Glorieta – Santa Catalina

We start the first section of our route in an emblematic monument of Valencia: the Church of Santa Catalina, one of the first churches built in the city after its conquest in 1238. Built in a Mediterranean Gothic style, it has subsequently undergone different interventions, among which the construction of its famous baroque tower stands out.

In front of Santa Catalina opens the Street of Peace, one of the most representative urban reforms of the nineteenth century in Valencia, which connects the Plaza de la Reina with the Gardens of the Glorieta and the Parterre.

The Parterre is on the right coming along Calle de la Paz, almost arriving at Plaza Puerta del Mar. It is one of the most significant gardens in Valencia, built in the mid-nineteenth century. To highlight its huge ficus, which reaches a height of 24 meters, and the statue of King Jaume I, which watches over the entire park.

For their part, the Gardens of the Glorieta, or simply the Glorieta for most Valencians, began to be built during the time of the War of Independence. These popular gardens have undergone several modifications and reconstructions throughout their history, such as the one that had to be carried out after the flood of 1957.

Surrounded by the Glorieta and the Parterre we find the Superior Court of Justice of the Valencian Community, which has its headquarters in the Palace of Justice. It was built in the eighteenth century as an old customs house to filter the trade that came from the sea. It is recommended to take a look at the spectacular neoclassical staircase inside.

From Plaça Porta del Mar, and next to the Palace of Justice, starts Carrer de Colón, the main axis of the Eixample, built on the old wall. Shopping centres, shops and modernist court buildings abound. At the entrance to the Colón metro station have been integrated the remains of the Door of the Jews that appeared during the works of the basement, one of the twelve gates of the Christian wall, demolished in 1890.

If we cross Calle Colón and walk along Calle Sorní that opens in front of the mouth of the Metro, we arrive in a few minutes at the Puente del Mar, a pedestrian bridge that crosses the old bed of the Turia, connecting the center with the Alameda. It was built in 1591 and received this name as it served as a link between the city and the Port.

The second section of our route begins in the Plaza de Tetuán, just ten minutes walk from where we were at the end of the previous section. There is the old Convent of Santo Domingo of the Dominicans, order to which James I granted this land. Built in 1239, it combines Valencian Gothic and Baroque styles. It has had various uses throughout history, for example the headquarters of the Captaincy General of Valencia.

Opposite is the Palace of Cervelló, which several kings and other personalities used during the nineteenth century as a residence on their visits to Valencia. Restored in the XXI century, this palace today houses the Municipal Historical Archive, one of the oldest in Europe.

In the same square is the Bancaja Cultural Center, a multidisciplinary space conceived mainly to host exhibitions and conferences, managed by the Bancaja Foundation. It is located in a building that is the result of the union of two historic buildings: the former headquarters Caja de Ahorros and Monte de Piedad de Valencia (S. XX) and the former residence of Manuel Gómez Fos (S. XIX).

Just 3 minutes walk along General Tovar Street we return to Calle de la Paz. Designed following the nineteenth-century French urban planning, it became a residential street that has gradually dissipated this character, since the old houses occupied by the bourgeoisie in the last two centuries have been transformed into office buildings, offices, restaurants, etc. Even so, it is still a street of enormous charm.

The route along Carrer de la Pau towards Plaça de la Reina allows us to soak up its stately atmosphere. We turn left to visit the Palau Marqués de Dosaigües on the street that bears the same name. It was built in the eighteenth century starting from a reform of the old ancestral home of the Rabassa de Perellós, owners of the Marquisate of Dosaigües, with a marked rococo style. On its second floor we can find the González Martí National Museum of Ceramics, which has an important collection of ceramic pieces from all times.

This section of our route culminates in style just 4 minutes away. We return to Calle la Paz and finish walking through it in its entirety to turn right into the Plaza de la Reina and continue straight. We can already see the Cathedral (thirteenth century), its southern gate called Los Hierros and its most famous tower of the Micalet, a symbol for the Valencians. We visit one of the great religious monuments of the Mediterranean, seat of the Archbishopric of Valencia. Built over the Main Mosque in 1238, the Valencian Gothic style predominates, although over time it has incorporated Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical elements.

Near the Cathedral, three minutes walk along Calle de la Barchilla and Calle Palacio, we find the Palace of the Admiral of Aragon. It is a stately mansion example of Valencian civil Gothic of the fifteenth century, which was renovated in the eighteenth century and houses in its basement the ruins of a Roman street.

Next to the palace we find the Baños del Almirante, a Mudejar building built between 1313 and 1320. It is the only example of a public bath in Spain that remained active until the mid-twentieth century. Declared an Asset of Cultural Interest, in 2005 they were opened to the public for visits.

