Paris1972-Versailles2003

And after so many years was able to be back to Valencia. If read my blog when a boy used to come from Madrid to visit my aunt here at El Saler just south of Valencia. Of course, the tours always included a visit to the city. Wind up the clock and once living in France, the idea of Spain so close looms big and I took them there. They like it and we road warrior all over including a stop in Valencia. Let me tell you in my black and white series, no pictures , a bit more on this city updating an older post.  Therefore, here is my take on curiosities of Valencia , part I !!! . Hope you enjoy the post as I

And coming back to Valencia, literally after so many years was a blast of remembering game with my mother. Until later come back with my dear late wife Martine and sons. It is always another sweet spot for me in my beloved Spain. It is a nice city to visit by the Mediterranean Sea and the neighborhood of Carmen is glorious indeed. We really enjoyed the market or Mercado Central. However, I like to tell you about the history I like on this post.

Valencia a city by the mediterranean sea founded in 138BC by Roman consul Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus with the name of Valentia Edetanorum which later in the middle ages became the capital of the kingdom of Valencia. It’s old town area is the most extensive in all of Spain, 169 hectares! The main motorways of Valencia have a radial route, such as the V-21, the V-31, the 
A-3 (the one to go from Madrid), the V-15/CV-500, the CV-35 or the CV-36. But Valencia also has a series of beltway roads around it, you are the by-pass, the V-30, which joins the  A-7 with the city port, or the CV-30, which borders the north area of the city. The International Airport is located about 8 km west of Valencia, on the territories of the towns of Manises and Poblet. The metro/Subway/tube network of Valencia is the third oldest in Spain after Madrid and Barcelona. The Port of Valencia is one of the ports managed by the Port Authority of Valencia (Valenciaport) ;the passenger Terminal of the Port of Valencia is managed by the shipping company Acciona Transmediterranea and has all the necessary services to meet the demand of cruise ship owners: assistance to the crew, gangways for direct access to ships, passenger parking, gift shops, duty free, etc.

Valencia has two urban beaches of golden sand, Las arenas and the beach of Malvarrosa,  which are bounded by south the 
Port of Valencia and north the beach Patacona Alboraya. They are urban beaches, which have a large promenade where there are many large premises, which occupy old public baths, and offer a wide choice of accommodations and local cuisine. There are other beaches like those of Pinedo, with the area of the black house where the beach is nudist, of Perellonet, of Recatí and the Gola del Perello, more than 15 km of coasts of sand (protected by dunes), which constitute an offer of large beaches , in the heart of the
Albufera Natural Park. A must the beaches, Malvarrosa and Las Arenas are right in the city easy.

The natural park of the Albufera has 21 120 hectares located just 10 km south of the city on the way to El Saler which is right on the tip of it. The park includes the Lake Albufera. Its environment is humid, and adjacent to both the coastal strip. The marshes of Rafalell and Vistabella, with an area of 103 hectares, is one of the last marshes that extends to the north of the river Turia at Alboraya Sagunto, which shoots the groundwater and the irrigation.  La Horta of Valencia (vegetable garden) was born in the Roman Empire , but what is really today the Horta of Valencia was developed in the Middle Ages, during the Arabic period.  Arabs have created an extensive network of irrigation infrastructures: irrigation canals; Wells; and small dams. This network is derived from the canals of the Turia and allows to the formation of marshes carrying large amounts of water to the irrigation fields, and rice, and paella !!

The old Plaza de la Aduana is now Plaça d’Alfons el Magnanim or Plaza Alfonso el Magnánimo, a large green space located in the heart of the city, opposite the Porta de la Mar . The gardens created in 1850 made up of large magnolia and aucaria trees, palm trees, giant ficus, and numerous botanical species. Among the vegetation there are numerous sculptures and busts, as well as an ornamental pond with aquatic plants and a fountain dedicated to Neptune. A very monumental cast iron statue presides over this square, dedicated to Jaime I the Conqueror, done in 1857 the sixth centenary of his death. Finally, it will be in 1891 said statue was located in the Parterre. King Jaime I  the Conqueror, very much in the local fabric; he was  Jaime I de Aragon el  Conquistador ( Born Montpellier France in 1208 and died in Alcira in 1276) He was king of Aragon (1213-1276), of Valencia (1238-1276 and Mallorca (1229-1276), Count of Barcelona (1213-1276), Count of  Urgel,Lord of Montpellier (1219-1276),and other places in Occitania (covering France and Spain). Since it was built, the Parterre gardens have not undergone major changes. The Riada of 1957 forced to rebuild the garden; of the four ponds it had, only one remains.

