La Cadena Tower
If we look at the boundary between the University Hospital and the road, we can still see the remains of that road, populated by cypresses and marvellous bougainvillea. Moving towards La Cadena, the hermitage appears and next to it is the tower with its old sundial on the façade. It is a prismatic construction with a rectangular base and a plinth or base projection, topped by a moulding. It is built in ashlar masonry with load-bearing walls made of lime mortar and gravel. The tower has three floors and several openings, small windows and two balconies on the first floor, as well as a semi-basement. The old farmhouse is attached to two of its four sides. The estate has a second sundial not visible from the street.
Approaching the end of the condominium, we find an ashlar arch that served as the entrance to the estate. It is a very interesting piece that was moved from its original location. In the past, it was the starting point of a route leading to the house. The arcade was dismantled for several years until it was rebuilt in its current location, next to the roundabout leading to the Hospital Universitari de Sant Joan d’Alacant. The arch was for several decades a water supply point for the neighbours of Santa Faz. This was possible thanks to the installation of a small tap in 1938, the year in which drinking water was brought to Sant Joan.
The construction of the new avenue disconnected the estate from the adjacent fields, but the orchards on the south-eastern boundary are still preserved. The estate also has beautiful gardens with flowerbeds, cypresses and pine trees. At the entrance we can see a centenary dragon tree and a specimen of araucaria, also centenary, with an inclination of its trunk as remarkable as its ostensible height.
Did you know that...?
The estate belonged to the noble family of the Counts of Casa-Rojas. This family came from the city of Burgos and played a crucial role in the conquest of Al-Andalus, with some members of the lineage later settling in Alicante and Valencia. Important personalities belonging to the family stand out, such as. José Miguel de Rojas y Pérez de Sarrió (1786-1833), III Count of Casa Rojas, Maestrante of Seville and painter of the Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando. Mention should also be made of José María de Rojas y Canicia (1819-1895), 4th Count of Casa Rojas, Knight of Calatrava and Maestrante of Valencia. Among those born in Sant Joan and baptised in its church, we would highlight Rafael de Rojas y Galiano (1852-1936), 5th Count of Casa Rojas and Marquis of Algorfa, who would later be assassinated at the beginning of the Civil War.