Roman colony Valencia is one of the oldest cities in Spain, founded in the Roman period as "Valentia Edetanorum". A few centuries later, with the power vacuum left by the demise of the Roman imperial administration, the
Catholic Church assumed power in the city, coinciding with the first waves of the invading Germanic peoples (
Suebi,
Vandals,
Alans, and later
Visigoths).
Middle Ages After the fall of the
Western Roman Empire, Valencia became part of the
Visigothic Kingdom from 546 to 711 AD. The city surrendered to the invading
Moors about 714 AD.
Abd al-Rahman I laid waste to old Valencia by 788–789. From then on, the name of Valencia (Arabised as "Balansiya") appears more related to the wider area than to the city, which is primarily cited as "Madînat al-Turâb" ('city of earth' or 'sand') and presumably had diminished importance throughout the period. During the emiral period, the surrounding territory, under the ascendancy of Berber chieftains, was prone to unruliness. In the wake of the start of the
fitna of al-Andalus, Valencia became the head of an independent emirate, the
Taifa of Valencia. It was initially controlled by
eunuchs, and then, after 1021, by Abd al-Azîz (a grandson of
Almanzor). Valencia experienced notable urban development in this period. Many Jews lived in Valencia, including the accomplished Jewish poet and philosopher
Solomon ibn Gabirol, who spent his last years in the city. After a damaging offensive by Castilian–Leonese forces towards 1065, the territory became a satellite of the
Taifa of Toledo, and following the fall of the latter in 1085, a protectorate of "
El Cid". A revolt erupted in 1092, handing the city to the
Almoravids and forcing El Cid to
take the city by force in 1094, henceforth establishing
his own principality. Following the evacuation of the city in 1102, the Almoravids took control. As the Almoravid empire crumbled in the mid 12th-century,
ibn Mardanīsh took control of eastern al-Andalus, creating a Murcia-centred independent emirate to which Valencia belonged, resisting the
Almohads until 1172. During the Almohad rule, the city perhaps had a population of about 20,000. When the city fell to
James I of Aragon, the Jewish population constituted about 7 per cent of the total population. King James I of Aragon, with an army composed of
Aragonese,
Catalans, Navarrese, and crusaders from the
Order of Calatrava, laid siege to Valencia and on 28 September
obtained a surrender. Fifty thousand Moors were forced to leave. The Jews of Valencia were afforded a quarter for residence in 1239, which was surrounded by a high wall in 1390. The quarter had three gates, all of which were closed at night; the Jewish cemetery was permitted just beyond 'the Jew's Gate', the Portal dels Jueues. Valencia endured serious troubles in the mid-14th century, including the decimation of the population by the
Black Death of 1348 and subsequent years of epidemics—as well as the series of wars and riots that followed. In 1391, a pogrom struck the Jewish quarter of Valencia, part of a wave of
anti-Jewish attacks that began earlier that year in Seville and spread across
Castile and into the Crown of Aragon. The assault in Valencia was sparked when a procession of youths marched on the Jewish quarter, shouting that "the
Archdeacon of Castile is coming with his cross, and that all the Jews should be baptized or die." Despite efforts by royal guards to intervene, thousands of Jews were murdered, and the survivors were forced to convert. The Jewish quarter was destroyed. The Genoese community in Valencia—merchants, artisans and workers—became, along with Seville's, one of the most important in the Iberian Peninsula. In 1407, following the model of the Barcelona institution created some years before, a
Taula de canvi (a municipal public bank) was created in Valencia, although its first iteration yielded limited success. The 15th century was a time of economic expansion, known as the Valencian Golden Age, during which culture and the arts flourished. Concurrent population growth made Valencia the most populous city in the Crown of Aragon. Some of the city's landmark buildings were built during the Late Middle Ages, including the
Serranos Towers, the
Silk Exchange, the
Miguelete Tower, and the Chapel of the Kings of the Convent of Sant Domènec. In painting and sculpture,
Flemish and Italian trends had an influence on Valencian artists. Valencia became a major
slave trade centre in the 15th century, second only to
Lisbon in the West, prompting a Lisbon–
Seville–Valencia axis by the second half of the century powered by the incipient Portuguese slave trade originating in
West Africa. By the end of the 15th century Valencia was one of the largest European cities, being the most populated city in the Hispanic Monarchy and second to Lisbon in the Iberian Peninsula. Valencia also became one of the major ports of embarkation for Jews who left after the
expulsion from Spain in 1492,
Isaac ben Yehudah Abrabanel and his family among them, by special permission granted to him by King Ferdinand.
