A Walk Through Valencia's Old City

We had already seen many of the historic sights within the Old City of Valencia, but there was still much to see.  Today we took a long walk of several hours and saw more of the incredible architecture of this fascinating city.

Our first stop was the Church of Santa Catalina.  The church was built in the 14th century, and the interior is Gothic with very little decoration.  The bell tower was not added until the 18th century and is Baroque in style.  The slender tower is one of the city's prominent landmarks, and is referred to as the "wife" of the stouter but equally tall Cathedral bell tower a few blocks away.

We then continued on to the Cathedral with its distinctive octagonal bell tower.  The Cathedral was begun in 1238 on the site of a Moslem mosque shortly after the Christians reconquered the city from the Moors.  The Cathedral was built in the Gothic style, but over the centuries many other architectural styles were added.  The main altar is exceptionally beautiful.  Of special interest are the paintings of angels on the ceiling above the altar.  For several centuries they had been covered by later decorations.  Recently they were uncovered and restored to their former glory.

We decided to climb the spiral flight of stairs to the top of the bell tower.  The tower is known as "Micalet", and provides a wonderful view of the city.  The largest bell, known as "Miguel", is at the top.  We were there at noon, and the sound of the ringing bell is nearly deafening.

(photo taken by Phyllis)

Just behind the Cathedral is another important church, the Basilica of "Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados" (Our Lady of the Helpless).  The Basilica was begun in 1652, and is dedicated to the city's patron saint.  The lavish interior is done in Baroque style.

From the Basilica we continued on to the Torres de Serrano, one of the medieval city gates which once provided access into the walled city.  The gate was built in 1394.  It later was used as a jail, and for that reason it was not torn down along with the city walls in the 1800s.

Beyond the gate an old bridge crosses the former course of the Turia River.  (I will discuss in tomorrow's post what happened to the river.)  Yet another lovely church, the Church of Santa Mónica, beckoned us to cross to the other side.

It was extremely good luck that we happened to go over to the church at that moment.  A high mass for a religious feast day had just concluded, and there were musicians and dancers in traditional Valencian attire performing in front of the church.