In this section you can consult a selection of the most common questions asked about the Cathedral of Valencia.
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It is a pious custom unique to this Cathedral; it involves making nine circles inside the temple in memory of the nine months that the Virgin Mary awaited the birth of Jesus.
Expectant mothers pray before an image of the Virgin with the Child located in the ambulatory, and they are given a holy card with a prayer and a candle to light at home. While the mother is in labor, her family members pray.
The work on the new Museum has made accessible an archaeological excavation with Roman, Visigothic, Islamic, and medieval remains.
In the sculpture section, notable pieces include authentic images from the Apostles’ Door (14th century) and the Mal Ladrón (16th century).
In painting, the museum showcases panels from the 15th and 16th centuries by the finest Valencian masters, including Juan de Juanes. More modern works include canvases by Jerónimo Jacinto de Espinosa and Vicente López (18th–19th centuries).
Unique pieces of goldsmithing include the reliquaries of the Kings of Aragon (14th–15th centuries) and the processional monstrance of Corpus Christi (20th century), the largest in the world.
The Holy Chalice of the Lord’s Supper, also known as the Holy Grail, is displayed in its beautiful chapel, built in the 14th century by Bishop Vidal de Blanes.
The chapel is the final part of the visit to the Cathedral Museum.
It dominates the Gothic style, very austere at its beginning in the 13th century, becoming brighter and more elevated in the lantern and the tower of the 14th century.
The Almoina door could be the last one in Spain made in Romanesque style. There are decorative elements from the Renaissance and Baroque styles, especially in the main chapel.
In the 18th century., it was revested in the Neoclassical style, and finally, in the 20th century, the Gothic structure was recovered and the presbytery was adapted to the liturgy renewed by the liturgical movement.
The first stone was laid on June 22, 1262.
The Cathedral has three large burial crypts: one in the former chapter house (which is filled with rubble) and two others in the area of the former choir and at the entrance of the main nave. However, they have been out of use since the 19th century and are of no artistic interest.
In its chapel, the relics of Saint Thomas of Villanova are kept, and in marked tombs rest the remains of notable figures such as Ausiàs March, Gregorio Mayans, Pérez Bayer, as well as bishops and archbishops of Valencia from the 13th century to the present.
The Cathedral continues to fulfill the purposes for which it was built; it is the church of the Archbishop, where the most important liturgical acts of the Archdiocese are celebrated.
The chapter of canons solemnly officiates the Liturgy of the Hours and the Mass every day in Gregorian chant; in addition, Masses are held on Sundays and weekdays with great attendance of the faithful, along with the sacraments of baptism, communion, penance, and marriage.
The Archive is located inside the Cathedral, accessible from the Iron Door (Pza. de la Reina) and through the sacristy. Please inform the staff at the entrance counter that you are going to the Archive.
In addition to the books and publications contained in our Auxiliary Library.
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