8/3 



VALENCIA. 



VALLADOLID. 



974 



university -college, hoapit.il, barracks, manufactures of linen and hate, 

 and also tanneries, corn-mills, and oil-mills. The population in 1845 

 was 17,459. It is of very ancient foundation, and hag been possessed 

 successively by the Carthaginians, the Romans, the Moors, and 

 Spaniards. Peniicola, 75 miles N.N.E. from Valencia, is a small town 

 and fortress, situated on a rock 240 feet high, and connected with the 

 mainland only by a narrow strip of sand. It possesses a fountain of 

 freshwater. Population, 2000. Sagunl Kin is the name of the Roman 

 town which occupied the cite of J/urt-iei/ro. Segorbf, 30 miles 

 N.N.W. from Valencia, btands near the right bank of the Palancia. 

 It is the see of a bishop, and is tolerably well built. It has 6 plazas, 

 13 public fountains, and more than 40 fountains not public. The 

 cathedral is used as the parish church, and there U a handsome 

 bishop's palace. There are manufactures of earthenware, paper, 

 starch, and brandy. The population in 1345 was 6015. Vilitmal, 

 35 miles N.N.E. from Valencia, and 4 miles inland from the Mediter- 

 ranean, is inclosed by ruined walls, which are entered by four gates. 

 It has manufactures of woollens and tape, and brandy distilleries. 

 The population in 1845 was 8207. Futonx, 85 miles N.N.E. from 

 Valencia, U a sea-port town near the mouths of the Ebro. It is an 

 ill-built town, partly inclosed by ruined walls. It contains a fine 

 parish church, and has a ship-building yard, a considerable coasting- 

 trade, and active fisheries. The population In 1845 wu 10,600. 



Jfutory. <i-c. Valencia under the Moon formed a part of the 

 kingdom or kalifate of Cordova. It was taken by the Cid, Rodrigo 

 Diaz de Bivar, in 1094, and he held the city and province till his 

 death in 1099. The Moon dispossessed his widow Ximeua in 1101, 

 but Valencia was retaken in 1233 by Jaime I. of Arsgon. It was 

 brought under the crown of Castilla by the marriage of Fernando 

 with Isabel, and afterwards became a provinoe of the kingdom of 

 Spain. Like the other provinces composing the kingdom of Aragon, 

 Valencia preserved its representative body and its privileges ; but the 

 inhabitants having taken an active part against the Bourbon dynasty 

 during the War of the Succession, Felipe V. deprived the province of 

 iU old constitution, and obliged the inhabitant* to conform in every 

 respect to the general laws of Spain. It retained however iU title of 

 kingdom (Reino de Valencia) till the ancient province was divided 

 into the present three modern provinces. 



The dialect spoken in the province, though much akin to the 

 Catalonian, differs considerably from it, as it retains more of the 

 Provencal- 



(Uadoz, IHecionario Gf&jrajioQ At Etpana ; Ford, Handbook of 

 Sfjam ; Swinburne, Townsend, Hoskins, and other traveller*.) 



VALENCIA, a city of Spain, capital of the ancient kingdom and 

 province of Valencia, and named \~altncia del Cid, and of the modern 

 province of Valencia, is situated in 39 30" N. lat,, 25' W. long., in 

 a fine plain, on the southern bank of the Turia, or Quadalaviar, about 

 300 miles E.S.K. from Madrid, 2 mile* above it* small port called 

 Orao, and 4 miles above the entrance of the river into the Mediterra- 

 nean Sea. It U the residence of a captain-general, formerly styled 

 viceroy, and is the see of an archbishop. The population in 1845 was 

 71,013. 



