Town Hall Square

You are in Valencia's great open-air living room. This is where the Fallas mascletà, the thunderous daytime fireworks display, is set off every March, where the city's own falla monument is raised, and where Valencians gather for their great celebrations. And yet it is a young square: little more than a century ago, a convent stood on this spot.

1From convent to square

James I granted this land to the Franciscans in the thirteenth century, shortly after the Christian conquest. The convent of San Francisco occupied the area for centuries, until it was demolished in 1891. The square gradually took shape in the empty space and has changed its name several times: San Francisco, Emilio Castelar, del Caudillo and, since 1987, del Ayuntamiento.

2A Town Hall that was once a school

The town hall in front of you was originally the Casa de la Enseñanza, a school founded in the eighteenth century. The City Council moved here in 1854, and from 1904 the building was remodelled and enlarged until it acquired the monumental façade you see, with its clock tower. From its balcony, the authorities and the falleras mayores, the festival queens, watch the March mascletàs.

3A century of architecture

Opposite the Town Hall stands the Post Office building, built between 1913 and 1922 and famous for the great stained glass in its hall. Around the square you will see the modernista Edificio Suay (1910), the Telefónica building (1926-1928) and the former Rialto cinema, with its Art Deco lines.

During Fallas, the gunpowder of the mascletà is not just heard: you feel it in your chest.

4What to look for

• The Town Hall balcony, the royal box for the mascletàs.
• The Post Office building, with its eclectic façade facing the Town Hall.
• The central fountain, a favourite meeting point for Valencians.