Royal Palace

The Royal in the Middle Ages it was formed by two bodies, one smaller with towers in the four corners where the primitive chapel was located, and another, larger, concentrated around two courtyards with rooms for public use and private rooms for the personal residence of the monarch. The main façade had a large door flanked by two powerful towers and a moat built in 1356 before the war with Castile.

The reign of Alfonso the Magnanimous was one of his most brilliant periods, when his wife, Queen Maria of Castile, took up residence here. Its rooms were located around the western tower of the façade and were near the chapel where the Holy Chalice was kept, brought to Valencia by the King in 1424 and later donated to the Cathedral, where it is venerated today. At this time the Kingdom Archives was located on the ground floor.

With the Austrians, the Palace was a sporadic royal residence, as the kings settled in Toledo and Madrid. However, the appointment of a viceroy for Valencia served to develop a small court in the Real, mainly with Germana de Foix and the Duke of Calabria, who installed his famous library here and formed a music chapel with about 40 members, whose compositions were collected in the Cançoner del Duc de Calabría.

In 1599 important reforms were undertaken for the wedding of Philip III with Margaret of Austria in Valencia, which remained between February and May in the Royal.

One of the most important reforms was that of 1645 on the occasion of the arrival of Philip IV to celebrate Cortes in Valencia. A classical portico was built with rectangular pillars and semicircular arches supporting an upper gallery with balconies that were used to watch festivities such as fireworks, equestrian parades, tournaments, etc.

With the Bourbons, it became dependent on the army, thus losing its character as a royal residence and was used to house administrative offices and a small garrison.

After its overthrow in 1810, this symbol of the Kingdom of Valencia was forgotten, its image being known only through some plans such as those of Mancelli, Tosca or Manuel Caballero. The year 1986, during the construction works of the North collector, the first archaeological remains of the Real appeared and later in the 2009 The excavations carried out by SIAM have brought to light and have highlighted the remains of the main façade of the Palace, with the original access flanked by two towers that can be visited in the Viveros gardens.