GANDIA  , a seaport of eastern

Spain, in the province of Valencia; on the Gandfa-Alc6y and Alcira-Denia railways . Pop . (1900) Io,o26 . Gandfa is on the left bank of the river Alc6y or Serpis, which waters one of the richest and most populous plains of Valencia and enters the Mediterranean Sea at the small harbour of Gandfa (El Grao), 3 M . N.E . The chief ancient buildings of Gandia are the Gothic church, the college, founded by San Francisco de Borgia, director-general of the order of Jesus (1510-1J72), and the palace of the dukes of Gandfa—a title held in the 15th and 16th centuries by members of the princely house of Borgia or Borja . A Jesuit convent, the theatre, schools and the palace of the dukes of Osuna, are modern . Besides its manufactures of leather, silk, velvet and ribbons, Gandfa has a thriving export trade in fruit, and imports coal, guano, timber and flour . In 1904, 400 vessels, of 200,000 tons, entered the harbour .