10 facts about Valencia that aren't in the guidebooks
# 10 facts about Valencia that aren't in the guidebooks
Valencia does not fit into one visit. You discover it in layers, like its ruins. 😊 These ten facts are the kind a local guide would tell you along the way, between one stop and the next.
- The court without a single piece of paper. Every Thursday at midday, in the Plaza de la Virgen, the Water Tribunal (Tribunal de las Aguas) meets. Eight farmers settle disputes over irrigation water by word of mouth. They have been doing it for over a thousand years. No files, no appeals.
- The patron saint with an affectionate nickname. The Virgen de los Desamparados is known as "la Geperudeta", "the little hunchback". It is a nickname said with tenderness, because the statue leans slightly forward. And it came from an act of kindness: in 1409, a father saw people mocking someone with a mental illness and set up the first psychiatric hospital in Europe.
- The Holy Grail is in Valencia. The cathedral keeps a chalice made of agate that is around 2,000 years old. The Church presents it as the Holy Chalice. And no, you do not have to choose the right chalice: it has already been chosen.
- 207 steps for one photo. The Miguelete tower is 51 metres tall and has 207 spiral steps, in stone from the 14th century. At the top, the view over the old town is worth the climb.
- One city on top of another. In the Plaza de la Almoina lie the remains of the Roman city, under the present-day one. Valencia did not move: it built on top, layer upon layer. Like a flat with no storage room: everything old is kept underneath.
- A 500-year-old review, set in stone. The gargoyles of the Lonja de la Seda (the Silk Exchange) are sculptures of animals and creatures. It is said the merchants used them to "say" what they could not say out loud.
- The first online market in the world. The Mercado Central (Central Market) opened in 1928, and in 1996 it was the first market to sell by computer and deliver to your home. The building is from 1928, the online orders from 1996. Better late than never.
- The towers that kept paintings safe. During the Civil War, the Torres de Serranos held works from the Prado Museum to protect them from the bombing. A warehouse for famous paintings, not for seeds.
- A port named after a poet. The Veles e Vents building, in the Marina, is named after a poem by Ausiàs March, a Valencian poet from the 15th century. Even the bricks here recite poetry.
- The neighbourhood The Guardian made fashionable. El Cabanyal began life as a fishing village. In 2020, The Guardian named it the third most fashionable neighbourhood in Europe. Its tiled façades, each one different, are its signature.
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