Valencia

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Valencia Travel Guide

City Map

City Introduction

Valencia is Spain’s third largest city and it offers a great number of nice sights and activities in the old town and around the Mediterranean citythat. The language here is Valencian, and the football team is called Valencia CF, which you will notice many places in the city’s cozy cafes and restaurants.

The old town of Valencia is one of the largest in Spain, and the district abounds with beautiful buildings. Here you will find everything from old churches and the city’s cathedral to beautiful squares, colossal city gates, fine museums and distinguished examples of the local modernista, which is contemporary to art nouveau.

Valencia is a city with some beautiful bridges that once spanned the river Turia, which today is diverted to a run south of the city. The redevelopment has given way to a lot of parks and recreation areas that meander through the city and under its bridges. In the area of the old riverbed, you can also see the famous City of Arts and Sciences, built in stunning modern architecture.

The city center of Valencia is close to the Mediterranean Sea, and it is fast to go there with the city’s modern metro and buses. Along the coast there are long and beautiful sandy beaches with water that is warm until late in the fall. Here, too, you can find some of the good restaurants that Valencia has so many of.

Top Attractions

Silk Exchange, Valencia

The Silk Exchange
Ltotja de la Seda

Llotja de la Seda is a beautiful and exciting building that was built in the decades around the year 1500 as a stock exchange for the city’s silk trade. The architectural style is Valencian Late Gothic, and the building is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The stock exchange was built between 1482 and 1533, and it was in the main hall of the building where the merchants entered into contracts. The hall was built as a lavishly ornate space with twisted columns among other things, and it was a hall that represented the growth and commercial prosperity of Valencia.

 

Cathedral
Església Catedral

Església Catedral is Valencia’s cathedral and thus the city’s most important church. The cathedral stands as an impressive structure created over several centuries since its consecration in 1238. It happened after the successful Spanish reconquest of the country and the consecration was made by the city’s first bishop.

The construction of the cathedral was started on the site where there had previously been a church, which the Moors had arranged as a mosque. The construction itself was started in 1262, and the construction of the cathedral took place mainly during the 13th and 15th centuries. It happened with Valencian Gothic as the dominant style, but the long construction time did, of several other styles, influence the church.

There is a lot to see both inside and outside, where the tower El Micalet dominates. It is a bell tower that was built from 1381 and was completed in 1429. The tower is 63 meters high and was built in Valencian Gothic style. Until a later addition, El Micalet stood as an independent tower next to the cathedral itself.

In the external decoration of the cathedral, you can also notice the entrance gate Porta dels Ferros, which dates from the beginning of the 18th century. Porta dels Ferros is the cathedral’s main entrance, and its name means the Iron Gate, which comes from the iron bars at the gate. You can also see the entrances Porta dels Apòstols from the 14th century and Porta de l’Almoina from the 13th century.

Inside you can see a beautiful church room with many finely decorated chapels. The cathedral’s altarpieces and the decoration around them are among the greatest sights. The main altar was prepared in the 15th century, but later paintings were also done on it. In the presbytery there is also an altarpiece and a room worth seeing.

There is also a special curiosity at Valencia’s cathedral. It is said that the Holy Grail is kept here in one of the church’s chapels, Capella del Sant Calze, which was established in the years 1356-1369 as a chapter room for holding meetings in the cathedral. The Holy Grail was moved here in 1916, when the chapel got its current name.

 

Museum of Fine Arts, Valencia

Museum of Fine Arts
Museu de Belles Arts

The Museu de Belles Arts in Valencia is one of Spain’s finest art museums, and here you can experience works by, among others, Velázquez, El Greco and Goya. The large collection has its weight in countless works from the 14th-17th centuries, and there are exciting works that depict the development of Valencian art. The museum also exhibits a large number of works of art from later centuries.

The museum was founded in 1913, and it is located in the beautiful mansion, Colegio de San Pío, which was completed in the 18th century. The building was the seat of the Reial Acadèmia de Sant Carles, a seminary founded by Archbishop Joan Tomàs de Rocabertí. The Colegio de San Pío is located above the original course of the Turia River, and the building has a typical castle-like feel.

 

St Nicholas Church
Església Sant Nicolau

Església Sant Nicolau is a 15th-century Gothic church, where you can see a magnificent baroque interior from the late 17th century. The church is also called Valencia’s Sistine Chapel, and the reason is the beautiful interior that reveals itself immediately after entering the church space.

Església Sant Nicolau was originally built in the 13th century with a single nave, where there were side chapels between the church’s buttresses along the length of the nave. The church stood as it originally did until the 15th century, when it was rebuilt in Gothic style, and at the end of the 17th century the church got its current and unforgettable appearance.

It was Juan Pérez Castiel who decorated the interior in the years 1690-1693, but there are also works by other contemporary artists. The wonderful interior features frescoes depicting, among other things, the lives of Saint Nicholas and Peter of Verona, allegories designed by Antonio Palomino and altarpieces with works by, for example, Juan de Juanes, Fernando Yáñez de la Almedina and Jerónimo Jacinto de Espinosa.

