An elegant walk for lovers of architecture. The orange-trade boom that turned the city into a runway for its boldest buildings: façades and interiors from the station to the Colón market.
There are not many cities in Europe with a modernist face this distinct. This walk is for those who love refined architecture, and beauty in the detail. It follows the period of explosive growth when the orange trade turned Valencia into a runway for its boldest architecture.
The route begins at the Central Market, where we look straight away at the remarkable metalwork and ceramics. From there we head to the ceremonial Town Hall square, then visit the North Station with its famous façade and lavish interior.
Next we move to the Gran Vía and go deeper into the aristocratic Eixample district. We walk its handsome streets and learn to decode the symbolism of the façades, pausing on the way, if you like, for coffee and a dessert in one of the best pastry shops in Valencia. The walk finishes under the graceful vaults of the Colón market — a jewellery box in the modernist style.
Metalwork and ceramics — Modernisme as engineering.
The city's ceremonial ensemble and its architectural ambition.
A famous façade outside and a lavish interior within.
The aristocratic district: we learn to decode the symbols on the façades.
If you like — a pause for coffee and dessert in one of the best in the city.
We finish under the vaults of a modernist jewellery box.
By the end you will have discovered a wholly different, elegant Valencia, and will understand how a successful economy reshaped the way it looks.
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Four palaces of the Valencian nobility where the building itself is as interesting as the collection: Dos Aguas ceramics, the royal residence of Cervelló, the L’Iber miniatures and the city museum.
The Silk Exchange, the Water Tribunal, Las Fallas and hand bell ringing — four UNESCO entries, three of which are not buildings but living traditions.
A walking tour of the historic centre. We travel from Ancient Rome to the modern Mediterranean way of life, reading the character of the city through concrete detail and living stories.
We walk the old centre away from the tourist trails, looking for Christian, Moorish and Jewish traces of the medieval city and unpicking the sharp turns of its history.
A family tour with a story running through it, for parents and children aged 7 to 12. We hunt for lions, horses and birds on the façades in order to get two lost children home.