Catedral de València, Valencia

Valencia Cathedral is the Catholic church before you, dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. Its story reaches back through several faiths and building campaigns: the present structure rose after a mosque occupied this site, itself replacing an earlier Visigothic cathedral. Christian worship returned here after the conquest, and Pere d’Albalat consecrated the cathedral in 1238 for James I.

The building’s main character is Valencian Gothic, shaped by Andreu Julià and Francesc Baldomar, yet its long construction left room for Romanesque, French Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical work. Look at the cathedral as a layered object rather than a single-period design. The Holy Grail story is especially tangible here: a chalice regarded by many as the genuine Grail is kept in a chapel.

It entered the cathedral through King Alfonso V of Aragon in 1436, and the vessel may date from the 1st century. Inside, the paintings add another remarkable chapter. Fifteenth-century works include pieces by Jacomart and by the Italian artists Francesco Pagano and Paolo da San Leocadio, brought into the cathedral through Pope Alexander VI’s commissions.