VALENZA (VALENCIA), ARCHDIOCESE of - City, capital of the province of the same name in Spain. The archdiocese has an area of 10,755 sq. km., with a Catholic population of 1,700,000 inhabitants, distributed in 434 parishes served by 796 diocesan priests and 324 regulars; it has two seminaries, 47 male religious communities and 275 female ones (Ann. Pont. 1953, p. 441).
The city is situated on a plain on the banks of the Turia or Gualaviar, 4 km. from the sea, where the port called Grao is located. An ancient Greek colony, then Carthaginian, then Roman: Pompey defeated Sertorius near the Turia. It suffered the domination of the Goths from 413 to 714, then that of the Moors until 1094, when it was conquered by the Cid, whence the name City of the Cid. Reoccupied by the Moors a few years later, it became an independent kingdom. It was retaken in 1238 by James the Conqueror, king of Aragon. In 1808 V. rose up against the French and was governed by Fr. Rico. It capitulated in 1812 and the French remained there until June 5, 1813. It followed the revolutionary movements of 1868, 1869 and 1873; from 1932 to 1936 it suffered the destruction of churches and monasteries: it was also the seat of the revolutionary government during the civil war until March 28, 1939.
The Christian origins of V. are very obscure and the first certain bishop is Justinian (531-46), praised by St. Isidore; then St. Eutropius from 596 to 608. After the Arab occupation, the first bishop was Ferrer de Pallarés (1240-43), then Andrew de Albalate (1248-76) who began the construction of the Cathedral; later Alfonso Borgia (1429-55), afterwards pope under the name Callixtus III. V. was first a suffragan of Toledo, then of Tarragona. In 1458 it was elevated to a metropolitan see with Segorbe and Majorca as suffragans; in 1564 Orihuela was added, in 1782 Ibiza, in 1795 Minorca.
The first archbishop was Rodrigo Borgia (1458-92), afterwards pope under the name Alexander VI, whom there succeeded, without residing there, members of the same family, Cesare (1492-98), Giovanni (1499-1500) and Pietro (1500-11). Subsequently noteworthy are St. Thomas of Villanova, founder of the college of the same name; Martin Perez (1564-66); the blessed Giovanni De Ribeira (1568-1611), founder of the College "Corpus Christi," promoter of eucharistic worship; Tommaso Ricaberti (1676-99); Andrea Mayoral (1738-1769); Antonio Desping y Dameto (1795-96), afterwards cardinal.
The Cathedral, called "la Seo," is consecrated to the Blessed Virgin; it rises above the ancient Roman temple of Diana, then there was a Gothic church (St. Saviour) and then a mosque transformed by the Cid in 1095 into a church, in honor of St. Peter, which James the Conqueror dedicated in 1238 to the Blessed Virgin. The reconstruction was begun in 1262 and completed at the end of the 14th century. The Gothic interior was transformed between 1674 and 1774. The great Baroque portal to the south was erected in 1703 by C. Rudolf, the statues are by Vergara the elder (1713). Through the Romanesque portal of the 13th century with multiple arches and 6 columns, called that of the Palau or of the Almoyna, one enters the right transept; the left one is reached through the Gothic portal "de los Apostoles" of 1354, restored in the 15th century. Above it is a large rose window. In the crossing rises an octagonal "ciborium" with two tiers of Gothic windows closed by alabaster glass (end of the 14th century). In the central nave at the trascoro is a bas-relief in alabaster by Giuliano da Firenze (1417-24) with biblical representations. In the "Capilla mayor" the high altar of 1498 was redone in 1682; the statue of the Madonna and Child is by Vergari and comes from the charterhouse of Porta Caeli. In the left nave is the "Sala Capitular antigua" of 1388; there has been preserved since 1428 a chalice cut from an oriental agate of emerald green, the gift of Alfonso V of Aragon. The base of the chalice is certainly not very recent, while the cup seems very ancient. Popular devotion calls it "the holy Chalice" and identifies it with that of the Last Supper. In the "Capilla mayor" is the tomb of archbishop Martino d'Ayala (1496). In the sacristy are the modern chapter hall and the Treasury, in which is preserved a cope of Alexander VI. Outside, the octagonal tower is 60 m. high (1381-1429); called Miguelete or el Micalet from the great bell placed there on the day of St. Michael in 1418. Beside the Cathedral is the archiepiscopal Palace.