The city of Valencia U of a circular form. It is surrounded by a 

 wall built by Pedro IV. in 1356, 30 feet high and 10 feet thick, with 

 a road on the summit The Turia flows at the base of the wall on 

 the northern side, and the shallow bed of the river is crossed by fi 

 bridges, which, besides their proper use, serve also to discharge the 

 water in times of inundation. The wall is about 24 miles in circuit, 

 is flanked at intervals by towers, and is entered by 8 gates. The 

 streets, like those of most Moorish-built cities, are narrow, crooked, 

 nnpaved, and frequently without thoroughfares ; but those which 

 have been built of late yean on the site of demolished convent* and 

 churches are wider and tolerably well paved. The houses are lofty 

 ud gloomy-looking, snd many of them have flat roofs. The principal 

 plaza, called El Mercado, contains the only fountain. In this plaza is 

 the Lonja de Seda, or Silk Hall, a beautiful gothio building of 1482. 

 The city U furnished with public sewers of great solidity, which are 

 said to be the work of the Romans : it has also a quay, or rather pro- 

 menade, faced with stone and planted with trees, which lines the whole 

 hngth of the Turia down to the Orao. 



The cathedral was begun in 1262, and was extended in 1482; the 

 original architecture was gothic, but it has since been much altered, 

 awl mixed with Grecian style*. The interior is richly adorned with 

 ik and marble*, and contains many fine picture* by Juanes, 

 BibalU, Orrente, and other Spanish painters. The cathedral-tower 

 is an isolated octangular gothio belfry called El Miguelete, 162 feet 

 high, and commanding a magnificent view of the huerta, or surround- 

 ing pi iin. There are 14 parish churches. The church of Nuestra 

 Benora d* los Detamparados, and the seminary called La Escuela I'ia, 

 both rotunda*, are worthy of notice. The archbishop'* palace, which 

 is near the cathedral, once contained a fine library, but many of the 

 books wer destroyed during the French occupation. There is also a 

 library belonging to the university, which is open to the public : it 

 contains about 15,000 volume*. The university in 1841 had 1600 

 student* and 70 professors. Beside* the university there are 6 

 colleges and several academies. Since the suppression of the monas- 

 teries, a collection of the pictures which they had contained ha* been 

 formed in the convent called the Carmen, where the painting* of the 



Valencian school may be studied and appreciated. There are from 

 600 to 700 pictures by Juanes, Ribalta, Ribera, and others. The citadel 

 was constructed during the reign of Charles V. There is a palace 

 called El Templo, which was built by Charles III. for the knights of 

 the military order of Montesa. The Casa Consistorial is a noble Doric 

 pile, where the Audiencia, or supreme court of justice, holds its 

 sittings. The Casa de Misericordia, or poor-house, is a fine edifice. 

 The custom-house is a large modern structure. The principal theatre 

 U also modern. Outside the wall are botanic gardens, a bull-arena, 

 and a public promenade, called La Qlorieta, planted with trees and 

 shrubs, and ornamented with fountains and statues. The principal 

 manufactures are silks, linen- and woollen-cloths, hats, leather, glass, 

 piper, artificial flowers, and tiles for flooring. The suburbs are 

 extensive, and contain a large population, probably not less than 

 30,000 or 40,000. The Grao is little more than a small roadstead in 

 the bed of the river. The roadstead at the entrance of the river is 

 exposed to south and south-west gales. The city was token by the 

 French under Suchet in 1812, and they held it till June, Hi:!. 

 A few mile* south from Valencia is a large inlet from the sea called 

 the Albufera. [ALBUFERA DB VALENCIA.] 



VALENCIA. DE ALCANTARA, [ESTBEXADCBA, Spanish.] 



VALKNCIENNE3. [Nona] 



VALENSOLE. [ALPES, BiSMi] 



VALENTIA. [KERRY.] 



VALENZA. [ALESSANDRIA.] 



VALERY, ST. [Siivi IXPERIEURB ; SOMME.] 