 

City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia

City of Arts and Sciences
Ciutat de les Arts in les Ciències

Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències is Valencia’s City of Arts and Sciences, located as a complex of several buildings in modern architecture. The buildings were built in the original course of the River Turia after it was diverted and thereby drained through the city center following a catastrophic flood in 1957.

After the alteration of the Turia, the old riverbed was developed into an elongated recreational area with a kind of sunken park through the center of Valencia. The city also decided to establish the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències as a modern landmark with many exciting buildings and activities.

The entire complex consists of a series of buildings that were designed by Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela. They consist of large outdoor facilities, museums and various activity areas, and it is worth taking a walk around the entire area and enjoying the architecture and the setting for the city’s many possibilities.

The buildings in the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències are aligned from northwest to southeast, and if you start in the northwest, you can see the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía from 2005, which is a stage for, among other things, operas, concerts and performing arts. The stage is almost surrounded by colossal steel plates and basins as part of the design.

From here you can proceed to L’Hemisfèric, which opened as the first of the complex’s buildings in 1998. L’Hemisfèric is centrally located in the complex and was designed as a large eye immersed in pools. The building is set up as a planetarium and IMAX theatre, and there are other activities here as well.

If you continue, you come to the Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe from the year 2000. It is an interactive science museum with many exciting themes in the exhibitions, and the building itself forms an interesting setting with its geometric architecture and design.

Parallel to L’Hemisfèric and Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe, one can walk through L’Umbracle from 2001. L’Umbracle is an open structure with arches, where there is a landscaped park along the length of the structure. In the beautiful facility you can enjoy, among other things, bougainvillea, lavender and palm trees. L’Umbracle is 320 meters long and 60 meters wide, and in addition to the green surroundings, you can see quite a few sculptures here.

To the southeast you pass the bridge Pont Assut de l’Or, which opened in 2008. The pylon of the bridge is 125 meters high and it spans the original course of the Turia. After this is L’Àgora from 2009, which is a 70 meter high multi-arena used for many different events such as concerts and sports events.

Further to the southeast you can visit L’Oceanogràfic, which opened as an outdoor oceanographic park in 2003. L’Oceanogràfic is a large and interesting aquarium where you can see many marine environments from all over the world in the many buildings that this part of the complex consists of .

 

Mercat Central, Valencia

Central Market
Mercat Central

Mercat Central is the most impressive of Valencia’s food markets. It is a covered market famous for its beautiful halls and domes, which stand as excellent examples of Valencian Art Nouveau from the first part of the 20th century.

The history of the market started as the open Mercat Nou, which was established in 1839. At the end of the 19th century, they wanted to build a covered market, and in 1910 they chose the design by Alexandre Soler March and Francesc Guàrdia Vidal. The impressive halls were then built from 1914 to 1928.

 

National Museum of Ceramics
Museo Nacional de Cerámica

The Museo Nacional de Cerámica is one of Valencia’s most impressive museums with distinguished collections of ceramics, porcelain, furnishings and decorative arts. In the collection, there is not least a focus on Valencian ceramics, but you can also enjoy exhibitions of textiles, paintings and much more.

The museum building, Palau del Marqués de Dosaigües, is also one of Valencia’s most beautiful mansions, and it stands as an attraction in itself. The house was the residence of the Marquises of Dos Aguas, and it was originally a Gothic house from the year 1400. In the 18th century, the mansion was thoroughly remodeled with magnificent decorations.

Among the decorative elements, you can see facade decoration with, among other things, rococo windows. The interior was decorated with paintings and marble in the halls, where dancers and musicians often performed for the marquis. It is a pleasure to experience the beautiful setting when you visit the museum.

Other Attractions

Mercat Colon, Valencia

Colón Market
Mercat Colón

Mercat Colón is a beautiful and atmospheric market that was built 1914-1916. The market building stands today as one of the main works of Valencian Art Nouveau. It was Francesc Mora in Berenguer who designed the market building with its many beautiful details.

The market was built to meet the demand in the Eixample neighborhood and the result was Mora in Berenguer’s magnificent market, where historicism and modernism are part of the experience. Today there are, among other things, shops and restaurants where you can enjoy a good meal and the beautiful surroundings.

 

Saint John’s Market Church
Església de Sant Joan del Mercat

Església de Sant Joan del Mercat is a church in central Valencia, which was built in the 13th century in its original form on a site where a mosque had been located in the previous Moorish era. The church was built in the contemporary Gothic style, but fires in both the 14th and 16th centuries made several reconstructions necessary.

The appearance of the current church dates from the 17th century, and it is an expression of the exuberant baroque of the time. There are elements left from the former church, which for example applies to the bricked-up rose window. On the facade you can see, among other things, sculpture groups and statues, and when you enter the church room, there are statues that symbolize Israel’s twelve tribes as part of the impressive decoration.

 

Estacio del Nord, Valencia

North Railway Station
Estació del Nord

Estació del Nord or North Station is Valencia’s main station. It opened in 1917 with an exterior and interior in distinguished Valencian Art Nouveau. The railway station is still in use and has been supplemented by the Valencia-Joaquín Sorolla station, which increased capacity with tracks for the fast AVE trains.

