Free Tour in Valencia and Coming Home Early!!

Friday March 13 was a mixed sun and cloud day with a high of 18C.  We headed out to meet our Free Tour at Plaza de la Virgen.

Walking there, we noticed a lot of crochet pieces on government buildings.

Lots of crochet

Even the police station had crochet

Plaza de la Virgen was a large Plaza with a number of buildings around the square.  It also had a large fountain in the middle.

Crochet on building on the square

We met up with the tour.  Only seven people.  Helene, our Tour Guide, said that one week ago there were 30 people on her tour.  COVID-19 and the cancellation of the Las Fallas festival is taking its toll.  She gave us a brief history of Valencia.  She talked about the period of religious tolerance between Christians, Muslims and Jews and the subsequent persecution of Jews and Muslims.  The Christians reconquered Valencia from the Muslims in 1238 and while there was peaceful coexistence for a while, persecution of the other religions ramped up in the 15th century.

Helene told us that Valencia is a bilingual city and that often streets have signage in both Spanish and Valencian.  Maps can often be confusing as some have street names in Spanish and others in Valencian.  She also told us that Valencia is the capital of the province of Valencia and since 1982 is part of the autonomous Valencian Community which consists of three provinces: Castellón in the north, Valencia in the middle and Alicante in the south.  Valencia, the city, is also capital of the Community.  The Regional government is responsible for health, education and tourism.

She told us about the Turia Fountain, which represents the Turia River and depicts Neptune.   The Turia River is a major River that also used to run through the city.  After it flooded in 1957, it was diverted and the old course has been turned into a central Greenspan known as the Jardines del Turia.  The River still flows outside the city and has eight tributaries.

Turia Fountain in the Plaza

We walked over to the Apostle doors leading to the Valencia Cathedral.  Helena told us about the weekly meetings of the "Water Tribunal of the Plain of Valencia" held at noon in front of the Door of the Apostles.  Declared as Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO, the "Water Tribunal"is the oldest working judicial institution in Europe!!!  It has eight members appointed for life from the areas around the eight tributaries of the Turia River that feed the agricultural area around Valencia.  They decide issues of water distribution.  Helene said that the meetings are usually very short, but every once in a while there is an issue.  She said there are no appeals from the Tribunal's decisions.  Ah, reminds me of my days chairing complex hearings under British Columbia's Water Act.

The meeting that was scheduled to be held on March 12, the day before our tour, was cancelled.  It was the first time the Tribunal's weekly meeting had been cancelled since the Civil War!!  A notice we saw at their headquarters building, which is across from the Apostle doors,  indicated that the meetings would not be held in the near future, due to COVID-19.

View of Apostle Doors, named for the carving of the 12 apostles adorning the entry; the Cathedral tower (built between 1381 and 1424) is on the right (known as the Miguelete). 

Apostle Doors where the Tribunal usually meets

Showing us a picture of the Tribunal

The Valencia Cathedral is built on the site of a Roman temple, later a mosque and it dates back to the 13th century.  The mix of architectural styles can been seen in its three doors.  The Puerta de los Apóstles is Gothic.  We would return to the other doors at the end of the tour.  Most of the Cathedral was built between the 13th and 15th century.  However, its construction went on for centuries. There is documentary evidence that for some decades after the Christian conquest of the city (1238), the mosque-cathedral remained standing, even with the Koranic inscriptions on the walls, until June 22, 1262, when the then bishop resolved to knock it down and build a new cathedral in its place.

We walked over to the Basilica de la Virgen de Los Desamparados where our Guide told us a long story about the importance of the Virgin Mary to Valencia.  The first story involved how the statue of the Virgin Mary (which had her lying down) was placed on top of people who died during the Plague so their souls would go to heaven, prior to their bodies being thrown outside the city walls.  Not a pleasant story.  In later years, the Virgin Mary statue was placed in an upright position but still had a slightly bowed head.  These two stories were allegedly pictured on one of the doors of the Basilica.

