LIFE IN VALENCIA

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 58, 6 September 1937, Page 11

LIFE IN VALENCIA

SPAIN'S NEW CAPITAL A COLOURFUL PLACE Homeless victims of the civil war in Spain, the wounded, the Government md envoys from foreign. Governments, bombarded oui of Madrid, have taken refuge in Valencia on the south-eastern crescent of the coast, writes Henry Buckley from Spain to the "New VTork Times." One observer reports that in tha few months in which Valencia has been the centre of government, almost a million people have knocked on its gates and been admitted to shelter. ''Foitunately for the many refugees who have fled to it, Valencia is admirably located for a 'relief capital," says a bulletin from the National Geographic Society. "Three miles down the Turia Ritfer lies a busy harbour mouth on the Mediterranean, which makes inland Valencia Spain's second seaport' * On three sides of the city ri,se the distant • ramparts of mountains; on the fourth side, the sea. Moreover, this is almost the food capital, of. the country, for it is ° centre :of what ha. been called the most fertile spot in Spain* and food is within reach " Even the climate is hospitable. Rain id rare, and snow was reported only twice in the last century Tne secret Oi Valencia's lushness i irrigation To this rainless area the Moors of the Middle Ages brought fruitfulness and fruitiness—oranges, apricots. figs, raisins—nourishing it from the silver veins of an irrigation network. Grain fields ripen into dull gold in defiance of a parching sun., A marshy coastal strip produces some of the finest rice iti'the world. OPEN-AIR TRIBUNAL. Irrigation keeps alive, too, one of the rare spectacle- within the city itself, the Tribunal of the Waters, an opena'- court hel for ten centuries more oi less every Thursday morning, the customary market day of the now exiled; Moors Outside the 'cathedral, within the shadow of the bell which gives them signals for opening or closing sluices, gather '•he. half-dozen peasant Judges of this Supreme Court of irrigation. There are no lawyers, no oaths, no records, no written laws Cases are stated by the principals, usually in the old Valencian tongue. Penalties and oral decisions are handed down immediately, qnd.there.'is no appeal: In its • setting. of , green . and gold countryside, Valenqia is a white city with blue and gold touches on its many church towers and domes. Modern industrial suburbs supply dusty fringes. Distinctive colouring comes from the azulejos, the olue tiles which adorn every thing, from., church domes to roofs c the carnation booths in the flower market. Faded awnings give mellow colour and shade to the balconies or virtually every house and to the open bazaar-like shop fronts. Shopping in Valencia leads to whole streets of small stores, each draping its front with Oriental profusion of its wares—shawls, mantillas, lengths of locally^woveh linens and silks Fans. a medieval elegance still decorating modern costumes, are a local specialty. All business, however, stops for the midday siesta; the unusual quiet in bright daylight gives Valencia during siesta hours a dreamlike quality. ' AS AN AVT CENTRE. Either the colour or the dream has nourished in the city a famous art group, illustrious in the Renaissance and recently., augmented..by .the, late Sd^qlla,. a .native' son ..who -showed the world that shadows in Valencian sunlight could-be purple or crimson instead of the conventional black. Examples of local painting contribute to making the Provincial Museum: almost a>- famous as the Prado in Madrid.' , Chief landmark in Valencia is the medieval cathedral, once a Moorish^ mosque built on the site of an ancient Roman temple to Diana. Ornate with alabast°r, jasper, pink marble, and bronze, its beauty suffered in a fire started when a ceremonial pigeon became frightened •at its burden of burning cotton. Treasures include such trophies- as the armour of James I- of Aragon, who snatched the city from the Moors; a chain once hung across the harbour of Marseilles; and a jewelled chalice of agate fi.d gold, the Spanish version of the Holy Grail. ■....■ The Middle Ages survive in other structures,, but enlightenment, too, has a monument in Valencia; a simple tat> let-Ana house in the Calle del Portal Valldigna marks the location of the first printing press m: Spain, and the University Library preserves a copy of "Les Trobes," first book (printed there, in-1474. ■■:'■■:■■ ■ ' ' Perhaps the most -famous legend ot Valencia is that of the Cid, the valiant hero .who' held1 the city against .the Moors until his death, and of his widow who led the defence twp years longer.