Novelda | |||
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Monastery of Santa María Magdalena.
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Location in Spain | |||
Coordinates: 38°23′06″N 0°46′05″W / 38.385°N 0.768°WCoordinates: 38°23′06″N 0°46′05″W / 38.385°N 0.768°W | |||
Country | Spain | ||
Autonomous community | Valencian community | ||
Province | Alicante | ||
Comarca | Vinalopó Mitjà | ||
Government | |||
• Mayor | José Rafael Sáez Sánchez (PP) | ||
Area | |||
• Total | 75.7 km2 (29.2 sq mi) | ||
Elevation | 241 m (791 ft) | ||
Population (2009) | |||
• Total | 27,135 | ||
• Density | 360/km2 (930/sq mi) | ||
• Language | Valencian | ||
Demonym(s) | Noveldenses (Spanish) Noveldec, -a (Catalan) |
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Postcode | 03660 | ||
Website | Official website |
Novelda (Valencian: [noˈvɛɫda]; Spanish: [noˈβelda]) is a town located in the province of Alicante, Spain. As of 2009[update], it has a total population of 27,135 inhabitants.
Novelda has important quarries and mines 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 artifacts from the 1920s. The house itself is a work of art. The House-Museum is located in a modernist building designed by Pedro Cerdan Martinez (1863-1947) and is now a centre for modernist research and promotion. There are also several natural and salty lakes to visit in the surroundings.