“You must come”

My friend Cristina is an amazing finder-of-events. She is a wealth of information about the different things going on in and around Valencia, and I admire her willingness to try pretty much any event once or twice. So, when she texted me “You must come” to meon my phone, I knew something was up. And up it was, gentle readers.

The Courts of Valencia, sort of like our state legislatures, only open for the public to visit one day a year, on Constitution Day. That happened to be last Friday, and was a public holiday, so many businesses were closed. Cristina, who happened to be meeting with a group of folks for coffee close to the Courts, saw that they were open, and texted me to come see the building.

Without going into the history of Spain and its autonomous states right now, let’s just say that Valencia used to be a kingdom, with its own king, palace, dragons, etc. That building has been changed and modified to be a center for local legislation, and some of the architecture is incredible.

Upon entering the building, there is a magnificent painting of a battle that is populated by different troops, each numbered and keyed to the bottom so you know who was fighting what and where they were located in the battle. (FYI, the battle was in the town of Los Campos against a variety of enemies, including the Portugese, English, and one other group.)

Next, there was an incredible rotunda, with a solid zinc bannister. State rooms were upstairs, with some of the most interesting and delicate artwork I have seen in buildings here.

As a final treat, I was given a copy of the Spanish Constitution, the Valencian Constitution, and an addendum page. This was pair of teeny-tiny books in a small slipcover case. When I say teeny-tiny, I mean that the books are a little larger in length and width than a business card, but nicely printed and presented. It is definitely one of the more interesting take-aways I have ever received.