Spain Guide
Valencia and Murcia
The Catedral
Address: Plaza de la Reina
Opening time: Cathedral Mon– Fri 10am–6.30pm, Sat 10am–5.30pm, Sun 2–5.30pm; tower daily 10am–7.30pm
Price: Cathedral €3; tower €2
The florid spire of the church of Santa Catalina and octagonal tower of Valencia's Catedral overlook the café-rich Plaza de la Reina. Founded in the thirteenth century, the cathedral embraces an eclectic combination of architectural styles, with the lavishly ornate Baroque main entrance leading to a largely Gothic-built interior; the entrance fee covers the museum and an audioguide, but you can simply attend Mass outside tourist hours for free. Spectacular views of the city and its many blue-domed churches compensate for the exhausting climb up the cathedral tower, known as the Miguelete.
An increasing number of visitors come for the cathedral's most celebrated religious icon: a gold and agate chalice (the Santo Cáliz), said to be the one used by Christ at the Last Supper – the Holy Grail itself, and no mean asset in an era of post-Da Vinci Code fever. It's certainly old and, hidden away throughout the Dark Ages in a monastery in northern Aragón, it really did inspire many of the legends associated with the Grail. Other treasures include the two Goya paintings of the San Francisco chapel, one of which depicts an exorcism (the corpse was originally naked, but after Goya's death a sheet was painted over it).
The cathedral's museum contains more paintings and also a 2300-kilo tabernacle made from gold, silver and jewels donated by the Valencian people. Above the structure's crossing, the cathedral's fourteenth-century lantern is another fine feature, as are its soaring windows glazed with thin sheets of alabaster to let in the Valencian light.