Old Monastery of Sant Miquel dels Reis

This ancient monastery, current seat of the Valencian Library, It also houses the Valencian Academy of Language, the General Department of Books, Archives and Libraries, the Intellectual Property Register of the Valencian Community and the Consortium for the restoration, conservation and use of the Monastery of Sant Miquel dels Reis. The Hieronymous monastery of San Miguel de los Reyes was built in the sixteenth century on the old Mercedarian abbey of San Bernardo de Rascanya, thanks to the patronage of the Duke of Calabria, viceroy of Valencia. The building was begun in 1546 by the southern cloister, following plans by Juan de Vidaña and Alonso de Covarrubias, but shortly after the death of its founder, in 1550, the works were practically paralyzed.

They did not resume until the 1570s, now under the clear influence of the Escorial. Crossing the entrance door we find ourselves directly in front of the façade of the church, a Renaissance façade-altarpiece framed by two towers and to which Baroque Solomonic columns were added at the top. The temple was built in the first decades of the seventeenth century with a single nave, a large choir high at the feet, almost as large as that of El Escorial, and a dome over the transept. The monastery also has two severe cloisters, surrounded by arched galleries only adorned by attached columns and balustrades at the top. Sold after the confiscation, it was about to be demolished, but the city council prevented it. In 1856 he was assigned to an asylum, and from 1859 to the 50s of the twentieth century he served as a prison, a period that was followed by a long abandonment. Today, happily rehabilitated, it is the headquarters of the Valencian Library.

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