Valencia Cathedral

Valencia Cathedral
Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady of Valencia
North-west façade, at dawn.
39°28′33″N 0°22′30″W / 39.47583°N 0.37500°W / 39.47583; -0.37500
Location	Valencia
Address	Plaza de la Almoina [es], s/n
Country	Spain
Denomination	Catholic Church
Website	www.catedraldevalencia.es
History
Status	Cathedral, minor basilica
Dedication	Assumption of Mary
Architecture
Architectural type	Church architecture
Style	Valencian Gothic
Groundbreaking	22 June 1262
Administration
Archdiocese	Valencia

Valencia Cathedral, at greater length the Metropolitan Cathedral–Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady of Valencia (Spanish: Iglesia Catedral-Basílica Metropolitana de la Asunción de Nuestra Señora de Valencia, Valencian: Església Catedral-Basílica Metropolitana de l'Assumpció de la Mare de Déu de València), also known as St Mary's Cathedral, is a Catholic church in Valencia, Spain.

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.^[1]