{"id":3133,"date":"2026-08-09T00:41:46","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T22:41:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/?p=3133"},"modified":"2026-08-09T00:41:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T22:41:46","slug":"old-university-gandia-francis-borgia-legacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/old-university-gandia-francis-borgia-legacy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Old University of Gandia: Francis Borgia\u2019s university legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Few cities of their size can boast about having had their own university right in the middle of the Renaissance. Gandia did: founded by <strong>Francis Borgia<\/strong>, IV Duke of Gandia, the old university operated between <strong>1547 and 1772<\/strong>, and its building, that of the <strong>Escoles Pies<\/strong>, continues to educate today in the heart of the Centre Hist\u00f2ric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you stroll through the centre of Gandia, the facade of the Escuelas P\u00edas might look like just another school. In reality, you are standing before one of the city&#8217;s most historic buildings: the first university of the Society of Jesus, classroom to Baltasar Graci\u00e1n and, more than four centuries later, home to the UNED. Here is its story in four chapters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_86 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Contenidos<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a7e40fb14357\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #e41725;color:#e41725\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #e41725;color:#e41725\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a7e40fb14357\"  aria-label=\"Alternar\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/old-university-gandia-francis-borgia-legacy\/#A_university_born_of_the_Borgias\" >A university born of the Borgias<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/old-university-gandia-francis-borgia-legacy\/#Classrooms_with_illustrious_names_from_Baltasar_Gracian_to_Cavanilles\" >Classrooms with illustrious names: from Baltasar Graci\u00e1n to Cavanilles<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/old-university-gandia-francis-borgia-legacy\/#From_the_expulsion_of_the_Jesuits_to_the_Escuelas_Pias_school\" >From the expulsion of the Jesuits to the Escuelas P\u00edas school<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/old-university-gandia-francis-borgia-legacy\/#What_you_can_see_today\" >What you can see today<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_university_born_of_the_Borgias\"><\/span>A university born of the Borgias<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The university was a personal project of <strong>Francis Borgia<\/strong>, the duke who would eventually become Superior General of the Jesuits and a saint. Its founding was no overnight affair, but rather a process that extended from <strong>1546 to 1549<\/strong>: Pope Paul III issued the papal bull <strong>Copiosus in misericordia<\/strong> on <strong>4 November 1547<\/strong>, authorising the granting of university degrees, and by <strong>10 May 1548<\/strong> the Jesuit community was already occupying the building, which was still under construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was not a mass university like Salamanca or Valencia, but a unique <strong>college-university<\/strong>: the Jesuit college and university shared the building, teaching staff and resources. Grammar, philosophy and theology were taught \u2014in time, degrees linked to medicine and canon law also appeared\u2014, and its qualifications, more accessible and affordable than those of Valencia, attracted students from all across the Kingdom. The complex grew for over a century, featuring two courtyards, a kitchen garden, a library and a large church erected between the late XVI century and 1636.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Classrooms_with_illustrious_names_from_Baltasar_Gracian_to_Cavanilles\"><\/span>Classrooms with illustrious names: from Baltasar Graci\u00e1n to Cavanilles<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The most famous professor to step foot in these classrooms was <strong>Baltasar Graci\u00e1n<\/strong>. The author of <em>El Critic\u00f3n<\/em> lived in Gandia between <strong>1633 and 1636<\/strong> as a professor of philosophy, grammar and moral theology, and it was here that he took his solemn vows in 1635. It is very likely that in the college library \u2014one of the best equipped in the Jesuit province\u2014 he began writing <strong><em>El H\u00e9roe<\/em><\/strong>, his first major work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He was not the only notable figure. Gandia also saw the likes of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Juan Andr\u00e9s<\/strong>, Professor of Rhetoric in 1764 and later one of the great figures of the Hispanic Enlightenment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mateo Aymerich<\/strong>, rector of the university and a reformer of the philosophical thought of his time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Antonio Jos\u00e9 Cavanilles<\/strong>, the great Valencian botanist, who obtained his doctorate in theology here in <strong>1766<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"From_the_expulsion_of_the_Jesuits_to_the_Escuelas_Pias_school\"><\/span>From the expulsion of the Jesuits to the Escuelas P\u00edas school<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The end came in two blows. In the early hours between <strong>3 and 4 April 1767<\/strong>, with the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spain, troops occupied the college and the community departed into exile. The university survived for a few years with lay teachers, until a Royal Decree of <strong>11 August 1772<\/strong> declared it defunct. After 225 years, Gandia ceased to be a university city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The building, however, lived on. Following several renovations and failed projects, the town council agreed in <strong>1804<\/strong> to restore its educational role in the hands of the <strong>Piarists<\/strong> (escolapios), who took possession in 1807. Except for the darkest chapter in its history \u2014during the Civil War and post-war period, when it was used as a prison between <strong>1936 and 1942<\/strong>\u2014, it has never stopped being a school ever since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_you_can_see_today\"><\/span>What you can see today<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The complex, thoroughly restored in the 1990s and protected as a <strong>Property of Cultural Interest<\/strong> (Bien de Inter\u00e9s Cultural), stands next to the former entrance to the Centre Hist\u00f2ric, in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/search\/?api=1&amp;query=Escoles+Pies+Gandia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Plaza de las Escuelas P\u00edas<\/strong><\/a>. The best-preserved element from the Jesuit period is the <strong>church<\/strong>, with its dome and its nineteenth-century Communion chapel; the rest of the building is a fascinating palimpsest of renovations from the XVIII, XIX and XX centuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And most remarkably: almost 480 years after Francis Borgia&#8217;s project, the building remains dedicated to education. Today, it brings together the <strong>Escola Pia school<\/strong>, the <strong>UNED Gandia branch<\/strong> \u2014established here since 1988\u2014 and adult education. Bear in mind that it is an active educational centre: it forms part of the visitable sites in the historic centre and on the Borgia route, but access to the interior is subject to guided tours and scheduled activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you are staying in Gandia, pop by the square at dusk: it is one of the most historically rich stops along the entire Borgia route, just a stone&#8217;s throw from the Ducal Palace and the city&#8217;s commercial heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"707\" src=\"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Gandia_-_Antigua_Universidad_de_Gandia-Escuelas_Pias_1-1024x707.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2646\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Gandia_-_Antigua_Universidad_de_Gandia-Escuelas_Pias_1-1024x707.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Gandia_-_Antigua_Universidad_de_Gandia-Escuelas_Pias_1-300x207.jpg 300w, https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Gandia_-_Antigua_Universidad_de_Gandia-Escuelas_Pias_1-768x530.jpg 768w, https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Gandia_-_Antigua_Universidad_de_Gandia-Escuelas_Pias_1.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Founded by Francis Borgia, the Old University of Gandia operated between 1547 and 1772, and its building, the Escoles Pies, continues to educate today in the Centre Hist\u00f2ric.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2642,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"borgia26_language":"en","borgia26_translation_group":"antigua-universidad-gandia","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,13,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-historia","category-los-borgia","category-visitas-y-monumentos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3133"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3161,"href":"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3133\/revisions\/3161"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}