting off the Second Punic War with Rome.
And the rest is history…the march across the Pyrenees, the crossing of the Rhone, the long treacherous trek across the Alps in 218 BC and Hannibal’s subsequent annihilation of three Roman armies (Trebia, Lake Trasimene and Cannae in 216 BC) gaining full control of the Italian Penninsula for 14 years.
You have to like Spain for its rich history. But add in some of the finest dining experiences we have ever had, a wonderful language that Crew has command of and a vast array of inviting sailing grounds (Costa Brava, Costa Dorado, Costa del Sol, Balearic Sea, etc.) you are close to “en el cielo en la gloria”