Estació del Nord is one of the main works of the regional art nouveau, and therefore the building is very worth seeing, even if you are not interested in railways. You can almost fall in awe of the countless and well-preserved details in the decoration. The name of the station does not come from its location in the city, but rather from the railway company Caminos de Hierro del Norte de España, which built the station.

 

Valencia Bullring
Plaça de Bous de València

Plaça de Bous is Valencia’s bullring, which was built 1850-1859 in neoclassical style. It was designed by local architect Sebastián Monleón Estellés with a capacity of over 16,000 spectators and inspiration came from Roman architecture such as the Colosseum in Rome and the arena in Nîmes, France.

When the bullring opened, it was outside the city’s then city walls. It was built as a modern building with the use of, among other things, cast iron, which made parts of the construction more open than traditional to the delight of the spectators. Today, the capacity has been limited to just over 10,000 visitors, making Plaça de Bous de València one of the largest arenas in Spain.

 

Valencia City Hall

City Hall
Ajuntament

Ajuntament er Valencias fine rådhusbygning, der har været sæde for byrådet siden 1934. Rådhuset står som en af de smukke bygningsværker på byens store rådhusplads, Plaça de l’Ajuntament, hvor man også kan se andre imponerende opførelser som fx byens hovedposthus.

Rådhuset består af to bygningsdele, idet selve bygningen er en forhenværende skole, som der blev opført en ny facade på, da bygningen blev indrettet som rådhus. Rådhuset blev en del af den spanske borgerkrig 1936-1937, da Cortes Generales i den anden spanske republik havde sæde her sammen med byrådet.

 

General Post Office
Edificio de Correos

Edificio de Correos is Valencia’s grand main post office building, located in the city’s town hall square. The post building is an impressive structure that was completed in 1923 after eight years of construction. The post office was part of the modernization of the then Spanish postal service.

It was Zaragoza architect Miguel Ángel Navarro who designed the building in a beautiful eclectic style with elements of Valencian modernism. It became a monumental building that symbolized the progress that the post office represented in the 1900s.

Inside you can enjoy the impressive domed hall with the coats of arms of Spain’s provinces, and outside you can notice the building’s characteristic metal tower. There are also several other details in the decoration, such as facade figures that show the world’s continents, ships and trains as symbols of mail delivery worldwide.

 

Porta de Quart, Valencia

Quart Gate
Porta dels Quart

Porta dels Quart is one of the once 12 city gates in Valencia’s city walls, built at the end of the 14th century. The gate was built in the middle of the 15th century and stands as one of the city’s only preserved parts of the old fortifications, which the provincial governor Cirilio Amorós had demolished in 1865.

There were threats from Islamic forces and floods from the Turia River, which meant that the city walls were extended and the city gates fortified, as was the case with the Porta dels Quart. The great gate was built from 1441, and it was completed in 1493. The gate’s towers were used as a defense of the city and later as a women’s prison.

 

Serrans Gate
Porta dels Serrans

Porta dels Serrans is one of Valencia’s preserved city gates from the 1390s. There were a total of 12 gates in the now demolished city wall around the then Christian city. The old walls were demolished in 1865 by order of the provincial governor Cirilio Amorós, and only a few parts were preserved.

The impressive gate is one of them, and it was built in the Valencian Gothic style in the years 1392-1398 by Pere Balaguer. The Porta dels Serrans was the main entrance to the city, and it was built as a fortified entrance, which was also used for major ceremonies. From 1586 to 1887, the towers of the gate were used as a prison, and today there is access to the building.

Day Trips

Albufera National Park, Valencia

Albufera National Park
Parque Natural de la Albufera

Parque Natural de la Albufera is a natural park and wetland located just over ten kilometers south of Valencia. The park is mainly a shallow coastal lagoon with an average depth of just 1 meter and its area is almost 24 km2. The lagoon is separated from the sea by a narrow stretch of sand with dunes stabilized by a pine forest.

Parque Natural de la Albufera is a passage area for many species of migratory birds, and therefore the park is of great biological value. Among the park’s rich birdlife there are several endangered species, and the lagoon area is extra important, as it is one of the few areas where the lagoon landscape has been preserved. In the past, the coastline was characterized by several lagoons and marshes. Today you can enjoy the landscape and its birds on a boat trip, where you can enjoy the surroundings in peace and quiet.

 

St Joseph Caves
Coves de Sant Josep

Coves de Sant Josep are some caves that are located as a fantastic experience of the underground world. The site includes a group of caves of karst origin that were formed during the Triassic, almost 250 million years ago. Despite much exploration, the origin of the river that runs through the cave is still unknown, as is the end of the caves.

During a visit, you sail about 800 meters on an underground river and also take a walk to experience more of the exciting caves. Inside, the temperature remains constant at 20°C all year round, and taking a cruise on what is the longest navigable underground river in Europe is an unforgettable experience.

