Convents and Monasteries in the Comunidad Valenciana

The Valencian publishing house Sargantana has published the first book about convents for the last 100 years.

The book, written by Miguel Ángel Catalá, is a compilation of thirty-five buildings in which their topography, history, architecture and artistic value are analysed.

At the same time, it delves into the cultural heritage and legacy of each convent, and the peculiarities conferred on it by the religious community to which it has belonged.

The work, which is divided into two volumes, includes seventeen buildings in Valencia and its province, ten in Castellón and eight in Alicante. It aims to be a “virtual visit through the different areas of each of the monasteries or convents selected” while trying to fill the academic gap that exists there had been no monograph dedicated to them so far.

According to Catalá “By convent is meant the religious building located within, in general, an urban nucleus, where some friars, or fratri, live, dedicated to study, preaching and other pastoral activities, and by monastery the religious building located outside an urban nucleus inhabited by monks, or monastics, predominantly consecrated to the contemplative life”.

It aims to be a monographic work that brings together the importance of the tangible and intangible heritage of the convents and monasteries of the Valencian Community.

At the same time, it aspires to be a virtual guide that explores the different areas of the selected buildings, allowing us not only to know them, but also to locate where to find today the artistic works they previously contained.

Miguel Ángel Catalá was between 1975 and 2013, director of Museums of the City Council of Valencia and has been part of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Carlos since 1977.

He has been a collaborator of numerous specialised magazines and catalogues, he has curated exhibitions on subjects of Valencian historical or artistic interest and is the author of publications such as ‘100 years of Valencian painting, sculpture and engraving. 1878-1978,’ ‘Pictorial collection of the City Council of Valencia’, ‘Valencian gold and silks’, Collection of engravings of the City Council of Valencia, or ‘History of the General Cemetery of Valencia’.