| From the foundation of Valentia Edetanorum in the year 138 before Christ, the Romanisation of the territory was reality and the time of Augustus was the most brilliant time of Valencian Roman life. Joined to the Visigoth monarchy in the 6th century, Valencia fell under Moslem domain in 714, when the city acquired a greater entity and benefited from the agricultural development in its surroundings.
In the 10th century, Valencia came into the political life of Al-Andalus, and was outstanding as a capital of an Arab kingdom. The weakening of this ‘taifa’ rein enabled the city to be conquered in 1094 by el Cid Campeador, and it came under the power of the ‘almoravides’ in 1102.
In 1238 Jaime I finally conquered it and brought it under the Aragonese, founding the Kingdom of Valencia. Throughout the 15th century, Valencia became the most important city in the Aragonese Crown, a position it would hold until the 17th century. The prosperity of its agriculture and its silk industry, its development as a financial and commercial centre and the rise of culture made this the city’s golden century, characterised by its artistic splendour, with the outstanding figures of Joanot Martorell (author of Tirant lo Blanch, the first modern novel in Europe), Ausias March, Roig de Corella and Isabel de Villena.
What you must not miss:
• Almirante Arab baths
• Basílica de la Virgen de los Desamparados
• El Miguelete
• San Agustín Church
• Palacio de Berbedel (or Marqués del Campo)
• Palacio del Marqués de la Scala
• Torres de Serranos |
