Xàtiva: a Castle in the Air
In April 2023 the Star Wars spin-off ‘Andor’ used Xàtiva castle to shoot some scenes for the second season. Valencia’s City of Arts and…
The First Hospital for the Mentally Ill in Europe?
In Valencia there is a street called Calle Hospital, although there isn’t one (a hospital I mean) and from there you can see a…
Is Paris Burning, or Cooking Paella?
The French ambassador of Spain, Jérôme Bonnafon, was in Valencia on 12th November 2014 to pay homage to the Valencian who liberated Paris from…
Ignacio Pinazo: Valencia’s Mad Hatter
Pinazo, who was born in Valencia in January 1849, and who died in nearby Godella in October 1916, worked largely in the impressionist style.…
Great Valencian Ghosts
Today it is haunted by civil servants who wander the corridors carrying mysterious pieces of paper with blank looks on their faces, seemingly wandering…
La Puerta del Mar
La Puerta del Mar (or Gateway to the Sea) was built in 1946 in imitation of the city gate that stood on the same…
Guillen de Castro: the Streets Have a Name
Napoleon’s troops must have marched along Guillén de Castro when besieging Valencia on two occasions (one home win and one away win) at the…
The Burning of Xátiva
The War of Spanish Succession was part of a wider European conflict between Catholic France under King Louis XIV and a largely protestant coalition…
Doctor Lluch. Years of Cholera in Valencia
Doctor Lluch was lucky, in the sense that, unlike his colleagues Doctors Alzheimer and Parkinson, his descendants didn’t have to live with the ignominy…
When Valencia’s Brothel Got the Green Light
There is an old joke, not so funny when you think about the high standards of journalism to which we all adhere, about the…
Where the Plazas Have a Name: Rodrigo Botet
It’s one of Valencia’s quaintest squares, and one that has appeared in at least two international films: The Curse of the Pink Panther and…
Cavanilles
If you move in botanic circles, then you are probably either a sunflower or likely to have come acrosss the name Cavanilles at least…