Novelda
Encyclopedia
Novelda is a town located in the province of Alicante
, Spain
. , it has a total population of 27,135 inhabitants.
Novelda has important quarries
and mine
s of marble
, limestone
, silica, clay
and gypsum
. It is a major centre of the marble
industry.
It was probably settled by Greeks
, although it was controlled by Carthaginians and Romans
. Some centuries later it was conquered
from the Moors by a son of Ferdinand III of Castile
.
Places of tourist interest in Novelda include the monastery of Santa María Magdalena (dated from the 19th century), which has a church designed by a disciple of Antoni Gaudí
, the Moorish castle of the Mola, with its unique triangular tower, and the Museum of Modernism
. This is a well preserved art nouveau house with original artefacts from the 1920s. The house itself is a work of art. The House-Museum is located in a modernista building designed by Pedro Cerdan Martinez (1903-1906) and is now a centre for modernista research and promotion.
Alicante (province)
Alicante or Alacant is a province of eastern Spain, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is bordered by the provinces of Murcia on the southwest, Albacete on the west, Valencia on the north, and the Mediterranean Sea on the east...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. , it has a total population of 27,135 inhabitants.
Novelda has important quarries
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
and mine
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
s of marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
, limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
, silica, clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
and gypsum
Gypsum
Gypsum is a very soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is found in alabaster, a decorative stone used in Ancient Egypt. It is the second softest mineral on the Mohs Hardness Scale...
. It is a major centre of the marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
industry.
It was probably settled by Greeks
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
, although it was controlled by Carthaginians and Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
. Some centuries later it was conquered
Conquista
Conquista may refer to:*La Conquista: Spanish colonization of the Americas*Conquista, Minas Gerais, city in Brazil*Conquista, Andalusia, town in Spain...
from the Moors by a son of Ferdinand III of Castile
Ferdinand III of Castile
Saint Ferdinand III, T.O.S.F., was the King of Castile from 1217 and León from 1230. He was the son of Alfonso IX of León and Berenguela of Castile. Through his second marriage he was also Count of Aumale. He finished the work done by his maternal grandfather Alfonso VIII and consolidated the...
.
Places of tourist interest in Novelda include the monastery of Santa María Magdalena (dated from the 19th century), which has a church designed by a disciple of Antoni Gaudí
Antoni Gaudí
Antoni Gaudí i Cornet was a Spanish Catalan architect and figurehead of Catalan Modernism. Gaudí's works reflect his highly individual and distinctive style and are largely concentrated in the Catalan capital of Barcelona, notably his magnum opus, the Sagrada Família.Much of Gaudí's work was...
, the Moorish castle of the Mola, with its unique triangular tower, and the Museum of Modernism
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
. This is a well preserved art nouveau house with original artefacts from the 1920s. The house itself is a work of art. The House-Museum is located in a modernista building designed by Pedro Cerdan Martinez (1903-1906) and is now a centre for modernista research and promotion.