VALLADOLID, a city of Spain, capital of the modern province of 

 Valladolid, in the ancient province of Leon, is situated in 41 40' 

 N. lat, 4 a 42' W. long., about 100 miles N.W. from Madrid. The 

 population in 1345 was 19,191. The city is built on the left or eastern 

 bank of the Pisuerga, at the confluence of the Esqueva, in an extensive 

 valley encompassed by eminences which are not properly hills or even 

 high grounds, but the rugged and precipitous sides of the limestone 

 plain out of which the Valladolid valley seems to have been scooped. 

 The city occupies both banks of the Esqueva, which thus answers the 

 purpose of drainage. The bridge* over the river, the arches, narrow 

 streets, and overhanging houses, are very picturesque. With the 

 exception of the Plaza Mayor, or great square, and the streets leading 

 to it, the city has a melancholy and deserted aspect. 



Valladolid was called Pincia by the Romans. The name was changed 

 by the Moon into Belad Walld, or ' the town of Walld,' after Walld 

 Ibn Hishiim, the eleventh kalif of the race of Umeyynh, in whose 

 time Spain was conquered by Tarik Ibn Z<*yydd and Muaa Ibn Noaseyr. 

 The town was reconquered by the Christians under Ordono II., who 

 was the first of the king* of Uviedo who assumed the title of King of 

 Leon. Early in the 15th century Juan II., king of Castilla and Leon, 

 made Valladolid hi* place of residence. Under him and afterwards 

 under Carlo* V. it was adorned with splendid residences, and still 

 more so under Felipe II., son of Carlo*, who was born here, and who 

 in 1595 induced the Pope Clement VIII. to elevate the town to tho 

 dignity of a bishopric, and who gave it the title of Ciudad (city). 

 Felipe III. resided here almost constantly. Valladolid having been 

 thus favoured by several kings, became a city of splendid palaces, 

 conventual buildings, churches, public edifices, and mansions of the 

 nobility. 



The Plaza Mayor is very imposing from it* size and style of archi- 

 tecture. It occupies a central space where there was a great fire in 

 1561, which lasted three days, and burnt down several streets. Tho 

 granite pillars which support the arcade* give it an air of solidity, 

 and perhap* of gloom, but it is the most frequented part of the city, 

 and contains the best shops. The cathedral was designed and com- 

 menced by Herrera under Ftlipe IL, and if completed according to 

 the model which still exists, would have been a grand specimen of 

 Qreoo-Roiuano architecture. Only one of tho four intended towers 

 was finished, and that fell down in 1841, and has not been rebuilt; 

 and the building U incomplete in other parts. There are several con- 

 ventual buildings and churches of beautiful architecture, gothic and 

 Grecian ; but most of them have been much injured, chiefly during 

 the occupation of Valladolid by the French. Among them may be 

 mentioned the San Benito, a church and convent of the Benedictines ; 

 the Penitencial de las Augustias ; the Colegio de San Uregorio ; the 

 Dominican convent of San Pablo, distinguished for the exquisite finish 

 of the carvings of its portada (grand entrance) ; and the Huelgas, The 

 Colegio Major de Santa Cruz, formerly one of the six largest colleges 

 of Spain, a beautiful gothic structure, has been converted into a Museo, 

 in which have been collected the pictures, sculptures, carving, and 

 other works of art of the suppressed convents. The royal palace of 

 Felipe III. still remains, but it suffered much during the French 

 occupation : it is of mixed architecture. The university, one of the 

 best in Spain, was founded in 1846 ; it is chiefly distinguished for its 

 schools of jurisprudence, and was attended in 1841 by 1300 students. 

 The Colegio de los Irlamloses is attended by Roman Catholic students 

 from Ireland. The Chancilleria, or building whera the chief court of 

 justice holds its sittings, U a Urge and fine structure of the Tuscan 

 order of architecture. There are beautiful alamedas, or public walk?, 

 on the banks of the Piiuerga and Esqueva. 



Valladolid ha* manufacture* of silk, cotton and woollen-cloths, 

 jewellery, hats, linen and cotton-thread, paper, perfumery, earthen- 