In the Plaza de la Virgen is the "Capilla de Nuestra
Señora de los Desamparados" of 1667. At the high altar is the venerated image of the Blessed Virgin, a work by Vicente de S. Vicente of 1416. The church of the "Corpus Christi" is from the end of the 16th century and in it is venerated a great very realistic Crucifix of the 15th century. Annexed is the College of the Patriarch founded by archbishop blessed Giovanni de Ribera in 1586; it is now transformed into a museum and contains a rich Library, Archive and paintings by Morales, El Greco, Ribera, Murillo, Zurbaran, etc. The church of St. Dominic is from the 15th century; that of St. Thomas or of the Congregation is from 1725-36; those of St. John of the Hospital was founded by the Knights of that Order ca. 1300. The church called "de los santos Juanes" or "St. John of the Market" is from 1368 with a facade of 1700. In the ancient house of the Jesuits is the general Archive of the Kingdom of V.; the adjoining church called "de la Compañía" was rebuilt in 1866. The church of St. Nicholas is a mosque transformed in the 14th-15th centuries; the bell tower is from 1755. The church of Sts. Michael and Sebastian is from 1725-39. The church of St. Martin is from 1372; on the door is the equestrian statue in bronze of the Saint (1495); the church of St. Augustine, Gothic, has been restored; the church of St. Stephen is from the 15th century, but with an interior of 1681; the church of St. Cross has a portal of the 17th century; that of St. Andrew is an ancient mosque transformed in the 17th-18th centuries. At 27 km. is the ancient charterhouse of Porta Coeli founded in the 13th century with a church of the 14th century; transformed in the 18th century. It was the third in importance in all of Spain, with rich possessions; suppressed in 1835 it was stripped of its works of art and transformed into a farm, then into a sanatorium; now it is a historical monument.
Outside the walls of V. the deacon Vincent (v.) of Saragossa suffered martyrdom. From V. came Sts. Louis Bertran, Pedro Basenal called Baylon, Vincent Ferrer; there is buried St. Michelina of the Most Blessed Sacrament, foundress of the Sisters Adorers of the Most Blessed Sacrament.
In 1410 a Studium generale was created in V., elevated in 1492 to a University. Recently a new archdiocesan Seminary has been built. The Provincial Museum of Fine Arts or of St. Pius V is in an ancient convent; it contains over 2000 canvases by Spanish and Italian artists, statues, mosaics, sarcophagi, ancient inscriptions, architectural fragments of Arab art and of the 14th-16th centuries. The municipal historical Museum is in a building called Casa Enseñanza (ancient normal school) of 1758-63 with a facade of 1915. It contains paintings, illuminated books of the 13th-15th centuries, historical banners and a modern Library. Near V. is the ancient Sagunto with conspicuous Roman remains, Roman theater, circus, etc.
Folklore. - The festivals of V. from March 17 to 19 for the solemnity of St. Joseph are typical; hundreds of large monuments in wood and cardboard called "fallas" are built, alluding to current or local events; the "fallas" are set on fire during the night of March 19 to the sound of music and bursts of "tracas" (firecrackers). On the second Sunday of May and in the following week the spring festivals are celebrated in honor of the "Virgen de los Desamparados." During the week of Corpus Christi, religious dramas, "autos sacramentales," are performed, daily processions are held, and monumental representations of religious symbols or allegorical groups called "rocas" are carried around. Also characteristic is the "feria," from July 24 to August 1.
Bibliography7 works
Enrico Josi