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Valencia · History

Walls, silk and water: two thousand years of Valencia

A walk through the old town that runs from the Roman foundation of Valentia to the Valencian Golden Age of the fifteenth century, when the city was one of the richest in the Mediterranean. You will come in through one medieval gate and leave through another, and in between you will see where the kingdom was governed, where the water was shared out and where business was done.

  • 6 stops
  • 1.8 km
  • 1 h 40 min
  • Free
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The Quart Towers, two rounded stone towers joined by a great arch

The route

Stop by stop

  1. 1 Serranos TowersValencia's great medieval gate has been a triumphal arch, a prison for knights and a refuge for the Prado's paintings.
  2. 2 Palau de la GeneralitatA house bought in 1422 became the palace of the Valencian government, with two towers built almost four centuries apart.
  3. 3 Apostles' Door and the Water TribunalIn front of this Gothic doorway, eight farmers dispense justice every Thursday without a single sheet of paper.
  4. 4 L'Almoina, Roman ValenciaBeneath a sheet of water and glass lie the foundations of Valentia, the city founded in 138 BC.
  5. 5 Silk Exchange (La Lonja)The temple of trade of fifteenth-century Valencia, with a hall of columns that looks like a forest of stone palm trees.
  6. 6 Quart TowersThe western gate of the city walls still bears in its stone the wounds of the French artillery of 1808.

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What you’ll discover

Walls, silk and water: two thousand years of Valencia

From gate to gate

You start at the Serranos Towers and finish at the Quart Towers: the two great gates that survived the demolition of the city walls.

Valencia's Golden Age

The Silk Exchange and the Palau de la Generalitat show what the rich and powerful Valencia of the fifteenth century was like.

Two thousand years underfoot

At L'Almoina you can peer down at the ruins of the Roman city without setting foot in a museum.

Keep exploring

More routes in Valencia

Back to Valencia
Mysteries & legendsSecret Valencia: cats, grails and a dragon EssentialsEssential Valencia: from the orange station to the Geperudeta