Modern history Following the death of
Ferdinand II in 1516, the nobiliary estate challenged the Crown amid the relative void of power. In 1519, the Taula de Canvis was recreated again, known as "Nova Taula". The nobles earned the rejection from the people of Valencia, and the whole kingdom was plunged into the
Revolt of the Brotherhoods and full-blown civil war between 1521 and 1522. Muslim vassals were forced to convert in 1526 at the behest of
Charles V. Urban and rural delinquency—linked to phenomena such as
vagrancy,
gambling,
larceny,
pimping and false begging—as well as the nobiliary banditry consisting of the revenges and rivalries between the aristocratic families flourished in Valencia during the 16th century. Furthermore,
North African piracy targeted the whole coastline of the
kingdom of Valencia, forcing the fortification of sites. By the late 1520s, the intensification of Barbary
corsair activity along with domestic conflicts and the emergence of the Atlantic Ocean in detriment of the Mediterranean in global trade networks put an end to the economic splendor of the city. This piracy also paved the way for the ensuing development of Christian piracy, that had Valencia as one of its main bases in the Iberian Mediterranean. The Berber threat—initially with
Ottoman support—generated great insecurity on the coast, and it would not be substantially reduced until the 1580s. (1563) The crisis deepened during the 17th century with the 1609 expulsion of the
Moriscos, descendants of the Muslim population that had converted to Christianity. The Spanish government systematically forced Moriscos to leave the kingdom for Muslim North Africa. They were concentrated in the former
Crown of Aragon, and in the
Kingdom of Valencia specifically, and constituted roughly a third of the total population. The expulsion caused the financial ruin of some of the Valencian nobility and the bankruptcy of the Taula de canvi in 1613. The decline of the city reached its nadir with the
War of the Spanish Succession (1702–1709), marking the end of the political and legal independence of the
Kingdom of Valencia. During the war, Valencia sided with the
Habsburg ruler of the
Holy Roman Empire,
Charles of Austria. King Charles vowed to protect the laws ("
Furs") of the
Kingdom of Valencia, which gained him the sympathy of a wide sector of the Valencian population. On 24 January 1706, after having ridden south from Barcelona,
Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough, led a handful of English cavalrymen into the city and captured the nearby fortress at
Sagunt, bluffing the Spanish Bourbon army into withdrawal. The English held the city for 16 months, defeating several attempts to expel them. After the victory of the Bourbons at the
Battle of Almansa on 25 April 1707, the English army evacuated Valencia and
Philip V ordered the repeal of the Furs of Valencia as punishment for the kingdom's support of Charles of Austria. By the
Nueva Planta decrees, the ancient
Charters of Valencia were abolished and the city was governed by the Castilian Charter, similarly to other places in the Crown of Aragon. The Valencian economy recovered during the 18th century with the rising manufacture of woven silk and ceramic tiles. The silk industry boomed during this century, with Valencia replacing
Toledo as the centre of silk-manufacturing in Spain. The demolition of the citadel ended after the
1868 Glorious Revolution. Following the introduction of
universal suffrage (for men) in the late 19th century, the political landscape in Valencia—until then consisting of the bipartisanship characteristic of the early
Restoration period—experienced a change, leading to a growth of
republican forces, gathered around the emerging figure of
Vicente Blasco Ibáñez. Not unlike the equally republican
Lerrouxism, the Populist came to mobilize the Valencian masses by promoting
anticlericalism. Meanwhile, in reaction, the right-wing coalesced around several initiatives such as the Catholic League or the reformulation of Valencian
Carlism, and
Valencianism did similarly with organizations such as Valencia Nova or the Unió Valencianista.
