Turn your attention to a massive, intricately carved wooden carriage, crowned with a gleaming golden chalice and detailed religious statues. This is the House of Rocks, sitting just a short three-minute stroll from our next destination, the Torres de Serranos. Approved by the city back in 1435, this building was wedged between the city's oldest wall and a newer fourteenth-century wall. Its sole purpose was to serve as a giant medieval garage for the theatrical props and floats used in the Corpus Christi procession, a major Catholic festival celebrating the Eucharist.
The inventory inside is wonderfully bizarre. Beyond the eleven massive wooden floats, the oldest being the San Miguel carriage from 1528, the collection includes symbolic eagles, towering giants, and a mythical beast known as the Dragon of Saint George.
But this strange collection almost washed away. In 1957, a catastrophic river flood hit Valencia, and the water inside this very building rose to four meters high, completely submerging the historic wooden floats. The city scrambled to save them, approving an emergency budget of 150,000 pesetas for the recovery. Adjusted for inflation, that is roughly sixteen thousand dollars today.
Thankfully, the city successfully restored both the building and the surviving floats, officially reopening the space in 2006. If you want to check out the dragons and historic carriages yourself, the museum opens Monday through Saturday in the mornings and late afternoons, but stays closed on Sundays. Take a moment to appreciate the scale of these creations. When you have had your fill of dragons and floats, let us continue our walk.
