---
node: spot_valencia_valencia_cathedral
type: spot
slug: valencia_cathedral
destination: dest_valencia
title: "Valencia Cathedral"
lead: "Valencia Cathedral was begun in 1262 on the site of the city's mosque, which stood on a Roman temple. Its chapel holds an agate cup that the Vatican accepts as a plausible candidate for the Holy Grail."
published: 2026-08-12
updated: 2026-08-12
image_file: spot_valencia_valencia_cathedral.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Catedral_de_Valencia,_Valencia,_Espa%C3%B1a,_2014-06-29,_DD_16.JPG"
image_author: "Diego Delso"
image_license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

## Overview

The building shows three centuries in three doorways — Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque on the same church. The cup in the Holy Chalice chapel is a first-century Middle Eastern agate vessel mounted in medieval gold; the church does not claim it is the Grail, only that it could be, and two popes have said mass with it. The Miguelete bell tower is octagonal and climbable, and the Tribunal de las Aguas still meets at the Apostles' door every Thursday at noon to settle irrigation disputes — a court in continuous session for a thousand years.

## Highlights

Be at the Apostles' door at noon on a Thursday for the water court; it takes ten minutes, is held in Valencian, and is the oldest functioning legal institution in Europe. Climb the Miguelete, 207 steps, for the tiled domes of the old town. The chalice chapel is included in the cathedral ticket and has an audio guide worth using.