 

Xàtiva

Xàtiva is a city in the province of Valencia on the river Albaida. Historically, it became known for textile production in Roman times and paper production from the 12th century, when Xàtiva also developed into a city known for its schools and education. Later, Xàtiva became famous as the hearth of the House of Borgia, which, among other things, supplied two popes to the Catholic Church; Callistus III, who was Pope 1455-1458, and Alexander VI, who held office from 1492-1503.

There are several sights in Xàtiva, and you can see, among other things, the house where Pope Alexander VI was born. However, the house does not stand as it did in the Pope’s time. You can also see La Seu, the popular name for Xàtiva’s primary church. The current church was built from 1596, and several members of the House Borgia are buried here. There is a museum on site with several artworks and effects related to the Borgia family.

The best-known attraction, however, is the Castell de Xàtiva, which is a medieval castle that stands high above the rest of the city on the rocks immediately south of the center of Xàtiva. There has been a fortress on the site for millennia, and the impressive fortress was strategically located on the ancient Via Augusta road that emanated from Rome and led over the Pyrenees and down the Mediterranean coast to Cartagena and Cádiz.

 

Montanejos

Montanejos is a village known for being in a natural area with one beautiful place after another. You can take a walk in the manageable city centre, but it is the surroundings that attract many visitors. Montanejos is not least known for the bathing opportunities in the area, and here Fuente de los Baños de Montanejos is the most popular place. The turquoise water and steep rock walls make the place unforgettable.

Fuente de los Baños de Montanejos is located as part of the river Río Mijares, which also flows past the town of Montanejos. In several places, the course of the river forms places worth seeing with beautiful views. For example, you can drive a few kilometers north to the damming of the Río Mijares and the reservoir lake Arenós. On the way here there are several stops with breathtaking views through the gorge in which the river flows.

 

Albarracin

Albarracin is a beautifully situated village on the river Turia in the Spanish mountains of Teruel province. Historically, Albarracin was an independent principality from 1167 to 1300, when the city and its territories were incorporated into the Kingdom of Aragon. Until 1851, the city was the seat of a bishop and thus of religious importance.

Albarracin is today known as one of Spain’s most attractive towns for its size, which is approximately 1,000 inhabitants. The old town, with its winding streets and houses made of, among other things, stone and clay, is very atmospheric to walk around, and there are several exciting sights along the way.

The Catedral de El Salvador was built between 1572 and 1600, and it is a church worth seeing. You can also visit the Diocesan Museum/Museo Diocesano, which is located in the contemporary former bishop’s site. The Museo de Albarracin is a city museum that is also interesting to visit to experience different themes in the city’s history.

Around Albarracin are several fortifications from the town’s history. The long city wall is an impressive structure with defense towers. It was built in the 14th century, and its large scale in relation to the city suggests that the city should have grown, but this did not happen. At the top of the city is the solid citadel, Castillo Musulmán De Albarracín.

 

Peñíscola

Peñíscola is a popular holiday town on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. Throughout history, the city has been Phoenician, Greek and belonged to Carthage, before the Knights Templar resided in the city, which later came under the crown of Aragon. As a result, there are many who over time have left their mark on Peñíscola, which today is known, among other things, for its lovely beaches and the town’s castle.

It was the Knights Templar who built the castle in Peñíscola in the years 1294-1307. The castle is dramatically located on a rocky outcrop in the Mediterranean, and it is the city’s biggest attraction. The castle has been changed several times since the time of the Knights Templar, for example by the Avignon Pope Benedict XIII, who used the castle as a residence 1417-1423. Later, the castle and residence were rebuilt by military engineer Giovanni Battista Antonelli in the 16th century.

The residence castle in Peñíscola also forms the historic center of the city, which is located at a height of just over 60 meters above sea level. Next to the castle, you can enjoy the old town’s narrow streets and atmospheric character. There are also cafes and restaurants with fine views of the sea in this part of the city, which was historically connected to the mainland by a strip of sand that was occasionally washed away.

Below the walls of the old town lies the modern part of Peñíscola with the large tourist districts and fine sandy beaches. Immediately south of the old town, you can swim from Playa Sur, while Playa Norte lies to the north, where the city’s many tourist hotels lie side by side.

Shopping

Aqua

Carrer de Menorca 19
aqua-multiespacio.com

 

Carrefour

El Saler, Av. by Professor López Piñero 16
carrefour.es

 

Carrefour

Carrer de Santa Genoveva Torres 21
carrefour.es

 

El Corte Inglés

Carrer de Colón
elcorteingles.es

 

El Corte Inglés

Carrer del Pintor Maella 37
elcorteingles.es

 

El Corte Inglés

Carrer de Menéndez Pidal 15
elcorteingles.es

 

El Saler

Av. del Professor López Piñero 16
elsaler.es

 

Shopping streets

Plaza Redonda, Carrer de Sant Vicent Martí, Carrer de Xätiva, Avenida de Sotela, Carrer del Poeta Querol, Calle Colón, Avenida de Francia

 

Markets

Mercat Central, Mercat Colón

With Kids

Aquarium

Oceanogràfic
Carrer d’Eduardo Primo Yúfera 1
oceanografic.org

 

Science

Museu de les Ciències Principe Felipe
Av.
del Professor López Piñero 7
cac.es

 

Beaches

Platja La Malvarrosa, Platja del Cabanyal, Platja d’Alboraia and others.

