Paris1972-Versailles2003

The black and white revise posts continue in my quest to provide in my blog up to date information on all my travels; a big task but easy does it. Hope you are enjoying them and thank you for reading in my black and white series, no pictures.  This time I bring you to this is Valencia !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

It has been visited in my early teen when family were still in the area, and now many many years later came back to Valencia. It is a major city of Spain and many many things to see which our time could not possibly allowed for all. Nevertheless, well planned I think we hit the main areas that needed  to be visited and might encourage others to do the same; we will be back. And we did years later…

We came in by car on the A3 expressway  passing the viaduc de Buñol,  and getting by the Torres de Quarts and the Puente de las Artes straight to our underground parking garage as planned, this was the parking empart Colon at Carrer del Comte Salvatierra de Alava, 24 underneath the great Mercado Colon. From there, we move on by foot to visit as much as the main sights as possible.  Walking is always better than public transport for us;once we parked our car. They were many and we did pretty well and seeing them, we came back years later to see more, see the pictures in their posts.

A bit of history I like tell us that in 711, the city was taken by the Arabs/Moors. Abd al-Allah, the son of Abd al-Rahman I, (first Emir of Cordoba), settled in Balansiya (name of the city in Arabic) and exercised his authority over the region of Valencia.  The Arabs imported their language, religion and customs, but coexistence with Hispanic people is done in a peaceful way. The assimilation of the indigenous population to the Muslim religion and the Arab culture was very rapid, since it was estimated that by the end of the 10C, Christians and Jews represented only 10% of the population. Within the taifa of the Amirides (descendants of Almanzor), Valencia is a city with an important influence.

Here comes the story of El Cid or Rodrigo , who was then staying in Zaragoza, besieges Valencia and takes over the city in July 1093. A skillful politician or warrior, Rodrigo does not seem to have aspired to exercise power directly. The arrival of a Almoravid army sent by Emir Youssef Ibn-Tashfin led the Valencians to shake the yoke again. As the Almoravids ran out of food without an arrow being  fired, Rodrigo besieged the city again. After vainly awaiting the arrival of reinforcements, Valencia, decimated by hunger, capitulates on June 15, 1094. Rodrigo allied with Pedro I of Aragon and Raimond-Berenguer III of Barcelona with the aim of curbing the constant progression of the Almoravid. In 1096, the great mosque was transformed into a church. Then, in 1097, Jérôme de Périgord, acclaimed and elected by the chapter, consecrated by the hand of the Roman Pontiff, was named Bishop of the city. Rodrigo continued to consolidate his power on the Levant, notably with the capture of Murviedro (Sagunto), in 1098, Rodrigo El  Cid died in Valencia on July 10, 1099. Chimenea his wife succeeded in defending the city with the help of his son-in-law Raimond-Berenguer III Count of Barcelona, until 1101 when King Alfonso VI of Castilla ordered the evacuation of the city. From 1102, the family of the El Cid and his companions abandoned the city to the Almoravids. Valencia will only be recaptured definitively from the Arabs moors in 1238, by king Jaime I of Aragon. In 1391, the Christians forced the jewish to convert to Christianism or face death;by 1456 the Muslims face the same dilemma. The 15C is known as the golden age of Valencian culture, and since 1437 the Holy Chalise is preserved in the Cathedral of Valencia.

From the 15C to the 19C , the days and nights in Valencia become a continuous feast. The Fallas  with very humble origins because they come from the night of San Jose (St Joeph) when we burned the waste of the carpentry workshops. However, the inventiveness of the Valencian people has added all the features peculiar to its culture and history.

In the war of Independence vs Napoleon’s invasion,the first battle took place on 28 june 1808 and you can still see the canons shots in the tower of Quart and lower base on fields around it. The city felled under command of Marshal Suchet on January 8 1812 after a long siege  and lasted until the end of the war in 1814.  In 1936 during the Spanish Civil War Valencia becomes the capital of Republican Spain until 1939. There is so much to see in Valencia city alone, its incredible. You really several days here. I have some individual posts on the things to see and do in Valencia, take a look,

The Valencia tourist office: https://www.visitvalencia.com/en

The city of Valencia with monuments link: http://www.valencia.es/ayuntamiento/infociudad_accesible.nsf/vListadoCategoriasWeb/AC7B33289E52608DC12572C200225556?OpenDocument&bdOrigen=&idapoyo=&nivel=15&lang=1

The Community of Valencia region on Valencia: https://www.comunitatvalenciana.com/en/valencia/valencia

There you go you are now all updated and all set to see the best of Valencia me think, and do see the individual posts on these monuments. Again, hope you enjoy this post on this is Valencia as I

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!