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of our past and a part of our present.
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of our past and a part of our present.
Xàbia
Ermita de Sant Hermenegild i Sant Martí
The chapel named after Sant Hermenegild and Sant Martí is located southeast of Xàbia, in the area known as Cap de Sant Martí. It is located within private, fenced-off land.
Many traditions situate the ancient monastery known as Monestir de Sant Martí in this area, which was the scene, at the end of the 6th century, of one of the episodes in which King Leovigilid persecuted his son Hermenegild, who had converted to Catholicism. The troops of the king stormed the monastery, where a miraculous event occurred leading the monks to take refuge on a nearby island. In favour of this tradition is the toponymy of the current chapel, dedicated to Sant Martí, and the geography of the area, seeing that the island alluded to could have been the neighbouring island of Portitxol.
Although there is no archaeological evidence to prove the existence of the monastery, the chapel dedicated to Sant Hermenegild and Sant Martí, built in this area in 1773, is still standing and perhaps as a reminder of those events. It is in a good state of conservation, at least on the outside.
Located in a landscaped area surrounded by trees, the chapel is a simple rectangular building with white masonry walls and a slightly sloping gable tiled roof. A small outbuilding with an independent roof, possibly the sanctuary, is attached to the chancel. Above the gable rises the belfry, whose bell, cast in 1953, was stolen.
Xàbia
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