 

Zoological garden

Bioparc Valencia
Avenida Pio Baroja 3
bioparcvalencia.es

City History

The Roman era

Valencia’s history dates back at least to the year 138 BC, when a few thousand Roman soldiers were stationed in a new Roman colony named Valentia Edetanorum.

The colony was built like many other Roman cities with a good location on a river and close to the sea. The city center was a forum, which was located at present-day Plaza de la Virgen. Here, the main streets crossed Cardo Maximus and Decumanus Maximus.

This basic city plan can be found in our Valencia day, where Cardo corresponds to Calle de Salvador and where Decumanus corresponds to Calle de los Caballeros.

The Roman army commander and politician, Pompey the Great, nearly leveled Valentia with the earth in 75 BC. This was due to the city’s loyalty to Pompey’s rival Sertorius. After a few decades, Valentia was rebuilt and in the following century the city grew sharply after great immigration from Italy.

In the twentieth century, Valentia experienced downturns that were replaced by new flourishing as an early Christian city that emerged in the last period of the Roman Empire from the 300s.

 

Visigoths and Byzantines

With the fall of the Roman Empire, a vacuum of power arose, causing many peoples to conquer new lands. Various people like vandals and visigotes were among those who came to the Valentia area.

The power of the Church increased rapidly and significantly, and it built churches as replacements for the former Roman temples. Politically, the Byzantines conquered Valentia and part of the Iberian Peninsula in 554, and the strategic importance of the city increased after that event.

In 625 the Byzantines were again thrown out of Valentia, and the Visigoths fortified the city and stationed several soldiers in the city who had not lost their regional importance despite the Byzantine exit.

 

Muslim invasion

In 714, Valentia surrendered without a fight to the invading Muslim Arabs and Berbers, better known as the Moors, occupied large parts of the Iberian Peninsula.

The Muslims changed the city’s cathedral into a mosque, and the first emir of Cordoba also ordered Valentia destroyed. It was in the year 755, but the son of the emir, who had some autonomy over the area, later allowed the palace of Russafa to erect on the outskirts of the city. He thereby invested in the city, which today has a neighborhood named after the palace; Ruzafa.

The former Roman province of Valentia was called Medina al-Turab or became Balansiyya. The city came from the 9th century to flourish through a rapidly rising trade in silk, paper and leather.

From the 11th century, the entire Muslim leadership of Al-Andalus collapsed and a number of smaller regions with local governments emerged instead. The same was true of Valencia, which became its own kingdom and flourished anew.

In 1092, Castilian nobleman Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, who was also called El Cid, initiated a siege of Valencia, which he entered in 1094. El Cid reinstated Christian faith and changed nine mosques to churches. El Cid was killed in 1099 in battle for the city during a Muslim siege. In 1102, the Muslims won over Valencia and again introduced Muslim faith.

It came to a new attempt at Christian re-enactment of Valencia a few years later, but the Christian forces could not keep the city, and the city remained in Muslim hands for over a hundred years.

 

Christian Reconstruction

The so-called reconquista, which was the Christian re-enactment of the Iberian Peninsula, also came to Valencia. It happened in 1238, when King Jaume I of Aragon besieged the city, which surrendered on September 28.

The king himself entered the city on October 9, expelling 50,000 Muslim Moors. Valencia was then divided between those who had contributed to the recapture, and it was the starting point for what Valencia can experience today; among other things with the development of the Valencian language.

Jaume I reopened the city’s former main mosque as a church with a great service, and he let the city become part of the Kingdom of Valencia, which in turn was part of the Kingdom of Aragon. The citizens of the city, which consisted of Christians, Jews and remaining Muslims, were all allowed to remain as citizens of the kingdom.

 

Troubled times

From the 1300s, it became a difficult time for Valencia and its citizens. In 1348, the plague hit, and it killed some of its inhabitants. Later, a series of wars broke out, creating turbulent times.

Among other things, it revolted against the Valencian king, and a fight was also fought against the Castile. A fortified city wall was erected in a hurry, working against Castilian attacks in 1363 and 1364.

Civil war-like conditions also erupted within the city walls. Christians, Jews and Muslims lived separately in their respective neighborhoods, and in 1391 the enterprising Jewish neighborhood was attacked. The result was almost the annihilation of the Jewish community in the city, and most of the remaining Jews converted to Christianity.

 

The golden age of Valencia

By the 1400s, Valencia’s problems were replaced by good times and increasing importance. The period became the Valencian golden age, when the city’s economy boomed and where art and culture flourished in line with the city’s rising revenue.

Valencia’s population increased, making the city the largest in the Kingdom of Aragon. The local textile industry was the economic locomotive, and a well-functioning banking system was established which, for example, borrowed money to finance Queen Isabella I of Castille’s Columbus expedition to America in 1492.

In the late 1400s, the city’s silk exchange, Llotja de la Seda, was listed as the city’s economic center, and the institution attracted merchants from all over Europe.

