The gate of honour
The mightiest Gothic pentagons — receiving kings since 1398.
Felivet — Public domain · Dorieo — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dorieo — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dorieo — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Serranos Towers have been Valencia's gate of honour since 1398: Europe's mightiest Gothic gate at completion, pentagonal-towered and inner-ornamented — a triumphal, king-receiving gate before a fortress, and from its balcony the city's festivals still open: the Crida proclamation of March's Fallas gathers tens of thousands beneath. Surviving the walls' fall with Quart, it guarded the Prado's evacuated treasures in its vaults through the Civil War. The climb is by relatively generous stairs to three stepped terraces over the green Turia bed — the sunset view of blue domes and riverbed among the city's finest. The old quarter begins directly at its feet — a gate still doing its work: enter old Valencia through it.
The mightiest Gothic pentagons — receiving kings since 1398.
Its vaults hid Madrid's masterpieces from the war's bombs.
Three stepped platforms over the river-garden.
Plaça dels Furs, 46003 Valencia
Centre del Carme Cultural CentreA contemporary arts centre in the former Carmelite convent, a religious complex 3 minutes walk4.7
Casa-Museo BenlliureThe house of the painter José Benlliure in Valencia, preserved as it was and ope4 minutes walk4.5
Portal de la ValldignaA stone arch on Calle Caballeros, what remains of the gate that separated the Ch4 minutes walk4.4
L'Iber Toy Soldier MuseumA museum of toy soldiers and military miniatures in the Palacio de Malferit in t4 minutes walk4.6
El AlmudínA medieval grain store in the heart of old Valencia, used today as an exhibition5 minutes walk4.4On February's last Sunday the Fallera Mayor takes the balcony and summons the city to its feast: March's Fallas — two weeks of giant satirical sculptures burned in the closing Night of Fire. Catching the season shows Valencia at peak beautiful madness — crowd-haters should know the dates to dodge them.