The Mercado Central and the Colom market (see posts) are built, and in 1921 the work of the current València-Nord train station is completed. In 1936, during the Spanish Civil War, Valencia became the capital of Republican Spain until 1939. The City of Arts and Sciences carried out by Santiago Calatrava, sports facilities  such as Gulliver Park. The city also has several museums, including the Valencian Institute of Modern Art (IVAM).  The City of Arts and Sciences revolves around six buildings, including a shady garden, the l’umbracle, and the Oceanogràfic, a oceanarium. A zoological park of 8 hectares, the Biopark Valencia, takes place in the west of the city.  Other nice buildings are the St Mary’s Cathedral,(see post)  Micalet steeple of the cathedral Church of Santa Catalina , the Borgia Palace, and St. Nicholas and St. Peter’s Church.(see posts)

The royal Chapel of the Virgin of the Forsaken, (Real Capilla de la Virgen de los Desamparados) with Basilica category from 1872, was made between 1652 and 1666 the temple dedicated to Saint Catherine Martyr, located in the Plaza Virgen de la Paz, rose on a previous mosque and in 1245 had already acquired the rank of parish Church. The old hermitage was erected before 1240 on the mosque in the newly erected temple preached St. Vincent Ferrer and there offered his first sermon on the day of St. John the Baptist.  The Church of San Juan del Hospital was the first church built in Valencia, behind the cathedral, as a priory of the Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. St. Mary’s Cathedral of Valencia  is a must.

The Monasterio de San Miguel de los Reyes isan important work of the Valencian renaissance that according to some authors can be considered as precedent of the monastery of El Escorial, being like this, Jerónimo Monastery, cultural focus and church commemorative of the memory of its Founder. The first stone was placed in 1548 by the bishop and  Fernando of Aragon, Duke of Calabria. The construction of the monastery lasted during the 17C, beginning the church of the monastery from 1601 in 1821 the disentailment of the liberal three years abolished the Jerónima community in 1835 the definitive secularization is produced, passing the monastery ,and their properties at the hands of the state. It is now the home of the Valencian library or Biblioteca Valenciana. Located in the Avenida de la Constitucion.

There were crosses, which in the Crown of Aragon were used to be called peirones and in other places wayside shrines, were located in the paths to mark the limits of the city ; the one cross covering the Camino Real de Játiva, is still visible on the  current Calle San Vicente. It is a gothic work carried out in the year 1376 (14C) by an unknown author. Between the years 1432 and 1435 (15C) ,it was renovated the cross on behalf of the factory (Fàbrica) of Murs and Valls, and in the 16C the temple restored itself and in 1898 (19C) it was carried out a complete reconstruction of the work.

The building of La Lonja de la Seda is a masterpiece of the Valencian Civil Gothic located in the historical center of the city; Gothic-Renaissance style is the Palacio de Benicarló, the current headquarters of the Valencian courts. This building is an aristocratic mansion, which was built in the 15C as a residence of the Borja family in the capital of the ancient kingdom of Valencia. Between the years 1485 and 1520, adaptation activities of several pre-existing buildings were carried out, as well as the construction of the stone staircase of the patio the palace of the Valencian government is also a building late gothic with interventions Renaissance dating back to the 15C. The construction of the palace began in the year 1421, expanding in the 16C. In 1831 the territorial courts hearing was installed, which in 1922 became the provincial council.  The towers of Serranos are one of the twelve gates that guarded the old wall of the city of Valencia. Las Torres de Quart, a pair of twin towers, also formed part of the medieval wall that surrounded the old town of Valencia, whose function was defend the city. These towers are located at the intersection of Calle Guillén de Castro with Calle Quart.

The Palace of the Marquis de Dos Aguas ( two waters), as it is known today, is the product of a radical reform carried out on the old manor house of the Rabassa of Perellós, holders of the marquis of Dos Aguas, in the decade of 1740 (18C) in a Rococo style houses the National Museum of Ceramics and the arts sumptuary González Martí with one of the most important collection of ceramics in Spain and Europe.In 1914 it became the seat of the Palace of Justice the Plaza Redonda, of singular round perimeter, was built in 1840 ,and is located next to the Church of Santa Catalina and the Plaza de la Virgen, in the historical center of the City.

 In Valencia, there is also a bullfighting museum, founded in 1929 with funds from the gift of Luis Moróder Peiró and the bullfighter José Bayard Babu, who for years gathered a large number of materials and objects from the 19C  to early 20C of  Valencia. The bullring of Valencia was built between the years 1850 and 1860 (19C) on the site of a previous square that because of budget problems was never finished. It is neoclassical, inspired by Roman civil architecture. 

The Ayuntamiento or city hall of Valencia integrates in a slightly trapezoidal block  two constructions of period and style well differentiated: the Casa de Enseñanza or house of Teaching, built by the initiative of the Archbishop Don Andrés Mayoral, between 1758 and 1763; and the building body (the main façade), made between the second and third decades of the  20C in a marked modernist style another of the most important modernist buildings of Valencia is the Estacion del Norte or North station, built between the years 1906 and 1917 the building of the Mercado Central market is also another construction of Valencian modernist style and began to be built in the year 1914 ;the Mercado de Colón (where we parked underground parking!!!) is another clear example of Valencian modernism of the early 20C. This market was designed and built  between the years 1914 and 1916.

