Archbishop Palace

The origin of the Archbishop's Palace dates back to the thirteenth century. In 1241 King James I donated some houses located opposite the old mosque to the bishop of Valencia for him to establish here his residence. In addition, the Valencian bishopric had acquired some more adjacent houses to extend the surface with the idea of having here not only the residence of the then bishop but also its administration center. The existence of its own chapel in the palace in 1279 has been documentaded. This confirms that at that time the palace was already built. Form this initial construction there are only very few remains.

During the tenure of Bishop Hugo of Fenollet (1348-1356) the first arch between the palace and the cathedral above the street Barchilla is built, without the approval of the City Council (Consell de la Ciutat) which would give this approved in 1357 after died the bishop.

In 1360 the bishop Vidal de Blanes (1356-1369) made an extension of the  building up to the walls of the Church of St. Thomas (now disappeared).

The palace underwent continuous reforms, being one of the most important being the one made in the eighteenth century for the archbishop Francisco Fabian and Fuero (1773-1794), in which the interior and the facade was modified.

At the start of the Spanish Civil War, the building was burned successive times until it was destroyed,  except for the courtyard of the chapel (it burned for three days). In these fires about 13,000 volumes were lost, the Archive of the Curia and the Diocesan Museum with all the works of art that were inside.

The present building was designed by architect Vicente Traver Tomás. Built in an eclectic style between 1941 and 1946 according to the academic canons, it preserves elements of the ancient palace, the most important being the chapel and the patio, only remains that could be rebuilt; the rest is ne. It presents brick facades of pink hue on base of limestone, mezzanine brickmoulds, hollow molded master with balconies, and special indicating the central body.