Gandia - Itinerary Comunitat Valenciana -

Palacio Ducal de los Borja

In 1485 the new dukedom was created after the purchase of the lordship by Rodrigo de Borja.

Gandia, an old Muslim farmhouse that, after the Christian conquest of the nearby castle of Bairén, acquired prominence as a town, was donated by the crown in 1323 to the infant Pedro de Ribagorza. His son, Alfonso the Elder, receives from Martin the Human, in 1399, the title of dukedom for the lordship. In 1423, when his son died without issue, the property returned to the crown.

Ferdinand II of Aragon sold the property to Cardinal Rodrigo de Borja in 1485. The son of the future Alexander VI, Pedro Luis, after arranging a marriage with María Enríquez, the king's cousin, became the first duke of the newly created Duchy of Gandia. City that begins, under the auspices of this family, a political and cultural apogee.

 The premature death of Pedro Luis in 1488 caused his other brother, Giovanni, to end up marrying María Enríquez.

Giovanni Borja, second Duke of Gandia, died in Rome in 1497 under strange circumstances, leaving his widow in charge of the properties.

The following year, Pope Alexander VI disassociated himself from the Valencian family due to the firm decision of his daughter-in-law, with the support of Ferdinand II of Aragon, to personally assume the reins of the lordship. His son, Giovanni, will become the third Duke of Gandia and his son Francisco, Saint Francisco de Borja, will become the fourth incumbent.

Gandia will become the artistic and cultural focus of the Kingdom of Valencia with the fundamental contribution of María Enríquez (in the extension of the collegiate church) and Francisco de Borja (who created the university in 1546). 

With the expulsion of the Moors, the city lost a third of its population, from which it took almost a century and a half to recover.

During this time of decline, the dukes leave their residence to move to Madrid. In 1740 Luis Ignacio de Borja died without issue and the dukedom passed into the hands of the Benavente family and later the Osuna family.