This morning, our first stop was at the Mercat Central which is just around the corner from our apartment but closes at 3.00pm so we’ve missed it the last two days. Today we decided to make it a priority to make sure we did not miss out on visiting Europe’s largest fresh produce market because we love a good market!
The market was designed by architect Enrique Viedma Vidal and constructed between 1914 and 1928 in Valencian Art Nouveau style. At 8,000 square metres it is one of the largest roofed markets in Europe. The roof is supported on towering iron columns and its tiled facades feature references to the orchards and gardens of València. The whole structure is made to feel light and airy with stained glass windows near the roofline. Arriving just before 10.00am we were pleasantly surprised to find that it was not packed with people. That is one good thing about the hours that Spanish people keep, they will be heading out later in the morning to do their weekend shopping.
On the outside the building looked like one built nearly 100 years ago and I think we both expected to find it looking a bit more rustic on the inside. It definitely looks like it has been renovated in recent years … probably to ensure that the interior complies with EU standards for food hygiene. This was particularly in evidence in the meat section of the market where the traditional looking counters led into a preparation ‘pod’ that was sealed off from the sales area and then led into a cool room. All very modern and sterile looking.
Aside from that modernization it was the usual riot of colourful produce being presented for sale in over 1,000 stalls. Fresh fruit and vegetables, dried and candied fruits, cheese, nuts, olives, spices, bread, cakes, wine and, of course, fresh meat, fish and seafood, cured meats and salted cod. So much food. And they grow things big here in Valènica with some HUGE locally grown tomatoes and beans on display. The biggest green beans we’ve ever seen! We had eaten breakfast in the apartment, and it was too early for lunch, so we left the market without buying a thing … even though there many tempting morsels on offer!
Around the corner from the market, we visited Iglesia de Los Santos Juanes. The Saints Johns as in Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist. Yet another church built, burnt, rebuilt, burnt, repaired and renovated. The building has an 800-year history on this site. The original temple was destroyed by fire in 1311 and the church was rebuilt in the Gothic style with ribbed vaults. In 1592 a second fire damaged the front wall. From 1693 the church was significantly remodeled with the original Gothic ribbed vault replaced with a barrel vault that had Baroque pictorial and sculptural elements added in the decorative tastes of the time.
After a fire in 1936 restoration work was attempted but this caused more damage than it rectified, and many argued that the church was too far gone to be repaired. Fortunately, there were supporters of the church who felt that one of the oldest and biggest ‘foundational’ churches in the city could not be lost. There is currently a major project underway to restore the pictorial and ornamental elements of the church. We were given audio guides for our visit and ‘the church’ told us all about its long history.
Of particular interest was the use of new technologies to recreate elements of its former grandeur. The ceiling that has already been restored was done using a photograph of the ceiling. The black and white photo was enlarged, colourised and transferred onto the parts of the ceiling where the original paintwork was damaged or missing. One of the guides told us that in the section still being restored they are looking at projecting the artwork onto the ceiling rather than attempting to re-paint it. It’s a constant juggle between conservation and restoration works designed to improve the appearance without compromising the original, historic elements too much.
We popped back to the apartment to check the map and plan the rest of our sightseeing for the day. At the Iglesia de Los Santos Juanes we had purchased a combined ticket that included a visit to València’s ‘Sistine Chapel’ at Iglesia San Nicolás so that had to be first on our agenda. The Iglesia de San Nicolás is dedicated to Saint Nicholas who was the Bishop of Myra (Turkey) and Saint Peter Martyr a Dominican friar who was born in Verona and died as a martyr in 1252.
This church is in much better repair than this morning’s restoration in progress with restoration works completed here in 2016. After the Christian conquest in 1238, King James I offered this site to the Dominicans who consecrated a temple to Saint Nicholas. During the 15th century the church was extended to become a Gothic temple with a nave divided into six sections with side chapels in the bays. Towards the end of the 17th century a baroque renovation was initiated. Gothic elements, including the vaulted ceiling, were covered with plaster and frescoes were painted throughout the interior of the church. The church is considered to be one of the best examples of gothic architecture and baroque decoration coexisting. The ceiling art is indeed spectacular but it’s not quite on a par with the Sistine Chapel. Definitely more accessible than the Sistine Chapel though.
Onwards to Torres de Serranos another of the gates that remind visitors of the walled nature of the city in the Christian medieval period. These towers were built by Pere Balguer between 1392 and 1398 and guarded the northern gateway to the city for travellers using the main road from Aragon and Catalonia. Today we arrived at the tower early enough to purchase tickets to climb to the top of the tower for a view over the city and the Jardins del Turia.
