GANDA

city, Valencia provincia, in the comunidad autnoma (autonomous community) of Valencia, eastern Spain. It lies south of Valencia city at the mouth of the Serpis River. Once a Greek settlement, Ganda was occupied by the Moors in the 8th century and recaptured in 1252 by James I of Aragon, who ordered it rebuilt. It later became a duchy of the Borgia (Borja) family, whose 14th-century palace still stands. St. Francis Borgia, 4th Duke de Ganda, third general of the Society of Jesus, and a native of the city, founded the first Jesuit college there in 1546. There is also a 14th-century Gothic monastery. A port city, Ganda has a shipping industry, as well as factories for tanning, silk spinning, and crate making. Pop. (1991 prelim.) 50,755.