Virgin Mary statue placed on dead body (left) and raised in right panel

We then went into the Basilica to see the statue.  The Basilica is linked to the Cathedral by way of a Renaissance arch.  The Virgin is a Gothic sculpture covered with a robe and jewels.

Virgin Mary

Beautiful roof

We continued our walk and Helene explained that the crochet pieces were part of an International Women's Day installation.  Many Regional Government buildings and other public buildings had the crochet pieces installed.  We had already seen a crocheted piece at the MuVIM on Thursday.

Next we walked over to the other surviving City gate that was part of the old medieval city wall that was pulled down in 1865.  We had seen the Torres de Quart yesterday and the Gate we visited on the tour was the Torres de Serranos.  It was built between 1392-1398.  The Serranos Towers were used both as a defensive feature and a triumphal arch.  Helene told us that on the last Sunday in February the mayor welcomes all Valencians and visitors to Las Fallas and calls on them to begin the festivities.  Thousands of people gather across from the Tower for this event.

Back side of Serranos Tower

Other side

Picture of the opening of Las Fallas at the Sorranos Tower

We stopped at a small square with a fountain where people used to come to get water.  There are now a number of bars on the square.

Helene told us about the famous drink of Valencia- called Agua de Valencia.  Apparently, one can only order it in a litre size.  She showed us the recipe:  Gin and Vodka, sugar, fresh orange juice and cava.  It apparently has a real punch.

Recipe for Aqua de Valencia

The local drink

Helene told us about the meaning of the Coat of Arms of Valencia.  All the elements relate to the reconquest of Valencia by King Jaume I (James I) of Aragon on October 9, 1238.  Note the bat at the top.  She said there is a myth that a bat got caught in a drum at a Christian army encampment that was about to be attacked by the Muslims.  It woke the regiment up and they were able to withstand the attack.  There are other myths about the bat-- one is that a bat flew landed on the King's head when the King entered Valencia after 500 years of Muslim rule.  The other symbols are two Ls in yellow.  Helene told us that they stood for loyalty and were placed in the coat of arms after Valencia stayed loyal to King James I of Spain.  The L's come from the Latin for 'Honour' and 'Loyalty'.  The coat of arms and the famous bat (not Batman) are everywhere in the City.

Explaining the Coat of arms--- 

Coat of Arms detail on building

We stopped next at the Lonja de la Seda, the Silk Exchange, which is the city's most outstanding example of a building in the civil Gothic Style.  It was started in the 15th century and became an emblematic monument of the Valencian Golden Age.  It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996.  Our guide told us that before the erection of the Silk Exchange, silk used to be traded in front of church doors.  It is located right across from the Central Market.

Lonja de la Seda-- Silk Exchange

We next went to see the Gothic style Santa Catalina Church and Tower.  Its construction dates back to the 13th century.  It was built on the site of a prior mosque.  Most of the interior was rebuilt after a fire in 1548, in the baroque style.  It has an 18th century Baroque tower built on the site of a minaret.

Santa Catalina Church

There are some stores between the main section of the Church and the tower (on the right)

We walked over to the narrowest building in Valencia.  It is now an Airbnb.

Narrow building is the middle one in the picture

We ended up back at the Cathedral, where Helene told us the story of the three different doors of the Cathedral.  We had already visited the Gothic door.  The second door, the Puerta de los Hierros is Baroque.

Baroque door- "Door of the irons"

The third door, Puerta del Palau is Romanesque.  According to Helene, this door was originally the main door and the builders built it facing east as had been the style under Muslim rule (ie facing Mecca).  While this door was never dismantled, the Baroque door was constructed to become the main entrance.

Romanesque door facing east

Our last stop of the tour was back at the Gothic door.  Our guide pointed out the Star of David above the arched doorway.  She said that this was evidence of the how the three religions got along.  Not sure about this, as the Star of David was also used by Catholics in early days (at least according to our tour guide in Sevilla).

After the tour, we stopped back at the headquarters of the Tribunal de les Aigües ( The Water Tribunal).  There was a sign on the door which said that there would not be any more sessions until further notice.

Photo of the Water Tribunal outside their headquarters.  All old men as they are appointed for life..

