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.

Inside the church there are high ceilings with arches with a central dome that has eight windows around the base of the dome.

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.

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.

Once we looked closer at the Chapel of Resurrection we could see a glass front ornate box that had something on display inside.

On closer look we could see inside the glass box and there was the severed mummified arm of Saint Vincent on display.

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.

Throughout the Cathedral there were some stunning oil paintings depicting religious scenes. A few of them are below.

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.

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.

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.

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.

We enjoyed the artifacts and the rich history of the Cathedral. It was very interesting and an impressive day for us.

“adios y que tenga un grand días”