Edifici de Correus i Telègrafs, Valencia

The Edifici de Correus i Telègrafs is Valencia’s grand postal and telegraph building, facing the city’s main square. Miguel Ángel Navarro designed it in an eclectic manner with touches of Valencian Modernisme. Built between 1915 and 1922 and opened in 1923, it expressed the ambition to modernise postal services in Spain, with funding from Maura’s government.

Look at the main entrance: paired Ionic columns frame a rounded arch carrying allegorical figures. Above it, sculptures represent the five continents, while figures near the clock bring letters and telegraph symbols; a ship and a locomotive extend the communication story across sea and land. Inside, an oval hall repeats the façade’s Ionic language beneath an artistic glass roof by the Mauméjean brothers, assembled from 370 panels bearing the arms of Spain’s 48 provinces.