It was also in Valencia that the first printing machine in the Iberian Peninsula was put into operation; it happened in 1473. Around the year 1500 the university of the city was founded, and in the 1400-1500s leading artists came to the city to work. These were good times for the city, but Castille’s time stood for Columbus’ European rediscovery of America.

 

Decline in trade

With new colonies in America, the European economy and trade shifted from a concentration in the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, and this became of great importance to Valencia.

The new Spanish colonies were Castillas, and thus Valencia did not benefit from the economic progress experienced by Madrid, for example. The Atlantic trade was not even allowed for Valencia, and the same was true for Catalonia, Aragon and Mallorca.

The time under the Spanish Empire was a time with a local government subject to the Habsburg kings. The government was repeatedly challenged as a consequence of not least Valencia’s economic downturn.

In the years 1519-1523, one of the city’s craftsmen led a revolt against the Habsburg rule. The rebellion was inspired by the rule of the Italian city-states and was thus against a feudal monarchy. The rebellion was severely beaten and hundreds of executions of rebels were executed. It is believed that the queen signed many of the death sentences.

The economic downturn continued in the 1600s, when Jews and descendants of the Muslim Moors were forced to leave the Spanish kingdom. A large part of the African and Arab population was at that time gathered in Aragon and especially in Valencia, where they made up about a third of the population.

The Arabs and Africans most often returned to North Africa, where they originally came from to the Iberian Peninsula. It left a nobility with large soils that lacked labor in the fields, which weakened the production and economy of the area over a long period.

 

18th-century Bourbons

Valencia’s low point occurred at the beginning of the 1700s, when the Spanish War of Succession raged from 1701 to 1714. The war ended the Valencia status as a kingdom with a formally political and legal independence.

Valencia supported the Emperor of Austria during the war, and in 1706 some English cavalrymen rode into Valencia after tricking the Spanish bourbon army into a retreat. The English held Valencia for 16 months despite several attacks on the city.

The Spanish bourbon army won in 1707 at the Battle of Almansa, and then the English evacuated Valencia. As a punishment for supporting Austria, the bourbons punished Valencia by depriving the city of its privileges and instituting a Castilian pattern. The bourbons also moved the region’s capital from Valencia to Orihuela.

Valencia’s lack of status as a capital caused the citizens to revolt. Orihuela had besieged and plundered Valencia during the Spanish Succession War, and the Cardinal, the Viceroy of the bourbon in the area, would resign unless Valencia became the capital again. After this, King Philip again changed the status of Valencia to become the capital again.

The city government in Valencia had also changed with the Castilian rules. Instead of local officials elected in Valencia, the Madrid court appointed those in charge of the city. It was often aristocrats who did not come from Valencia.

As the 18th century passed, Valencia’s economy improved through a larger trade and a production of ceramics and woven silk. The latter half of the century thus became the period of most development under the bourbon. The Palau de Justicia Courthouse is a beautiful example of one of the buildings erected during these years.

 

Napoleonic era

In the aftermath of the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte came to power in France, and his politics influenced large parts of Europe, as did Spain and Valencia.

In the years 1807-1814 there was war between Napoleon’s France and the Spanish bourbons, which were supported by England and Portugal. However, the war began with both French and Spanish armies invading Portugal as allies. In 1808, France turned to Spain.

That same year, the Valencian people revolted against the French, storming the citadel of the city. French Marshal Moncey then attacked the city with 9,000 soldiers, but had to give up the conquest after two attacks. He withdrew his forces to Madrid, and only in 1811 a new siege began.

The siege began in October 1811, and after violent bombings, Valencia surrendered in January 1812. In mid-1812, Napoleon’s brother, Joseph Bonaparte, made Valencia the Spanish capital, moving his court there.

After the French defeat in 1813 during the Battle of Vitoria, Marshal Suchet withdrew the French troops from Valencia, where the French rule ended in July 1813.

During the Napoleonic era, a Spanish government of exile had adopted a Spanish constitution in 1812, which severely limited the power of the monarch. After Napoleon’s time, Ferdinand VII became king, but he did not recognize the constitution. The king reduced his seat in Valencia instead of Madrid, and on April 17, 1814, General Francisco Javier de Elío offered the king unequal power by offering obedience to his troops. In doing so, the power of the royal power was restored, and the monarchy lasted until 1820.

 

19th century growth

The first half of the 19th century was politically turbulent for Spain and Valencia, where a revolutionary environment thrived. However, the situation changed to more stability and economic development under Isabella II’s rule, which started in 1843.

In the mid-1800s, many large projects were invested. This included a municipal water supply, paving many streets and distribution of gas. Gas lamps were installed and new port facilities were also erected. However, the City Council lacks ongoing funds, which delayed some of the projects that were completed.

Valencia at that time was still limited by the old city walls that encircled the medieval city center. In 1858, architects presented the first plans to develop the city with the demolition of the walls, but it did not materialize at that time.

By 1860, the town had close to 140,000 inhabitants living close by, and it was a growing city. The great expansion became possible in 1866, when virtually all parts of the city walls were torn down. The expansion was initiated, and at the same time new crops created economic progress for the landowners around the city.

