Huerto del Cura

- Palm gardens, Dama de Elche, Imperial Palm Tree

In the municipal area of Elche you can find between 2-300.000 palm trees. Most specialists believe that they were planted by the Phoenicians almost 3000 years ago. Everywhere in the city of Elche you can find tall palm trees, as well as large palm gardens -so called huertas, but the Huerta del Cura is the most popular and most organized one. For a small entrance fee you can visit this beautiful palm garden, that is situated only a few blocks from the city center. It is much smaller then you might expect, only about 13 000 m², where about 1000 palm trees grow. The palm trees can be 30m high, and there are both males and females among them. You can also find cactuses, lemon, orange -and pomegranate trees, turtles, butterflies and peacocks in Huerto del Cura. In Elche "Huerto" means a small plot of land on which palm trees are grown. Each palm is named after its owner. Huerto del Cura is named after Chapel José Castaño, a local that owned the garden until 1918.

Notable sites in the garden are:
The House and the Chapel, built in 1940 in local style. The wide porch is supported by pillars from palm trees!
The Imperial Palm Tree, the main reason for the popularity of the Huerto. Dedicated to Empress Elisabeth of Austria in 1894.
Statue of Juan Orts Román, expert and owner of this huerto from 1940-58.
Statue of King Jaime I the Conqueror, who released Elche from the Arab rule in 1265. He also protected the palm gardens.
Tower of Babel, sculpture by Alicante artist Eusebio Sempere. Sempere won the Prince of Austurias Price with this sculpture in 1983.
La Dama de Elche, a famous Iberian bust found in Elche in 1897. The original Lady of Elche is in the National Arqueological Museum in Madrid though. Souvenirs with the lady are popular, somewhat of a symbol for Elche.
The Phoenix Dactylifera, the star of the garden, is the first tree-shaped plant that has been domesticated by civilized man.