On January 12, 1937, the first bombing of the Civil War took place on Valencia. Between that date and April 1, 1939, when the war ended, our city suffered more than 400 bombings. Many of these attacks were carried out by Italian aviation and navy, an ally of the national side. A total of 800 people were killed during these raids, around 3,000 wounded and more than 900 buildings destroyed in just over two years.

As the bombings became more and more frequent, the main measure taken by the Passive Defence Board in Valencia was the construction of numerous air-raid shelters, many of them in the city centre. According to some studies, the city had more than 250 air-raid shelters, whether public or private, whose main function was to cushion the impacts of the projectiles.

The Refuge on Carrer Dalt, on the corner with Calle Ripalda, located in the heart of the Carmen neighborhood, had an area of 362 square meters in which about 600 people could take refuge.

It is a model of shelter that is formed by a rectangle supported by nine central columns, which still retains its ventilation chimneys.

Nowadays the visitor can easily recognize it walking along Calle Dalt, since it preserves on its façade the word REFUGIO, with its original signage in Art Deco typography. Two arrows, located one on each side, mark their entrances, which in the shelters used to be as far away as possible, to make it difficult for both to be destroyed by a bomb.

This shelter was abandoned for many years. In the 50s it was used as a home for the homeless, and after the flood of 1957 it was used as a fallero house. Declared Good of Local Relevance.



Dades bàsiques

Direcció:

Calle de Dalt, 37,
46003 Valencia