Cat House, Torres de Seranos, Valencia Cathedral.

So let's continue on from the church of San Nicholas (aka Santa Claus).

A bit further north is the wonderful Carme Centre for the Contempary Arts, but for some unfathomable reason anyone who goes there usually want to see one thing, the Cat House in the wall opposite. It's a strange little doll house facade with a cat sized door leading into a disused yard. While some would have you believe it was installed by a kind and benevolent soul as a sanctuary to the poor homeless pussy cats of Valencia, I suspect it was actually some art students idea of a joke.

A short distance away and towards the river (which isn't there anymore, but more on that later) stands the mighty Torres de Seranos. A couple of formidable looking towers, they have quite an ancient history but more recently played a part in the Spanish Civil war (1936-1939). It was here that many of the priceless works of art from the Prado were stored for protection against the Francoist bombings then occurring in Madrid at the time.

And there is a thriving plaza of people and restaurants and activity and people there. We settled into a long and lazy lunch and to watch the people go by. When I say a long lunch I don't mean eating it, I mean waiting for it. My Spanish let me down badly.

But we did eventually get fed and had an ice cream and headed off towards Valencia Cathedral. We came at it from behind via the Placa de la Virgen with its wonderful fountain. A kindly gentleman took our picture for us (we don't do selfies). We thanked him and were then somewhat surprised to then see him pick up a piano accordian and launch manfully into a rather ropey rendition of the Chicken Dance. Hey, he was worth the whole euro I gave him.

The Cathedral also has a thriving plaza full of people and activity and art and craft sellers of all descriptions. I've included some interior shots for you to have a look at. It is a mixture of many architectural styles probably the result of a very long and chequered history of destruction, rebuilding, restoration and expansion. Where the cathedral now stands was the originally the site of a Visigoth temple. This was destroyed by the conquering Moors and replaced with a mosque. This was in turn destroyed by the conquering Christians and replaced with a cathedral, although some elements of the mosque can still be seen. One way or another, this site has been used as a place of worship for some 2,000 years.

This is called the Cat House.

There is a thriving plaza located at the Torres de Seranos. 

And I have no idea why these school children are dressed as horses.

This is Spain, so I'll just have to get used to that sort of the thing I suppose.

There are buskers and there are buskers.
But I think you really have to hand it to this guy for effort.

The Torres de Serano.

Oh, Valencia has trams too. Very nice ones as you can see.

Jackie and me at the fountain in the Placa de la Virgen.
Note the chic Panama hat (5 euros from the El Rastro market  in Madrid)

Entry to Valencia Cathedral.
There is a thriving plaza in front of it with Art and Craft sellers of all descriptions.

Inside the cathedral with its vaulted ceiling and built in a mixture of many architectural styles.

The Ambulatory, a curving collection of 8 chapel behind the main altar.

Another shot of the Cathedral interior, looking towards the entrance.