Our grand tour of southern Spain in a motorhome - Is Valencia worth visiting? January 22nd Day Seven

 Saturday 22nd  January day seven 

Is Valencia in southern Spain worth visiting?

We catch the metro into Valencia. A ten-minute walk to the tram station, a 20 mins journey to Colon and then a short walk to a tourist office where we collect maps and brochures and horrify the travel agent by telling her that we are only stopping for two days in a city which, according to her, needs at least five to do it justice. Not a good start with the locals!

Buying the tram tickets is easy, the machine has a button for English. An over-helpful local lady, who was trying her best to assist us, complicated our ticket purchasing experience by insisting she show us how to do it on the Spanish page and through mime. A kind gesture but we were sorting it before her intervention. It isn’t our first ‘foreign language ‘ or ‘buy a tram ticket’ rodeo. After all we managed to get around China!

Valencia – magical, welcoming, exciting, classy, cultured and adventurous. 

Our first stop in the old city is the Central market. Well worth the visit, stunning building and an amazing array of foodstuffs on sale, all in allotted sections of the building. The Spanish take their food buying very seriously. It’s an art form of discussion and observation, sniff testing and selection. Look up to admire the roof murals by the way; they tell you what section of the market you are in, just in case you have lost your powers of observation and olfactory senses.  

Cross the boulevard out back to enter La Lonja mercantile house. Now this is an extraordinary building with a fascinating history. Be suitably awestruck in the Room of Pillars where twisting stone columns rise some thirty feet or so to screw into the ceiling vaulted roof ribs. Apparently, it is all meant to represent a forest.

The original 1500's ceiling was painted as a night-time starry sky ...deep dark blue indigo skies and gilded twinkling stars. It must have looked magnificent. The building was started in 1483, its aim, to project a modern, wealthy, business focused face of the city to all its inhabitants and the rest of the world.  

Within the walled courtyard, go sit at the cool fountain area and pose for selfies under the stunning orange and lemon trees. Great splashes of colour against dark glossy green foliage.   Spiral staircases, exquisite architectural designs, all by renaissance master stonemasons; shiny marble floors, sculptured wall frescos and wooden ceilings of extraordinary carving - all once gilded and painted bright colours. Friezes with renaissance garlands, 28 ever vigilant gargoyles looking down on your every move.  A celebrated building and showcase built for the city at a time when trade was shifting from the Mediterranean towards the Atlantic. 

Don't miss the wooden ceiling in one room, described as ‘a renaissance cinema of the world’, with its gilded pictures and carvings that represented respect, greed, hate, love and much more. Images of Jesus, the King, the Pope and Moses; carvings capturing and reflecting the light. Flaming lions, ornate dragons, representations of stories brought from distant lands by travellers and merchants.  

Musicians and dancers, ceremonial warrior dances and weapons of the time. The instruction from city wealthy was simple. Construct the most expensive and ornate ceiling money can buy! And so the local craftsmen did.

A short stroll through the side streets full of boutique shops brings us to the cathedral with its ornate altar carvings, ceiling frescos and marble floors. Dont miss the tower with its 277 steps. By now I am OD’ing on gilt work. So much gold on display, I’m getting a headache from all that glinting and gleaming! An interesting attraction – The Holy Chalice! And now I quote from the card given to us at the chapel where this cup can be found

‘Archaeological studies, historical documents, the testimony of tradition, recent discoveries about the design and the inscription in the base, comparative analyses with other similar cups around the world, references from the ancient liturgy, various investigations from the distinct scientific disciplines, and even the legends of the Grail – all of these indicate it is perfectly plausible that the Holy Chalice of Valencia was in the hands of Jesus Christ at the Last Supper, and that it contained the Most Precious Blood of the Redeemer. In contrast, there is no evidence that counters this position’

Make of that what you will! Apparently, without a doubt, it is a Palestine artefact, crafted in the first century A.D.  – an example of a Jewish ‘Blessing Cup’ and the Cathedral clergy would have it, there is a traceable lineage of history to this cup that puts it in the hands of Jesus. It is certainly a beautiful artefact, for sure.

 Beyond the cathedral is one of the two remaining tower gates. Free entry, you get good views across the roof tops. An interesting history, especially its role during the civil war, where national treasures from Madrid's museums were stored for safety; there are lots of steep staircases and few handrails, so you will need a head for heights.

Now one of Maggie's hobbies and interests is textiles and quilting. So, we sauntered down to the Silk Museum, which turned out to be quite fascinating. A great insight into the guilds of renaissance Valencia and how the city was planned and split into districts and quarters based on employment and crafts. Examples of some exquisite silk cloths, old dresses and other costumes through the ages, model and real weaving looms. Great discourse about silk worm breeding. I personally came away with a deeper understanding and respect for the crafting skills of textile weavers. Fascinating stuff. 

The National Museum of Ceramics was amazing and is far more than just dishes! Ornate coaches, huge ceramic plates, modern pottery, ceramic dressing tables and mirrors, stupendous hand painted art work, elaborately decorated rooms and ceilings. It's free entry after 4pm. My favourite exhibit? The ceramic spinning Globe of course. You can take the geography teacher out of the classroom but not the geography out of .... never mind! 😁

Throw in oodles of people watching as well. A protest against fossil fuel use in one of the main Plaza's, watching people shopping, strolling, meeting up with friends. The Spanish live life that's for sure. 
A good first day of our southern Spain grand tour then. A very positive impression of Valencia too. 

PS: if you order a ‘hot chocolate’ – just be aware – it really is hot chocolate – as in very melted and gloopy real chocolate! Came as a bit of a surprise – welcomed – but still a ‘surprise’!

 Useful information:

You will need at least two days to do the main sights of Valencia. We didn’t get anywhere near the various art museums, or the absolutely architecturally amazing science museums down near the water front, called ‘Hemisferic’. We slipped up not visiting the Valencian equivalent of the ‘Cisten Chapel’, San Nicolas Church. And we didn’t experience the exciting nightlife either! Give yourself three days, minimum! By the way, tourist offices have really useful guide leaflets listing all the attractions!

https://www.visitvalencia.com/en

https://www.spain.info/en/destination/valencia/Hemisferic