Last month we unravel the secrets of a Roteros street that winds through the city center leaving in its way innumerable mandatory stop corners. The walk fell short, We took a few more steps and we found the Plaza del Carmen. We are dazzled by the beauty of the Church of the Holy Cross, better known as the Church of Carmen, because it has one of the best Mannerist altarpiece-facades in the entire city. The delicious parish (that is well worth a visit inside) It is the perfect anteroom to the small Museu street, brief but intense, because in a short stretch it mixes art, history and gastronomy. How can we not be silent?, We will reveal the delights of this route, that gives Valencia a cultural center of reference, a beautiful palace, a curious urban art gallery and a tortilla skewer that takes away the meaning.
CCCC Center del Carme
— Museum, 2
Brand new Museum Street stands, imposing, the CCCC Center del Carme. The monastery that gives its name to the neighborhood was started by the Order of Carmen in the 13th century and it grew, fitting the pieces of the puzzle together for the greater glory of the city: the two cloisters (one gothic and one renaissance), the chapels, a church, the bell tower... It has had different uses throughout its history, It housed the classrooms of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Carlos, It guarded pieces from the Prado Museum to protect them from the bombings that Madrid suffered during the Civil War and has functioned as the sub-headquarters of the Valencian Institute of Modern Art. (VAT). Hoy, the Center del Carme is a museum space, headquarters of the Consortium of Museums of the Valencian Community and one of the busiest cultural centers in Valencia. It's more, tops the Valencian ranking of the Observatory of Culture in Spain in 2020 prepared by the Contemporary Foundation, ahead of heavyweights like IVAM or Bombas Gens. The turnaround that the center has taken in recent years is evident. The institution did not have a defined profile and with the arrival in 2016 of its new director, José Luis Pérez Pont (who has just been renewed to lead the institution for five more years), reoriented its programmatic line towards contemporary art, especially pampering environmentalist discourses, feminists, and those related to historical memory. In its rooms—former rooms of the monastery (the refectory, the bedroom…)—, Renowned artists such as Fuencisla Francés have exhibited in the last stage, Eusebio Sempere, Shadi Ghadirian, Martin Parr, Inma Feminine, Black, Edel Rodriguez, Pichiavo, Carlos Perez, Escif, Teresa Ortega, Maribel Domènech or Vinz Feel Free. And it's not just because of its exhibitions that the Center del Carme is attractive., It has become a great container for other initiatives that have germinated in the city and have found in its cloisters the perfect place to develop.. Talk later, For example, of the Vociferio performing poetry festival, from the Loops dance cycle, the Russafa Scenic theater festival, from the Baba Kamo illustrated book fair, or music and film festivals such as Ensems and Cinema Jove. This, as for the fat ones, but many small initiatives have also received support to celebrate their parties there., as shown by PamPam! that promoted the talent of young Valencian artists, the Tenderete self-publishing festival, the Tasta'l d'Ací project party, dedicated to highlighting Valencian gastronomy or the Golem Fest dedicated to fantasy genres, Terror and science fiction. Its sponge role derives from one of the great efforts of the center's new management: open to all citizens, question the division between high and low culture and stop elitism. It is always a good plan to visit the Center del Carme, you will find an interesting exhibition, a concert, a children's workshop, storytelling or the pleasure of walking through a building with a lot of history.
Palace of Forcalló
— Museum, 3
Current headquarters of the Valencian Culture Council, The Forcalló Palace is a stately residence built in 1864 what, behind a modest facade, hides a delicious garden inside. Classic and Mediterranean tradition, this patio full of casuarinas, mulberry and orange trees, It is made up of four streets in a cross shape, which are joined in the center by a small octagonal fountain or pond.. In the ditches attached to the sides, laurels and dwarf orange trees rest., that give the complex a fresh and peaceful air that recalls the Arab gardens, the Valencian gardens of other times. The palace can be visited, as well as other emblematic and public buildings, through the program Transparent palaces. You can see the schedules in the GVA Palaus app.
Caos Community
— Museum, 5
To return to modernity we enter Chaos Community, a store of everything but ordinary. In this temple of street art The works of the best urban artists on the national and international scene are captured on organic cotton t-shirts and sweatshirts or decorate their walls in the form of canvases., drawings or prints. A striking skull by the Chilean Otto Schade and the face of the astonished Dalí by Asier Vera look at us from the back wall, right behind the curious collection of art toys, where the futuristic robots of Xelon coexist with the Mickeys of Luaiso López or the fantastic creatures of Mone Uzi. shoes, hats, sprays, backpacks or bags complete an offer for all budgets. Walking through this store is quite an experience., and more when Jon, the creator of this community, He advises us, exuding enthusiasm and love for this very particular and not always respected art., to whom this unique space in Valencia pays tribute.
Café Museum
— Museum, 7
This is one of those places that you can tell has lived in.. It was born as the bar of the Fine Arts school (when the school was what is now the Center del Carme), always packed with students, enthusiasm and artistic projects. It grew and became El Racó, a well-known bar punk from the period of greatest splendor of the Carmen neighborhood, animated and visited by punks and anti-Francoists. Already in his maturity, about fifteen years ago, became what it is now: a beautiful bar with a vaulted interior and a charming terrace that offers a heart-stopping potato omelette and the best Sunday paellita. A lot has changed in all these years, but its essence remains. And it is that, at their tables they continue to talk about art, Well, to the loyal clientele, made up of restless people, Visitors to the Center del Carme join in, los illustrated tourists, and everyone who has fallen in love with the neighborhood and this unrepeatable café.