The Puente 9 de Octubre or 9th of October Bridge was built in the 1980’s by the then still not recognized Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava, by the Bridge of the exhibition (Puente de la Exposicion) and the metro station of the Alameda, which is located under the old channel of the river Turia to which you have to go down to access the station. These works were inaugurated in the year 1995 the complex of the City of Arts and Sciences, also designed by Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela, one of the most popular areas of the city. Since,  1998 when the hemispheric (Hemisférico) was inaugurated, and in 2009 with the opening of the Agora. The Museum of Fine Arts St. Pius V and the IVAM (Institut Valencià d’Art Modern) , which are spaces in which permanent collections can be seen as well as temporary.

The botanical garden managed by the University of Valencia, the Royal garden or pots (Jardines Real) in the neighborhood of Pla del Real right where it was located the Royal Palace of Valencia (Palacio del Real de Valencia). Along the vast and nice Paseo de la Alameda you reach it from the sea, today it has a bit over a km walk between the Puente del Real and the Puente de Aragon bridges. The promenade without garden goes for 2,5 km from Plaza Zaragoza to Grao Cemetery. The parterre lawn or Plaza de Alfonso the Magnanimous was built on some existing plots in the old Customs square (Plaza de la Aduana), more or less in the year 1850, since its creation the garden has undergone very few variations, emphasizing fundamentally that due to the flood of 1957 which damaged this garden, thereby changing its morphology. The gardens of Saveros (which include the gardens of Montroy), the Jardín de Monforte  or the gardens of the Túria, former bed of the river Túria, which was deviated from the city center in the 1960’s after the Last flood of 1957. The Oceanogràfico, a oceanarium, a zoological park of 8 hectares, the Biopark Valencia, takes place west of the city by the Turia river too.

Main festivities in Valencia in my opinion are: From March 15 to March 19 the days and nights in Valencia are a continuous party, but since March 1 are shot every day at 14h (2pm)  the popular Mascletás. Fallas is a party with an entrenched tradition in the city of Valencia and different populations of the Valencian Community .yes the Fallas!  Easter  has its prolongation with the festivity in honor of St. Vincent Ferrer,(who also is a revered Saint in Brittany and his body rests at the St Peters Cathedral of Vannes!)  Patron of the community canonized by the Pope Calixto III (Alfonso Borja, Spanish). This day is customary to visit the birthplace of the saint (currently a chapel), where it is “the Pouet of Sant Vicent” of which the children are given to drink ,so that they speak soon, they do not suffer from angina, they do not swear false or they are blasphemous. And of course ,when in Valencia is the time to eat Paella, the original and always the best , the dish of Valencia  , which was originally a humble dish cooked by the inhabitants of the swamp of Albufera mainly of chicken, rabbit, duck, snails, legumes and fresh vegetables (later many variations have come forward). A legend ,I was told by the elders is that the name PAELLA is a contraction on how we speak cutting letters to speak faster so Para Ella or For Her became pa’ella and it was the fisherman out to sea for days to bring the food in to the families and the wives stayed behind to do everything else…One day a fisherman decided that they should all gathered their catch and prepare a dish for the wives, so they did and when a name was called, simply stayed well it is for them/her so PAELLA. I stick to this version.

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

The city of Valencia on its history/heritage: https://www.valencia.es/cas/la-ciudad

The Autonomus community of Valencia region on Valencia city: https://www.comunitatvalenciana.com/en/valencia/valencia

To give you a bit on the area where I spent my early teens years at El Saler ,and the beautiful  Albufera Natural Park , the real home of the Paella Valenciana.

The Valencia tourist office on the beach of El Saler: https://www.visitvalencia.com/en/what-to-see-valencia/beaches-in-Valencia/beaches-on-the-outskirts/el-saler-beach

The Valencia tourist office on the National Park of Albufera: https://www.visitvalencia.com/en/what-to-see-valencia/albufera-natural-park

The National Park of Albufera can be reach from Valencia on bus 25 taken at Plaza Puerta del Mar and takes you to El Perello or El Palmar . By road from Valencia take the CV 500 road from the Arts and Science complex it is the V15  cross the Turia river becomes the CV 500 to El Saler and the forest or bosque La Devesa. A better private webpage on the Albufera in English : https://www.lovevalencia.com/en/albufera-valencia.html

There you go folks, another dandy in my beloved Spain all dearly worth the detour. Or as we said in the 80’s, Spain ,everything under the Sun! Again,hope you enjoy this post on curiosities of Valencia, part I  !!! as I.

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