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Much of Elx’s Muslim past and Baroque splendor are impressively preserved in the city’s historic quarter of Elche, in Alicante, preserves part of its.
First settled by the Iberians, Elche was successively occupied many times by namely, the Carthaginians, Greeks and Romans, which called the city Illici.
A settlement dating back from the Neolithic period thrived well until its destruction under the hands of Carthaginian troops. Under Roman occupation, the town was named as the Iulia Illice Augusta colony. In the Paleo - Christian (3rd - 5th century) and Visigothic (5th - 8th century) periods, Elche was known as the Basilica de Ilici. The Goths embedded an episcopal see in this city.
During the period of Muslim conquests, Elx lost some significant importance. While under Moorish rule back in the Lower Middle Ages, the town then moved to its present day location, to the area known as the Vila Murada. Some Moorish buildings are still preserved, fortunately.
It was at this point the name was then changed to Elx (Elche). Important developments soon followed suit, with agriculture beginning to take prominence with a complete irrigation system being introduced to the area A dam to aid irrigation was built much later in 1632 on the Vinalopo River.
During the period known as Reconquista, James I of Aragon reclaimed the city from the Moors in 1264, in behalf of Spain. The defeated Moors subsequently erected a new town in the current site of Vila Murada, known as the Raval de Sant Joan. Progress seeped in throughout the 18th century; however, this growth became more important during the 19th century. This is when the arrival of the railway and the industrial development signaled a watershed junction in Elche’s development.
There have been lucrative amounts of archeological finds in Elche, with the stone bust Lady of Elx (Dama d' Elx) being the most significant piece. Supposedly the bust dates back to as remote as the Iberian period, in the 4th century BC. A copy is showcased in the city, but the original is preserved the National Archaeological Museum of Madrid.
Greek, Roman and Moorish artifacts have also been found in the Elche area. At the archeological site of L' Alcudia, primordial remains of a settlement from the Neolithic period (about 5,000 B.C) were discovered. The settlement from this epoch went on to become the Iberian town of Helike in the 5th century B.C.
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