There is a reason I have posted this rather unassuming and hastily taken snapshot on Flickr. It is the birthplace of my favourite pope. Back in the 1960′s when I was studying A-level History, I was taught by an eccentric and rather stern teacher called Miss Schofield. I never knew her first name and Miss Schofield she has remained in my memory ever since. She inspired no nickname except the occasional abbreviation to Schoey. Most of the school found her difficult and a little too strict, I found her one of the most inspiring teachers I have ever come across. I loved the way she taught history from the British Liberal point of view (then going out of fashion) and it has been one of my favourite subjects ever since. One day I came across Alexander VI and his two most famous children, Lucrezia and Cesare Borgia, and asked Schoey about them at the end of a lesson.  It must have been a lunch break or the end of the day, because she very kindly took the time to explain to me their place in history, patiently wading through the sex, murders and intrigues and the tangled politics of the 15th century Papal States.  She left me in no doubt that things were done very differently on the continent and that it could never happen here (in England) particularly once the Whigs had taken over and imposed the Whig Settlement. It was all very foreign! I was entranced and Alexander VI immediately became my favourite Pope. She told me what to read up on him, if I was really interested and I soon discovered a wealth of literature for myself on the subject in the local library. Literature of which both Schoey and Alexander VI would have disapproved, albeit for very different reasons.

Last October, and some forty-five years after my chat with Schoey, I was in Valencia with some friends, who had come over with me for the weekend, before I started a week at the International House Spanish Language School in Valencia. Having done a little prior research into the area, I was delighted to discover that Xátiva, the birthplace of Roderic Borja Llançol, better known to us as Rodrigo Borgia, was about an hours drive away and determined after all this time, that I would visit the town. I also discovered it was the birthplace of his maternal uncle, Alonso de Borja, known to us as  Pope Calixtus III. I persuaded my friends to accompany me with the promise of a visit to the castle, and just prayed that it would interest them.

We arrived in Xátiva at about 10.30 on Sunday morning(18th October 2009). I knew nothing about the town and was surprised by how medieval the old quarter looked. The streets narrow and twisting and obviously unchanged for hundreds of years. A complete contrast to the new areas we had driven through. We parked the car at the foot of the mountains and decided to walk up to the castle, leaving the town to be explored until later.

Our first stop was the Saint Joseph Hermitage built in the Baroque style from which we had our first views of the town. In fact it was two churches for the price of one, because we had an amazing view of the Basilica from the road just beside the Hermitage;

and then it was on up to the castle. The views were stunning, the climb easy and eventually we arrived at the castle. If you have never visited El Castell de Xátiva I strongly urge you to do so. It is one of Spain’s most unsung attractions. For €2 you can spend as long as you like wandering around this enormous fortress with its Roman, Visigoth, Moorish and medieval remains. You can have lunch or a snack in the restaurant in the ducal palace or as I did, just wander photographing some of the sights and marvelling at the panoramic views of the surrounding countryside and the town below, wallowing in over two thousand years of history. Hannibal had even been a visitor and his wife, Queen Himilice, had given birth to a son here. The problem was we spent too much time there.

We went back down into the town after several hours and whilst I was determined to find what I had come for, my friends were beginning to tire, and having got caught up in a fiesta, decided they had had enough and told me they wished to return to Valencia. I was  determined to get my photograph and all this not helped by my asking everyone we passed in the streets in my very basic Spanish, where the birthplace of the pope was. As is often the case, asking a native about their home town is fatal. Directions were confused or they simply didn’t know.  More often than not, I suspect they simply didn’t understand me. My friends decided to walk back to the car and leave me to it, furious and sulky. After wandering for a further twenty minutes through the medieval maze of the old town, I gave up in despair and decided to go back to the car. I checked the nearest street sign to find where I was and surprise, surprise found myself in the plaza de Alejandro VI, and standing right opposite the very building I has been searching for. A very modest birthplace, I thought, for such an infamous character. It looked positively bourgeois. I snatched a quick photo and hastened back through the street, only to find I couldn’t remember where the car was and worse, where I was. To my chagrin, I had to get out the mobile and phone my, by this time, weary friends for help. They picked me up in the Basilica Square. It was a frosty start to the return journey, until Ronan said it was the best day in Spain he had had.

So, I will be returning to Xátiva to visit the Basilica and its famous museum, as well as the church where Roderic Borja was christened, and to see some of the other attractions in the area. But I wouldn’t have missed the castle or the walk up to it for anything.

You can see the full Xátiva Set here on Flickr