Iglesia de Santa Catalina

The church of Santa Catalina is located in the Plaza Lope de Vega. It is from there and calle Tapicería that the church is visible normally being hidden in the thick of the El Carmen barrio.

It was built in 1245, after the conquest of Valencia by James I. It is one of the twelve parishes that were implemented when distributing the urban space. He gave the bishopric mosques and Muslim cemeteries for this purpose; it is why it is built on a mosque, although due to different fires, the last during the Civil War, it has been rebuilt several times.

In Gothic style with a single nave in the apse, side buttresses where you’ll find the chapel and vault with arches that rest upon the side pillars dividing the vault into sections. The church is characterized not only by a mixture of influences, the main altar surrounded by an ambulatory that gives the church the appearance of having three naves is also a feature. The bell tower was built in seventeenth century Baroque style just like the main facade which has been in restoration since 2004. It is here where the tribunal responsible for the control of city burdens and actions was situated.

The church of St. Catherine is the oldest in Valencia, and still one of the most noted by tourists because of the grand belfry next to it. It is near Plaza de la Reina, which is the Cathedral Plaza, and you can easily find it because of the bell tower, even if the entrance is a little hidden door.

It is said that St. Catherine performed many miracles and many people still come and pray to be healed, or to ask for miracles. The bell tower is seventeenth century. I imagine that it was previously in a plaza but they kept building it until there was hardly enough road space with the tower in the middle of it, which obviously was a pedestrian street.