Valencia received electricity in 1882, which was also a time when the city was undergoing a regional renaissance with local traditions and a revival of the local, Valencian language. Valencian, along with other local languages, had been banned from the board of Madrid.

 

The new century

The 20th century was a century when Valencia’s growth continued, but there were both ups and downs over the years. The population has more than tripled from 213,000 in 1900 to 739,000 in 2000, and this was of course something that left its mark on urban development.

After Madrid and Barcelona, ​​the city was the largest in the country with both population and economic sense. This can be seen in the street scene where Banco de Valencia was established in 1900 and where the city’s two major market halls were erected in the following decades.

Valencian modernism marked the architecture of the time with, for example, Mercat Colón and the city’s new main train station, Estació del Nord, which opened in 1921. A large regional exhibition was held in 1909, and it was inspired by the great world exhibitions of the time.

Valencia was an industrial city where wood, metal and food were some of the products that had replaced silk and textiles as the city’s leading commodities. Wines and citrus fruits had become major export goods, bringing money to the city.

 

Wars and politics

The large and lucrative exports from Valencia stopped with the outbreak of World War I in 1914, and the following decades were marked by changing governments, governance and wars in Spain.

Primo de Rivera introduced a new regime in 1923 and in 1931 the Second Spanish Republic was established. It lasted until 1939, when the end of the Spanish Civil War resulted in Francisco Franco’s takeover of power; a power he maintained until his death in 1975.

In 1936, the civil war had broken out, but the military uprising had not succeeded in Valencia, which became the capital of the republic instead of Madrid. As a result, the city was exposed to several bombings by, among other things, an Italian warship that blocked Valencia’s important port.

Throughout the Civil War, the city was exposed to 442 bombings, which cost 2,831 people their lives. On October 31, 1937, the Republican government moved the capital to Barcelona, ​​and Franco’s advancing troops caused Valencia to surrender on March 30, 1939.

Francisco Franco’s rule banned Valencian, which in turn did not have to be spoken or taught. It was also a time of tough economic conditions for the city, before a later economic boom saw new growth in Spain.

 

Turia’s floods

Looking at a map of Valencia today, the city gleams on the river, missing in its visible run north around the Old Town. This has not always been the case, for the Turia River flowed here until the latter half of the 20th century, when it was redrawn after causing great destruction.

Turia had many times gone over its banks. This happened in 1949 and again in 1957, when 81 people lost their lives due to flooding in parts of the city. After the 1957 disaster, Turia was rescheduled and its new race can now be seen south of the city center.

 

1960s to today

Valencia’s economy, together with the Spanish, experienced a significant recovery from the 1960s. Large public projects and infrastructure created many new jobs, and the population increased significantly in these years.

Progress continued, and after the transition to democracy in 1975, the old Valencian kingdom was re-established as a regional political entity with Valencia as its capital and some autonomy.

On February 23, an attempt at a coup d’état in Spain erupted with a storm on the Spanish parliament. The coup was canceled the following day, but the regional military leader had sent tanks on the streets of Valencia, declaring the state of emergency. He supported the coup and had to surrender at 5am on February 24th.

Since the 1980s, Valencia has experienced a great cultural boom with many new museums and cultural institutions. The best known is probably the City of Arts and Sciences / Ciutat de les Arts in les Ciències, which is built on a part of the Turia River’s former river bottom. This city, which was architecturally created by Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela, has put Valencia on the world map for many tourists.

In 1988, Valencia’s infrastructure was improved with the opening of the first parts of the city’s modern light rail and tram system, Metrovalencia. The system acts as a large tram network running in tunnels below the city center. Metrovalencia’s network has since then been expanded several times.

Valencia has hosted several major events over the past decades. In 1982, Estadi de Mestalla was one of the arenas used for the World Cups, and in 2003 Valencia was chosen as host of the America’s Cup races in 2007. It happened to be the first European city.

Geolocation

In short

Valencia, Spain

Valencia, Spain

Overview of Valencia

Valencia is Spain’s third largest city and it offers a great number of nice sights and activities in the old town and around the Mediterranean citythat. The language here is Valencian, and the football team is called Valencia CF, which you will notice many places in the city’s cozy cafes and restaurants.

The old town of Valencia is one of the largest in Spain, and the district abounds with beautiful buildings. Here you will find everything from old churches and the city’s cathedral to beautiful squares, colossal city gates, fine museums and distinguished examples of the local modernista, which is contemporary to art nouveau.

Valencia is a city with some beautiful bridges that once spanned the river Turia, which today is diverted to a run south of the city. The redevelopment has given way to a lot of parks and recreation areas that meander through the city and under its bridges. In the area of the old riverbed, you can also see the famous City of Arts and Sciences, built in stunning modern architecture.

About the Whitehorse travel guide

Contents: Tours in the city + tours in the surrounding area
Published: Released soon
Author: Stig Albeck
Publisher: Vamados.com
Language: English

About the travel guide

The Whitehorse travel guide gives you an overview of the sights and activities of the Canadian city. Read about top sights and other sights, and get a tour guide with tour suggestions and detailed descriptions of all the city’s most important churches, monuments, mansions, museums, etc.

