The Oriola Municipal Archive does not have its own building and is located within the María Moliner Municipal Library, inaugurated in 2013.
During its existence it has been in the different places occupied by the City Council, the last one being the Palau del Marquès d'Arneva, current seat of the council house, from where it moved in 1994 to the Fernando State Library de Loazes by virtue of a deposit agreement with the Ministry of Culture. In 2014, the funds were transferred to María Moliner where it occupies two rooms, one dedicated to storage, which does not accept any more documentation, and another to consultation where users are served.
Documentary background:
The Municipal Archive of Oriola is mainly made up of the Municipal Fund, where you can find the typical documentation received and generated by any town council such as the minutes of the Plenum, accounting books (cluary accounts in the medieval and provincial , accounts of Propis in the 18th century, ledgers, budgets, etc., from 1845), enlistments and other documents about fifths and militias, correspondence, tax rolls, election records, etc. Also preserved in the archive is a large series of factory books from the three oldest parishes in the city that starts in the first quarter of the 16th century and reaches the 19th century, and numerous processes such as justice, juries and others municipal officials of the foral era had judicial powers.
Mixed with the municipal documentation is the documentation of the Hospital de Sant Joan de Déu and that of the Casa de Misericòrdia, and other funds among which, due to its volume, it is worth highlighting that of the Governorship of Oriola in the Bourbon era, in which we can find information about the localities that belonged to them and also processes. Less voluminous than this one are that of the Judge and Board of Temporities of Oriola, on the expulsion and administration of the assets of the Jesuits, the Municipal Archive of Molins, a locality added to Oriola at the end of the 19th Century, that of the Police Subdelegation de Oriola, with documentation on the actions in the city and its governance between 1824 and 1836 of what is today the National Police, and that of the Local Refugee Committee that developed its activity during the Civil War. Smaller in size, some only a book or binder, funds from regional, local organizations, guilds and associations have been preserved.
The Municipal Archive of Oriola has received donations of personal archives, such as that of the historian and archivist Justo García Soriano and that of the historian José Escobar Briz, among others, collections of photographs, such as that of the journalist Joaquín Ezcurra Alonso, and digital copies of those of Mayor Pedro Cartagena Bueno and Sigfrido Enz Meseguer. The Archive of the Royal Association of Spanish Chroniclers (RAECO) is also kept as a repository.
Highlights:
Among the most outstanding documents in the archive we can cite the Book of Privileges and royal favors granted to the very noble and very loyal city of Oriola, also known as the book of privileges of Oriola which contains copies of many of those granted to the city between the reigns of Alfonso X the Wise of Castile and Ferdinand the Catholic of Aragon. The series of answering machines or books of chapter acts is also very interesting, not only because of its antiquity, it begins in 1353, but because of the information it provides about other localities in the region that at the time belonged to Oriola and the relationships of this with neighboring cities such as Alicante, Murcia and others. Although it is not an archival document, it also includes the only preserved copy of the Annals of Oriola by Pedro Bellot, a handwritten work from the first quarter of the 17th century in which, in the form of annals, the author he made a history of the city from 1353 to the end of the 15th century, dedicating a final chapter to the Germanies.
Services and activities:
The file offers a reprographic service, although it is allowed to freely photograph all documents that are not digitized and whose state of conservation allows it.
No activity is carried out on a regular basis; until a few years ago a Document of the month was exhibited, but the lack of staff has meant that the Historical Archive is only open two days a week, which is why it has been abolished. You receive arranged visits from high schools, colleges and university students who want to see the archive. Catalan Philology students from the University of Alicante have held practical classes with documents from the 16th and 17th centuries, and small exhibitions of documents are held for high school students who visit the archive so that they can get an idea of the funds it contains, and those from the Valencian subject to verify that this language was spoken in the city and its region 300 years ago.
Extreme dates:
1321-1976 (1353-1945 predominates). These are the extreme dates of the original documents that are preserved, although the oldest series, the answer books, starts in 1353 since before this date there are only some loose documents and copies of privileges whose originals are not preserved , the oldest of 1265 There are also documents after 1945, although almost all of them are in the Administrative Archive due to lack of space in the Historical.
Sociocultural environment
Oriola declared Historic Artistic Ensemble
Oriole sage in the Mediterranean
Oriole referent of Valencian Culture
Route Miguel Hernández
House Museum Miguel Hernández
Joan Manuel Serrat sings "Nanas de la cebolla" by Miguel Hernández
Joan Manuel Serrat sings "Elegía" by Miguel Hernández
Exhibition brochure "Miguel Hernández. 50 x 50. Oriole. 22 years later..."
Video Oriola is waiting for you
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Address
Plaça de la Salut, 1. 03300 Oriola - Alicante
bibliotecamariamoliner@orihuela.es965 302 891 Maria Moliner Library
