Castellón de la Plana (in Valencian Castelló de la Plana) is the capital city of the province of Castellón, in the Valencian Community, Spain, in the east of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Costa del Azahar by the Mediterranean Sea (40°N 0°W). Population: approx. 170,000.
Most of the historical buildings are located in the diminutive old town, around the Plaza Mayor (Main Square). These include:
The Gothic Concatedral de Santa Maria (Procathedral of Saint Mary), built in the 13th century and reconstructed one century later after destruction by fire. The present building is another reconstruction after the demolition ordered by the council during the Spanish civil war (1936).
The Ayuntamiento (City Hall), erected at the beginning of the 18th century. It features a pretty Tuscan-style façade rising up over a colonnade.
The standing bell-tower of the procathedral, known as El Fadrí (the single one), built at the turn of the 17th century.
The Llotja del Cànem (Hemp Exchange Market), built during the first half of the 17th century to be used by traders in hempen cloth and ropes, a very important activity in the area at the time. Today the building is used by the University for cultural events and temporary exhibitions.
On the northeast edge of the town, at the end of a broad avenue decorated with orange trees, stands the Basilica of Santa María del Lledó (European Hackberry or Celtis australis), a basilica devoted to an image of the Virgin Mary found in 1366 by a farmer when he was ploughing his lands. The original 14th-century chapel was extended to its present Baroque form during the 16th century. The complex is surrounded by a landscaped garden.
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