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Gallery

Gallery

Other Attractions

Mercat Colon, Valencia

Colón Market
Mercat Colón

Mercat Colón is a beautiful and atmospheric market that was built 1914-1916. The market building stands today as one of the main works of Valencian Art Nouveau. It was Francesc Mora in Berenguer who designed the market building with its many beautiful details.

The market was built to meet the demand in the Eixample neighborhood and the result was Mora in Berenguer’s magnificent market, where historicism and modernism are part of the experience. Today there are, among other things, shops and restaurants where you can enjoy a good meal and the beautiful surroundings.

 

Saint John’s Market Church
Església de Sant Joan del Mercat

Església de Sant Joan del Mercat is a church in central Valencia, which was built in the 13th century in its original form on a site where a mosque had been located in the previous Moorish era. The church was built in the contemporary Gothic style, but fires in both the 14th and 16th centuries made several reconstructions necessary.

The appearance of the current church dates from the 17th century, and it is an expression of the exuberant baroque of the time. There are elements left from the former church, which for example applies to the bricked-up rose window. On the facade you can see, among other things, sculpture groups and statues, and when you enter the church room, there are statues that symbolize Israel’s twelve tribes as part of the impressive decoration.

 

Estacio del Nord, Valencia

North Railway Station
Estació del Nord

Estació del Nord or North Station is Valencia’s main station. It opened in 1917 with an exterior and interior in distinguished Valencian Art Nouveau. The railway station is still in use and has been supplemented by the Valencia-Joaquín Sorolla station, which increased capacity with tracks for the fast AVE trains.

Estació del Nord is one of the main works of the regional art nouveau, and therefore the building is very worth seeing, even if you are not interested in railways. You can almost fall in awe of the countless and well-preserved details in the decoration. The name of the station does not come from its location in the city, but rather from the railway company Caminos de Hierro del Norte de España, which built the station.

 

Valencia Bullring
Plaça de Bous de València

Plaça de Bous is Valencia’s bullring, which was built 1850-1859 in neoclassical style. It was designed by local architect Sebastián Monleón Estellés with a capacity of over 16,000 spectators and inspiration came from Roman architecture such as the Colosseum in Rome and the arena in Nîmes, France.

When the bullring opened, it was outside the city’s then city walls. It was built as a modern building with the use of, among other things, cast iron, which made parts of the construction more open than traditional to the delight of the spectators. Today, the capacity has been limited to just over 10,000 visitors, making Plaça de Bous de València one of the largest arenas in Spain.

 

Valencia City Hall

City Hall
Ajuntament

Ajuntament er Valencias fine rådhusbygning, der har været sæde for byrådet siden 1934. Rådhuset står som en af de smukke bygningsværker på byens store rådhusplads, Plaça de l’Ajuntament, hvor man også kan se andre imponerende opførelser som fx byens hovedposthus.

Rådhuset består af to bygningsdele, idet selve bygningen er en forhenværende skole, som der blev opført en ny facade på, da bygningen blev indrettet som rådhus. Rådhuset blev en del af den spanske borgerkrig 1936-1937, da Cortes Generales i den anden spanske republik havde sæde her sammen med byrådet.

 

General Post Office
Edificio de Correos

Edificio de Correos is Valencia’s grand main post office building, located in the city’s town hall square. The post building is an impressive structure that was completed in 1923 after eight years of construction. The post office was part of the modernization of the then Spanish postal service.

It was Zaragoza architect Miguel Ángel Navarro who designed the building in a beautiful eclectic style with elements of Valencian modernism. It became a monumental building that symbolized the progress that the post office represented in the 1900s.

Inside you can enjoy the impressive domed hall with the coats of arms of Spain’s provinces, and outside you can notice the building’s characteristic metal tower. There are also several other details in the decoration, such as facade figures that show the world’s continents, ships and trains as symbols of mail delivery worldwide.

 

Porta de Quart, Valencia

Quart Gate
Porta dels Quart

Porta dels Quart is one of the once 12 city gates in Valencia’s city walls, built at the end of the 14th century. The gate was built in the middle of the 15th century and stands as one of the city’s only preserved parts of the old fortifications, which the provincial governor Cirilio Amorós had demolished in 1865.

There were threats from Islamic forces and floods from the Turia River, which meant that the city walls were extended and the city gates fortified, as was the case with the Porta dels Quart. The great gate was built from 1441, and it was completed in 1493. The gate’s towers were used as a defense of the city and later as a women’s prison.

 

Serrans Gate
Porta dels Serrans

Porta dels Serrans is one of Valencia’s preserved city gates from the 1390s. There were a total of 12 gates in the now demolished city wall around the then Christian city. The old walls were demolished in 1865 by order of the provincial governor Cirilio Amorós, and only a few parts were preserved.

The impressive gate is one of them, and it was built in the Valencian Gothic style in the years 1392-1398 by Pere Balaguer. The Porta dels Serrans was the main entrance to the city, and it was built as a fortified entrance, which was also used for major ceremonies. From 1586 to 1887, the towers of the gate were used as a prison, and today there is access to the building.

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