The Cathedral of the Holy Chalice

The Valencia Cathedral

Even if you aren't religious, if you've watched the Indiana Jones movies, you understand the significance of the Holy Grail, which is supposedly the cup that Jesus Christ drank from at the Last Supper.  

We went on a Mediterranean Cruise in March of 2025 and one of the stops on our cruise was Valencia, Spain.  One of the sites we visited in Valencia was the Valencia Cathedral, or Catedral de Valencia in the middle of the old town.  Another name they are commonly known by is The Cathedral of the Holy Chalice because they claim to house the Holy Grail, or Holy Chalice.  That was the main reason I wanted to visit the Cathedral.  The Cathedral opens at 10:30 am and we arrived only minutes after it opened.  It cost 9 euro to visit the Cathedral. 

Similar to visiting the Vatican Museums with the intention of seeing the Sistine Chapel, you have to go on the entire tour before seeing the Holy Grail at the very end of the tour.  If you know ahead of time, however, once you enter the Cathedral, just turn to your right and you can go see the Holy Grail in its Chapel right at the beginning of your visit.  We went on the entire tour, with all 29 stops.  

The Chapel of the Holy Grail is at the end of the tour, and the Holy Grail is the focal point of the room.  It is encased in glass and lit up.  Only the top of the grail (the cup part) is the original relic, the rest has been added to the cup throughout time.  This BBC article does a good job of describing the cup's voyage to finally end up in the Valencia Cathedral: BBC: Is This the Home of the Holy Grail?

I don't have any idea if this is indeed the cup that Christ drank from at the Last Supper.  But, as I sat in the chapel admiring it, I realized that if it indeed is the Holy Grail, it is probably going to be the closest I'll ever come to anything that Christ touched.  

Another unique thing about the Valencia Cathedral is that it houses the left arm of Saint Vincent in a glass case.  It is an actual human arm on display in the cathedral. He was martyred in Valencia in 304, so it is a very old arm.  It is known as the Incorrupt Arm.

Near the back of the Cathedral is a statue entitled "Virgin of the Choir."  It is tradition among Catholics that pregnant women come and pray before the Virgin and then walk around the church 9 times to represent the 9 months that Mary carried Jesus.  

The official website for the Cathedral is here:  Valencia Cathedral

You can purchase tickets to climb the Miguelete bell tower, which has 207 steps.  We didn't take the time to climb the bell tower when we were there, although I wish we had because I bet the views of the city are amazing from up there!  We'd just climbed the Towers of Serranos and that was enough for my fear of heights for the day!

The google maps location is here:  Valencia Cathedral

The Door of the Apostles

The Miguelete Bell Tower

This window is one of the more unique windows that I have ever seen.  It was constructed to create an optical illusion. It's called the Oblique Window and its slanted construction allows light to flow into the chapel.

Another view of the Oblique Window

A close-up view of the Oblique Window

This rose window is named the Salomo and features the Star of David

The arm of Saint Vincent the Martyr

The Door of the Apostles

An archeological excavation under the cathedral, which was found by chance and dates back to the 1st or 2nd centuries

It's hard to see with the lighting, but that is an actual human skull that was found when this archeological find was uncovered

Human remains

The Chapel of the Holy Chalice

The Holy Chalice was always surrounded by people

Only the top part of the chalice is considered original - the rest has been added through time

visitor entrance to the cathedral

The Miguelete Tower

The oldest door of the Cathedral, located on the east side, the Puerto de la Almoina, or Palace Door