We went to Zurich for a few days before heading on to Tanzania. We wanted to check out this beautiful city and explore the area. Today we decided to explore downtown and the old centre of the city.
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and is located at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. The lake provides a beautiful backdrop to the city and the Alps in the distance.
View of Lake Zurich
We walked through the old town centre exploring the narrow streets. There were plenty of shops, restaurants and unique stores.
We did some window shopping but did not go into this particular store.
Ray looking at the Rolex watches in Zurich
The old town is quite quaint and we enjoyed exploring the area. There were lots of beautiful views along the way.
Fountain in the old town area of ZurichSection of the old centre of Zurich where a band was playing traditional music.
There are some nice park areas along the Limmat river which flows through the city. We walk along the river and explored some of that area.
One of the walkway areas near Limmat River in ZurichShelley and Ray in the park near Limmat River Zurich.View of the building all along the river.Ray along the edge of the Limmat River
What we found interesting was the large number of cyclist and bike lanes in the city. It reminded us of Amsterdam, in a way. Lots of people on bikes and bike lanes on almost every street. The city is very green focused and the public transit system is awesome. There is a great bus, tram and boat system that connects the city as well as surrounding towns. You can buy a ticket for 24 hours for a little over 8 Francs and use all the systems as many times as you want within the 24 hours.
One of the parking areas designated for cyclist. It is located next to a major Tram section in. Zurich city centre.One of the trams that run throughout the city of Zurich.
We took the tram to some of the areas of the city. We also enjoyed a boat ride across lake Zurich admiring the views. It was a great way to spend time seeing the city.
Shelley and Ray waiting for the boat transit system to cross the lake.One of the boats used in the transit system of Zurich.
After exploring the city for several hours we decided to have lunch and take a break.
Ray and Shelley at Molino Restaurant in old town Zurich.
After dinner we headed back to our hotel to rest up and plan our next day. It was a great first day in Zurich.
“Bleiben Sie bis zum nächsten Mal sicher und gesund.”
We went to see the “Iglesia Catedral-Basílica Metropolitana de la Asunción de Nuestra Señora de Valencia” which translates in english to “Metropolitan Cathedral–Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady of Valencia”. It is referred to as simply the Valencia Cathedral which is a lot easier to say. It is a beautiful gothic style church and is not overly ornate on the outside, but still impressive.
Iglesia Catedral-Basílica Metropolitana de la Asunción de Nuestra Señora de Valencia
Inside the church there are high ceilings with arches with a central dome that has eight windows around the base of the dome.
Central dome of Valencia Church with 8 windows surrounding the base
There is also a beautiful Star of David shaped stained glass window at one end wall of the church. The Two triangles represent the male and female of humanity. They are a balance between male and female and represent unity and balance.
Star of David stained glass window at Valencia Cathedral
We had the opportunity to see some impressive historic things at the Cathedral. We took our time and walked around looking at the chapels and at some of the ornamental features of the church. We came across an area called the Chapel of Resurrection which was gold coloured and behind metal bars.
Chapel of Resurrection Valencia Cathedral
Once we looked closer at the Chapel of Resurrection we could see a glass front ornate box that had something on display inside.
Ornate box with glass front
On closer look we could see inside the glass box and there was the severed mummified arm of Saint Vincent on display.
Mummified severed arm of Saint Vincent at Valencia Cathedral
The Catholic history states that Saint Vincent, deacon of Saragossa, was tortured in Valencia during the persecution of Diocletian in 304. The news of his faith spread across the Church and he was considered one of the main representative saints of Spain. Towards 1104, the Bishop of Valencia at that time went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and carried with him the left mummified arm of St. Vincent. As this ecclesiastic died suddenly in Bari (Italy), the relic was left there and was being passed on up to being in possession of Mr. Pietro Zampieri from Vigonovo (Venice). In 1970 he gave it to the Cathedral together with the bronze reliquary made in a Venecian style. (Ref. Valencia Cathedral)
Another impressive area was the high altar of the Cathedral. It has beautiful ornate features and a mural on the ceiling which is stunning.
View of high altar in Valencia Cathedral
View of the main high altar of Valencia Cathedral
Throughout the Cathedral there were some stunning oil paintings depicting religious scenes. A few of them are below.
Oil painting in Valencia Cathedral
Francisco de Goya portrait in the St. Francis Borgia chapel.
Oil paintings and stain glass window of Mary at Valencia Cathedral
Oil Painting depicting the reconquest
One of the paintings depicts the reconquest against the Moors in October 1238.
We went to the Holy Chalice Chapel which is off in a section of the church away from the main chapels. The entrance and hallway to the chapel was unassuming.
Leading into the Holy Chalice Chapel at Valencia Cathedral
Inside the Holy Chalice Chapel there were rows of pews and a main altar area. The altar and back wall were quite ornate and the centre section contained the Holy Chalice.
Altar in the Holy Chalice Chapel at Valencia Cathedral
We came in and sat quietly in one of the pews looking at the altar and the Chalice. It was difficult to see the Chalice on display at first because of the bright light which was shinning on it. The Chalice is not overly large and we were not able to get too close because it was cordoned off approximately eight feet away.
View of the chalice from the front pew of Chapel
Zoomed in photo of the Chalice
The history of why this is the authenticated original Holy Chalice and how it ended up in Valencia Spain is a long complicated history. I won’t list the history here in the blog, but if you are interested this link will give you the info. http://www.catedraldevalencia.es/en/el-santo-caliz_historia.php
The Cathedral also has a bell tower know as the “Campanar de la Cathedral” which translates to “Bell tower of the cathedral”. We decided to not go up the tower and to just took at it from the outside. The tower was built beginning in approximately 1380 and over the years it was extended and finished.
The bell tower is a landmark and quite visible above the remainder of the buildings around it.
view of bell tower in fore grounds with the Valencia Cathedral in the background
View of Valencia Cathedral Bell tower in the distant horizon
We enjoyed the artifacts and the rich history of the Cathedral. It was very interesting and an impressive day for us.
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