Climbing down from the tower we made our way to the Puente de Serrano to take photos of the the tower from the ‘outside’. We ventured down into the city end of the Jardins del Turia to explore them a little further. With the gardens replacing the river, they stretch for many kilometres so we have seen only a small portion of them over two days. We spied an attractive 17th century building and a sign in the gardens told us it houses the Museo de Bellas Artes. Bernie was fairly confident that our València Cards included admission to this museum so we decided we would visit.
We were hot and thirsty, so its air-conditioned comfort was very welcome. However, our hopes of enjoying lunch at the gallery café were dashed. There was no café only machines dispensing drinks and packaged sandwiches. We decided that we weren’t that hungry, but we really needed some water. It took us a while, but we eventually managed to extract a bottle of cold water from the vending machine. We sat on a couple of chairs in the ‘café’ watching a gigantic cockroach scuttle around on the floor. Maybe we should have done our bit to protect the fine arts housed in the building and squashed it??
The museum houses a large collection of gothic panels dating to the 13th and 14th centuries along with more works by Van Dyck, Velázquez and Goya. There were also a few contemporary works in the collection and some interesting archeological remains. The museum surrounds an architecturally important 16th century Renaissance courtyard ‘the courtyard of the Vich ambassador’ which was very blue.
Our next stop was at the Cathedral of València. We are outdoing ourselves today with our third religious building for the day! Being the cathedral, we encountered a queue at this venue. Fortunately, the queue was in the shade because I was flagging today in the heat. Bernie offered to hold a place in the queue while I sat in the shade but when I saw that we would be mostly shaded I queued up alongside him.
Built on an ancient Roman temple that was later a mosque, the Cathedral of Valencia is a Gothic-style building, that also features elements from the Romanesque to Baroque eras. It seemed to be the theme for the day – Gothic buildings reimagined during the baroque era. Work on the current building began in the 13th century with the Chapter House added in the 15th century.
The Chapter House is significant because nowadays it is known as the Chapel of the Holy Chalice aka the Holy Grail. The cathedral claims that documentation and archaeological studies lead them to think that the Holy Grail of Valencia is the one used by Jesus at the last supper. The Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI have used this relic when celebrating the Eucharist on their visits to Valencia. It is a cup of polished agate from the region between Alexandria and Syria. Tradition says that, after the last supper, Saint Peter took it to Rome and the Popes who succeeded him kept it there until Saint Sixtus II, who then sent it to Huesca. During the Muslim invasion, the chalice was hidden in the Pyrenees until Alfonso the Magnanimous brought it back to the palace of Valencia. Bernie told me he just couldn’t get the Hunters and Collectors song out of his head.
Bernie had enough energy to pay the extra €2.50 to climb the Torre el Miguelete, the Valèncian Gothic-style bell tower that was built between 1381 and 1424 by Andrés Juliá and others. The tower is 50.835 metres tall and crowned with an 18th century steeple. I just didn’t think my legs had another 207 steps in them, so I waited in the cathedral while Bernie made the climb. When Bernie returned to the ground floor he told me the steps were really high so I definitely don’t think I could have managed them this afternoon.
We walked back to the apartment finding a sugar fix along the way. Today’s ice-cream was Häagen-Dazs. Sounds exotic but it’s an American brand! Even with a sugar fix I really was done for the day. The rash that I get on my legs when we travel is out of control, so I needed to put my feet up. Fortunately, the rash doesn’t itch or hurt, but it looks hideous. Years ago, I photographed it and showed the images to a dermatologist. He told me it was a circulatory issue and to wear compression socks when flying. But I flew to Europe six weeks ago and I’ve only developed the rash since encountering warmer weather in Spain. I also had a bad outbreak in WA earlier this year and that holiday didn’t involve any flying so I’m not sure it is a circulatory problem? Maybe it’s a heat rash??
Anyway, bottom line, I stayed at the apartment with my feet up (and my eyes closed!) while Bernie visited The Museo National de Cerámica y Artes Suntuarias González Martí which is housed in the Palacio de Dos Aguas the home of the Marquises of Dos Aguas. I don’t like to miss out on things when we are travelling but I can only push myself so far. Especially when it’s hot.
Something completely different for dinner tonight an Argentinian meal at El Porteno. It was a bit extravagant, but we decided to try the Tasting Menu at €41.90 per person. It wasn’t just the most money that we’ve paid for a meal in Spain it was so much food. So much MEAT! We had three starters – chorizo sausage, empanadas and a bowl of melted provolone cheese with bread – before a hot plate with a pile of meat and potatoes was brought out to our table. Dessert was included too so it was a FEAST. Tomorrow we will have to eat more lightly.
Steps: 14,295 (8.80kms)