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The tower
The Miguelete Tower began separate from the church, and was joined in 1459
The Miguelete Tower, El Miguelete in Castilian Spanish and Torre del Micalet in Valencian, was at first separate from the rest of the church, like the old chapter house. In 1459 the architects Francesc Baldomar and Pere Compte expanded the nave and transepts and joined both to the rest of the cathedral.
The mosque
The mosque stood with its inscriptions until 22 June 1262, then came down
The cathedral was consecrated in 1238 and dedicated to Saint Mary by order of James I the Conqueror. It stands on the site of a Visigothic cathedral that became a mosque under the Moors. The mosque-cathedral remained, with Koranic inscriptions on the walls, until 22 June 1262, when the bishop resolved to knock it down and build anew.
The chalice
A chalice many believe to be the Holy Grail has been kept here since 1436
A purported Holy Chalice, believed by many to be the true Holy Grail, is revered in one of the cathedral's chapels, the old chapter house. The chalice may be dated to the 1st century, and was given to the cathedral by King Alfonso V of Aragon in 1436. Pope Benedict XVI used it on July 9, 2006.
The altar
The paintings of the main altar stayed hidden until 1874
The paintings of the main altar were hidden for several years. It was not until 1874, when the decision was made to clean the altar, that these religious paintings appeared. The cathedral holds numerous 15th-century paintings, some by local artists such as Jacomart, others by Francesco Pagano and Paolo da San Leocadio.
The fire
The cathedral was burned in the Spanish Civil War and lost some decoration
In 1931 the church was declared a historic and artistic landmark, but during the Spanish Civil War it was burned, and lost part of its decorative elements. The choir was dismantled in 1940 and moved to the bottom of the high altar. In 1972 work began to remove the Neoclassical additions and recover the Gothic look.
Day 1, midday
It comes after La Lonja de la Seda. Then Plaza de la Virgen.
More stories from this trip idea
The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Valencia Cathedral, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.