The cathedral was consecrated in 1238 by the first bishop of Valencia after the Reconquista, Pere d’Albalat, Archbishop of Tarragona, and was dedicated to Saint Mary by order of James I the Conqueror. It was built over the site of the former Visigothic cathedral, which under the Moors had been turned into a mosque. Valencian Gothic is the predominant architectural style of the cathedral, although it also contains Romanesque, French Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical elements.

The cathedral contains numerous 15th-century paintings, some by local artists (such as Jacomart), others by artists from Rome engaged by the Valencian Pope Alexander VI who, when still a cardinal, made the request to elevate the Valencian See to the rank of metropolitan see, a category granted by Pope Innocent VIII in 1492.

A purported Holy Chalice, believed by many to be the true Holy Grail, is kept in one of the cathedral’s chapels.

History

Most of Valencia Cathedral was built between the 13th century and the 15th century, and this style was mainly Gothic. However, its construction went on for centuries.

As a consequence there is a mixture of artistic styles, ranging from the early Romanesque, Valencian Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical.

Excavations of Almoina Archaeological Centre have unearthed the remains of the ancient Visigothic cathedral, which later became a mosque.

There is documentary evidence that some decades after the Christian conquest of the city (1238), the mosque-cathedral remained standing, even with the Koranic inscriptions on the walls, until 22 June 1262, when the then bishop Andreu d’Albalat resolved to knock it down and build a new cathedral in its place according to the plans of the architect Arnau Vidal.

Hypothetically, the ancient Muslim mosque would correspond with the current transept of the cathedral, the Apostles’ gate would be the entrance to the mosque and the Almoina (“alms”) gate the mihrab.

Stones from neighboring quarries in Burjassot and Godella were used to build the cathedral, but also from other more distant quarries such as those in Benidorm and Xàbia which came by boat.

Some reasons for the simplicity and sobriety of Valencia Cathedral are that it was built quickly to mark the Christian territory against the Muslims, and that it was not a work by a king, but by the local bourgeoisie.