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.
This private walking tour is for those who want to know the city's history more deeply. We walk its oldest quarters to find Jewish, Christian and Moorish traces, and to talk about how tradition, faith and the memory of generations were woven together in these streets.
The route starts at the museum of the Corpus Christi festival. From there we head to a thirteenth-century monastery that now houses the Centre of Contemporary Art. Next we find the Valldigna gate, which once divided the Muslim and Christian quarters, track down a hidden eleventh-century Moorish tower and look into a courtyard where the city's oldest winery survives.
Then we enter the magnificent church of St Nicholas, whose interiors are often called the Valencian Sistine Chapel. We cross the central square and reach San Juan del Hospital — the oldest church in Valencia — where we look at how and why the Hospitaller order that founded it and the city's Jewish community helped one another. The walk ends at the walls of the old university, where we talk about the Spanish Inquisition and the tragic fate of the Valencian humanist Juan Luis Vives, born into a family of converted Jews.
We begin with history and the city's singular traditions.
Today it holds the Centre of Contemporary Art — a rare meeting of eras.
The border that once separated the Muslim and Christian quarters.
Hidden from view, and beside it a courtyard with the city's oldest winery.
Interiors people call the Valencian Sistine Chapel.
The oldest church in Valencia: the Hospitaller order and the Jewish community.
We finish with the Inquisition and the fate of the humanist Juan Luis Vives.
This themed tour takes you beyond the standard guidebooks, into the sharper turns of local history and the real traces of how different communities lived.
Both fields are optional: they simply add the date and party size to your WhatsApp message. I usually reply the same day.
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.
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.
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.