Very close to there, in the Calle Trinquet dels Cavallers we also find the Miracle Church and Hospital of Poor Priests, from the fourteenth century, which practically does not preserve anything of its Gothic origins and offers the appearance given by the subsequent restorations of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. To highlight the exceptional ceramic panels that can be admired on the walls of the courtyard.

In the same street we can visit the Church of Sant Joan del Hospital (S. XIII), one of the oldest in the city, in a building that brings together Romanesque, Valencian Gothic and Baroque.

We continue in the direction of Calle de la Paz to visit a series of monuments that are around one of its perpendiculars, Calle Comèdies. This is how we arrive at Plaza de San Vicente Ferrer. There awaits us the Church of Santo Tomás Apostle and San Felipe Neri, from the eighteenth century, declared a National Historic-Artistic Monument. A church built according to the baroque model of the Il Gesú Church in Rome, of great influence on European religious architecture.

We cross Calle de la Paz and go through Calle Comèdies. Just when it ends and becomes Calle de la Universitat, we turn down Carrer de la Nau to meet the Royal Seminary College Corpus Christi or the Patriarch, from the seventeenth century, built on the initiative of Patriarch San Juan de Ribera. On its west side is the Church of the Patriarch, whose cloister, built with Genoese marble columns, is one of the best examples of Renaissance architecture that can be seen in the city.

We finish this section of our route in the so-called Universitat Vella, located in the section occupied by Calle Universitat. The La Nau building is the headquarters of the University of Valencia since its foundation in the fifteenth century, Valencian Golden Age. Nowadays it mainly develops its activity as a cultural center of the university (La Nau Cultural Center), as well as being the institutional headquarters of the rector’s office.

Our tour begins at the Palace of the Marquis of Dosaigües, on Calle Poeta Querol. It is a beautiful building of rococo style built in the eighteenth century, declared a Historic-Artistic Monument, which has a spectacular alabaster doorway. Inside we can visit the National Museum of Ceramics and Suntuary Arts González Martí.

Following this same street in the direction of Les Barques, we find the main entrance of the Old Church of Sant Andrés, a temple of Gothic origin rebuilt in Baroque style. Since the end of the Civil War it has been called the Church of Sant Joan de la Creu. Pay attention to the rococo decoration of its interior.

We continue on our way and in a couple of minutes we arrive at the Teatro Principal de Valencia, first seeing the façade that overlooks Poeta Querol and then bending into Calle de las Barcas to place ourselves at its main door. This pioneering theater opened its doors in 1832 and since then has undergone numerous improvement and modernization works. It offers a varied program of theater, music and dance.

This proposed route starts in the Plaza Redona, an emblematic and endearing place for Valencians that hosts a traditional market. It is a small interior square with a circular floor plan with four entrances, built in the geometric center of the city in 1840. Thousands and thousands of Valencians have visited this square on Sundays to buy the most diverse objects and, especially in the case of children, to get the missing chromes in their collection.

Very close to the Plaza Redonda is the Church of Santa Catalina, an example of Valencian Gothic of the thirteenth century, although over the centuries it has undergone different reforms. It is one of the oldest churches in the city. Its baroque tower is another of the emblems of the city.

Just a couple of minutes walk separate the Church of Santa Catalina from La Catedral, headquarters of the Archbishopric of Valencia, dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. Valencian Gothic is the main style of this building. Highly recommended his collection of Italian paintings of the fifteenth century and a visit to the Chapel of the Holy Chalice. And who hasn’t heard of the Micalet Tower? It is the bell tower of the Cathedral, of Valencian Gothic style, one of the most characteristic monuments of Valencia that can be visited to the highest through its spiral staircase.

We return through the Plaza de la Reina. In front of the Church of Santa Catalina was opened in the late nineteenth century Calle de la Paz, one of the most charming streets of Valencia. It connects the Plaza de la Reina with the Glorieta Gardens and its original function was to improve communication between the centre and the sea. For more than a century it had a marked residential character and it was inhabited by some of the best families of the bourgeoisie. Those times passed and today it is a street full of offices, offices and restaurants, although it still stands out for the beauty of its buildings.

If we go towards the Glorieta along Calle de la Paz and turn right into the second street, we will reach the Palace of the Marqués de Dosaigües, an authentic jewel of the Rococo style built around 1740 and declared a Historic-Artistic Monument in 1941. It houses the prestigious National Museum of Ceramics and Suntuary Arts González Martí.

We return to Carrer de la Pau and continue in the same direction, admiring its modernist buildings. Finally, we arrive at the Glorieta Gardens, better known as La Glorieta, very popular among Valencians, which have some of the most monumental ficus trees in the city and a large children’s play area. Its construction dates back to the time of the War of Independence. It has subsequently been renovated on several occasions.