We were able to peek inside the building.  The chairs of the eight members were in the entrance.  The chairs are taken outside every week and placed outside the Cathedral door for their weekly meetings.  Fascinating history!

The tribunal chairs inside the entrance of their building

The famous Valencia bat

After the tour we rushed back to the Central Mercado to get some chicken for dinner.  Luckily, we had bought vegetables on Thursday after we arrived.  The market was just closing up.  It seems the fish stalls close just after 2:00 p.m., meats by around 2:30 p.m. and the rest of the stalls are shut down by 3:00 p.m.  We were there just after 2:40 p.m.

We had been thinking more and more about changing our return home from Barcelona to an earlier date.  Our Tour Guide had told us she had been told not to handle maps or take cash directly from someone--- she opened her bag and let us take a map and give her the cash gratuity for the tour.  She reaffirmed that schools were all being closed for two weeks.

We dropped the food off at the apartment and first tried to change our flight on the Air Canada website.  It was proving difficult, so we decided to visit a travel agency to see if we could get help changing out plane ticket.  We found an agency not far from City Hall, but the agent was unable to help us rebook either our plane ticket to Toronto or our train ticket to Barcelona from Valencia.

Plaza del Ayuntamiento (City Hall) where they had been constructing a giant falla for Las Fallas festival

Someone put a face mask on--- this falla will ultimately be burned at the square but with no people around.

On the way back to the apartment to try and rebook our flights we stopped at the Santos Juanes church which we had a ticket to already.  The Royal Parrish had its origin in an old mosque reconverted into a hermitage around 1240.  It was one of the "foundational parishes" established in the city of Valencia after the Christian conquest.  It had an incredible baroque interior.  The audioguide was a bit tongue in cheek as it the narrator gave the history of the church and the restoration as if he was "the Church" telling its story.

Outside of Santos Juanes

Incredible interior

Paintings in the chapels

Capilla de Santa Rita

The audio explained that the dome with no decorations had been destroyed by fire during the Civil War and had not been able to be restored or repaired.   Another section of the ceiling had a restoration done digitally from a picture from the mid 1930s.

Very eerie

Baroque splendor

The 12 tribes represented in the Church, with apostles over them

More detail

Golden splendour

Small chapel with beautiful ceiling

We decided that before we headed back to the apartment we would stop at  Boatella Tapas for a few treats at the end of the day.  We had a plate of fried artichokes (they were so good yesterday) and some very good fired anchovies.  The server at the bar recognised us from yesterday and came over to chat.  He said that all restaurants in Valencia and a number of other cities had been ordered closed at midnight for a two week period.  That was the tipping point for us.

Yum- fried anchovies and fried artichokes

Tapas galore

We went back to the apartment and changed out plane ticket from Barcelona to Toronto (via Frankfurt) to Monday March 16.  We will leave Valencia on Sunday March 15 and head to Barcelona by train.  We were able to change our hotel reservation to stay the one night of Sunday March 15.  We will still try and negotiate a refund of the other six nights that we had booked.  So far they will only give us a credit to be used until the end of the year.  However, it is more important to be able to get back to Toronto.  The situation in Spain is escalating fast with more cases of COVID-19 being diagnosed every day.

Our host has been very understanding and will give us a partial refund for the four nights we won't be staying in Valencia.  José also tried to help us change our train tickets, but he would have been on hold for hours, so we went to a train station (there are two in Valencia- one for fast trains (the one we arrived at) and one for slower trains and closer destinations, which was a short walk from the apartment.

En route to the train station-- streets lit up

Shades of the festival that was cancelled

Lovely decorations

 The Estación del Norte (the North Station) is only about a 15 minute walk from the apartment.  Opened in 1917, it is an elegant art nouveau building.   We were able to rebook our train tickets from Valencia to Barcelona on Sunday March 15, with only a slight increase in the fare due to Sunday travel.

Outside of Estación del Norte

Beautiful art nouveau interior and ceilings

More lights on the way back 

We headed back to the apartment for a very late chicken dinner.  It was a stressful day.