DAY 3: 01 04 2025 - Valencia

In fact, I started visiting the city yesterday but I will tell you everything today, Tuesday. Valencia is the 3rd largest city in Spain and the capital of the province of the autonomous region. 790,000 inhabitants but with the agglomeration there are 1,800,000. The city is located on the Costa del Azahar and on the Turia River. It is the birthplace of paella and is also called the orange city. In the area near and far there are forests of citrus trees, especially oranges. After Madrid and Barcelona, ​​it is the 3rd economic engine of Spain. It is a rich city.

The parks in Valencia

The city is divided by the bed of the river Turia that used to run through the city from east to west but has now disappeared from the centre. This wide riverbed is the green lung of the city of Valencia, a whole of parks, relaxation areas, walking and cycling paths. On the west side, inland, you have more agricultural land and on the east side, closer to the sea, you have a super modern part with buildings by great architects such as De Calatrava: the most famous are the Les arts (The cultural centre for arts and sciences), the Hemispheric (cultural centre), the Science Museum and an annex to it, the Umbracle (a botanical garden with lots of shade and plants) and the Oceanograhic centre (strikingly blue). Today in the afternoon I cycled the entire axis from east to west and back and I still have 25 km on my counter. So it is a big city.

Valencia: the Hemispheric, the Agora and the Umbracle

On the south side of the former Turia (now green) lies the old town which I mainly visited yesterday. You have to visit an old town on foot because the streets are too small and I like to feel an old town under my feet. The entrance to the old town from the Turia river was guarded by the Torres de Serranos, an impressive gateway and a part of the old city walls. The centre of the old town is the Plaza de la Reina on which at the back of the square lies the Seu (seat of the bishop) or cathedral (of lectern) with its beautiful tower, its unique interior mainly Gothic but also somewhat Baroque (such as the entrance) and its magnificent museum. The former chapter house which is now a chapel with the relic of the Holy Chalice is also a beautiful piece of Gothic architecture. I spent two hours there and that was still too short (for me). The cathedral was in fact built on the site of a mosque. When Spain reconquered these areas from the “Moors” a Catholic church was often built on top of the former mosque which of course was completely demolished. This was a clear signal and symbol of the power of Catholic superiority…Valencia: Torres de Serranos en la Séu, the cathedral

At the beginning of the Plaza de la Reina is the Church of Saint Catalina with the very special tower. Behind the cathedral is a beautiful square, the Plaza de la Virgen with a beautiful fountain in the middle, on the left the Palace of the Generalidad and on the right another church, the Basilica de la Virgen de los Desamparados, a baroque church with a magnificent vault. In the latter I briefly walked in and there I could witness the end of a mass.

After a good day walking around Valencia I noticed that there are few Roman remains and that there is little attention given to them. In Tarragona and Sagunto there was a clear attention to the Roman past. This is not the case in Valencia.

Front of the Cathedral and interior of the Basilica de la Virgen de los Desamparados

Today Rafael came back to me. He had seen my cargo bike in front of the door and had googled the Rinus-Pini Fund. Based on what I had told him last night and using the website of the fund, he put a message online in Spanish about the old man who is cycling through Spain to Santiago… A little extra advertising can't hurt.

I said earlier that Valencia is a rich city and that is true. However, there is also a lot of hidden poverty. People from Spanish speaking countries come there looking for work and happiness. Last night a young Colombian stayed in the alcove above me. A small backpack and a suitcase were all he had with him. This morning he showed me his backpack with painting supplies in it: every day he looks for work as a painter, not as Goya, he says laughing. This evening an old woman was walking around in the kitchen, where guests cook. Everyone who buys food for their stay has to write down their name and the date. She can take the bags without a name and date after 2 days...no further explanation needed...niet…

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