VALENCIA, a city of Spain, capital of the ancient kingdom and province of Valencia, and named Valencia del Cid, and of the modern province of Valencia, is situated in 30° 30' N. lat., 0° 2.5' W. long., in a floe plain, on the southern bank of the Tunis, or Guaddaviar, about 200 miles E.S.E. from Madrid, 2 miles above its small port called Grao, and 4 miles above the entrance of the river into the Mediterra, nean Sea. It is 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 is of a circular form. It is surrounded by a wall built by Pedro IV. in 1350, 30 feet high and 10 feet thick, with a road on the summit. The Turin flows at the base of the wall on the northern side, and the shallow bed of the river is crossed by 5 bridges, which, besides their proper use, serve also to discharge the water in times of inundation. The wall is about 2 miles in circuit, is flanked at interval' by towers, and is entered by 8 gates. The streets, like those of most Moorish-built cities, are narrow, crooked, unpaved, and frequently without thoroughfares ; but those which have been built of late years on the site of demolished convents and churches are wider and tolerably well paved. The houses are lofty and gloomy-looking, and many of them have flat roofs. The principal plaza, called El Mercado, contains the only fuuntain. In this plaza is the Lonja de Soda, or Silk Hall, a beautiful gothic, building of 1182. The city is furnished with public sewers of great solidity, which are said to be the work of the Romans : it has also aquay or rather pro menade, faced with stone and planted with trees, the whole length of the Tuna down to the Grao.
The cathedral was begun in 1262, and was extended in 1482; the original architecture was gothic, but it has since been much altered, and mixed with Grecian styles. The interior is richly adorned with gilt-work and marbles, and contains many fine pictures by Juanea, Ilibalta, Orrento, and other Spanish painters. The cathedral-tower is an isolated octangular gothic, belfry called El 3liguelete, 162 feet high, and commanding a magnificent view of the huerta, or surround log plain. There are 11 pariah churches. The church of Nnestra
Senora da los Insamparaclus, and the seminary called La Escuela Pia, both rotundas, are worthy of notice. The archbishop's palace, which is near the cathedral, once contained a fine library, but many of the books were 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 volumes. The university in 1841 had 1600 students and 70 professors. Besides the university there are 6 college' and several academies. Since the suppression of the monas teries, a collection of the pictures which they had contained has been formed in the convent called the Carmen, where the paintings of the Valeocian school may be studied and appreciated. There are from 600 to 700 pictures by Juanss, Ribalta, Ribera, and others. The citadel was constructed during the reign of Charles V. Thera is a palace called El Temple, which was built by Charles III. for the knights of the military order of Mantua. The Casa Consistorial is a noble Doric pile, where the Audiencia, or supreme court of justice, holds its sittings. The Casa de 3liserieordia, or poor-house, is a fine edifice. The custom-house is a large modern structure. The principal theatre is also modern. Outside the wall are botanic, gardens, a bull-arena, and a public promenade, called L Glorieta, planted with trees and shrubs, and ornamented with fountains and statues. The principal manufactures are silks, linen- and woollen-cloths, hats, leather, glass, paper, 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 taken by the French under Suchet in 1812, and they held it till June, 1818. A. few miles south from Valencia is a large inlet from the sea called the Albofera. [ALBIIIIEltA De VALENCIA.]