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Valencia · Mysteries & legends

Secret Valencia: cats, grails and a dragon

From the El Carmen district to the Silk Exchange, a route through Valencia's most curious stories: medieval legends, relics, a stuffed dragon, a palace that looks like the work of a madman and some far from pious gargoyles. At every stop we tell you what the documents say and what belongs to tradition.

  • 5 stops
  • 1.9 km
  • 1 h 35 min
  • Free
Start with GPS Read about this stop 1
The stuffed caiman hanging at the entrance to the Patriarca church

The route

Stop by stop

  1. 1 The Cats' HouseA miniature house at ground level, a plaque bearing the year 1094 and a legend that accuses El Cid of hating cats.
  2. 2 The Cathedral and the Holy ChaliceInside this cathedral is kept a two-thousand-year-old stone cup that tradition identifies with the Holy Grail.
  3. 3 The Patriarca and its dragonFor four centuries a stuffed caiman, which Valencians call “the dragon”, has hung at the entrance to this church.
  4. 4 Palace of the Marqués de Dos AguasValencia's most extravagant doorway fuelled the legend that only a madman could have designed it.
  5. 5 The Silk Exchange gargoylesTwenty-eight fifteenth-century gargoyles keep watch over the Silk Exchange, and many of them are anything but pious.

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Start with GPS

Guide mode

Walk it with GPS.

Open guide mode on your phone: you’ll see your position and the distance to each stop, and we’ll let you know when you arrive. Then read or listen.

Start with GPS

  1. Turn on your location

  2. Walk to the spot

  3. Check the photo and listen

What you’ll discover

Secret Valencia: cats, grails and a dragon

Legends with an address

Every story is tied to a façade, a plaque or an object you can see with your own eyes.

Faith, archaeology and tradition

The Holy Chalice is the best example: we separate what archaeologists say from what people believe.

Details nobody notices

A cat flap at ground level, a caiman on a ceiling and indecent gargoyles high up on the Silk Exchange.

Keep exploring

More routes in Valencia

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HistoryWalls, silk and water: two thousand years of Valencia EssentialsEssential Valencia: from the orange station to the Geperudeta