THE MUNICIPAL MUSEUM OF ALMUDI JATIVA

Housed in the mid 15^th century municipal granary, Jativa's town museum is worth a visit for the building alone. The Gothic facade hides a spacious Renaissance interior built around a graceful columned courtyard, all imaginatively restored as a backdrop for the collections. The archaeological treasures include Iberian and Roman artifacts and some fine Moorish ceramics and fragments of buildings. The picture collection has paintings by Jose Ribera, later known as EI Esparioleto, born here in 1591, and a loan collection of mainly 17^th century works from the Prado in Madrid. Look for the Goya engravings and the portrait of Philip V, hung permanently upside down in retribution for his burning of Jativa during the War of the Spanish Succession.