Gandia

Gandia lies near the Valencian coast amid lands once renowned for sugar cultivation. Its ducal palace recalls the Borja family, whose fortunes bound the town to the highest circles of European politics. In 1485 Cardinal Rodrigo Borja, later Pope Alexander VI, acquired the duchy for his children. Under the regency of María Enríquez at the turn of the sixteenth century, the duchy grew in importance; the marriage of her son to the heiress of Oliva joined two of Valencia's principal sugar lordships.