20th century (1937) during the Spanish Civil War In the early 20th century, Valencia was an industrialised city. Although the silk industry had disappeared, there was a large production of hides and skins, wood, metals, and foodstuffs, the latter with substantial exports, particularly of wine and citrus. Small businesses predominated, but with the rapid mechanisation of the industry, larger companies were being formed. The best expression of this dynamic was in regional exhibitions, including that of 1909 held next to the L'Albereda (Paseo de la Alameda), which depicted the progress of agriculture and industry. Among the most architecturally successful buildings of the era were those designed in the
Art Nouveau style, such as the
Estació del Nord and the Central and Columbus markets.
World War I (1914–1918) greatly affected the Valencian economy, causing the collapse of its citrus exports. The
Second Spanish Republic (1931–1939) opened the way for democratic participation and the increased politicisation of citizens, especially in response to the rise of Conservative Front power in 1933. The inevitable march toward civil war and combat in Madrid resulted in the relocation of the capital of the Republic to Valencia. After the continuous unsuccessful
Francoist offensive on besieged Madrid during the
Spanish Civil War, Valencia temporarily became the capital of Republican Spain on 6 November 1936. It hosted the government until 31 October 1937.
Francoist Spain During the
Spanish Civil War, Valencia was heavily bombarded by air and sea, mainly by the
Fascist Italian air force, as well as the Francoist air force with
Nazi German support. By the end of the war, the city had survived 442 bombardments, leaving 2,831 dead and 847 wounded, although it is estimated that the death toll was higher. The Republican government moved to Barcelona on 31 October of that year. On 30 March 1939, Valencia surrendered and Nationalist Spanish troops entered the city. The postwar years were a time of hardship for Valencians. During Franco's regime, speaking or teaching
Valencian was prohibited; in a significant reversal, it is now compulsory for every schoolchild in Valencia. Franco's dictatorship forbade political parties and began a harsh ideological and cultural repression countenanced and sometimes led by the Catholic Church. During Franco's regime some leading Valencian intellectuals, such as
Juan Peset,
rector of
University of Valencia, were executed and many of them, including
Josep Renau and
Max Aub, went into exile. In 1943, Franco decreed the exclusivity of Valencia and Barcelona for the celebration of international
fairs in Spain. These two cities would hold the monopoly on international fairs for more than three decades, until the rule's abolishment in 1979 by the government of
Adolfo Suárez. The disaster led to the remodelling of the city and the creation of a new river bed for the Turia, with the old one becoming one of the city's "green lungs". Days later, on 9 July, the World Day of Families, during Mass at Valencia's Cathedral, Our Lady of the Forsaken Basilica,
Pope Benedict XVI used the
Sant Calze, a 1st-century Middle-Eastern artifact that some Catholics believe is the
Holy Grail. Valencia was selected in 2003 to host the historic
America's Cup yacht race, the first European city ever to do so. The
2007 America's Cup matches took place from April to July. On 3 July 2007,
Alinghi defeated
Team New Zealand to retain the America's Cup. Twenty-two days later, on 25 July 2007, the leaders of the Alinghi syndicate, holder of the America's Cup, officially announced that Valencia would be the host city for the 33rd America's Cup, held in June 2009. The results of the
Valencia municipal elections from 1991 to 2011 delivered a 24-year uninterrupted rule (1991–2015) by the
People's Party (PP) and Mayor
Rita Barberá, with support from the
Valencian Union. Barberá's rule was ousted by left-leaning forces after the
2015 municipal election, with
Joan Ribó of
Compromís becoming the new mayor. ==Geography==