Notice the striking exposed brick building on your left, featuring a massive semi-circular arch and a prominent metal cross perched at its peak. We just walked from the imposing Torres de Serranos, but this building... well, it was built for a very different kind of defense. This is the Rationists' Hall, designed in 1886 by architect Joaquín María Arnau Miramón. Back then, the local silk industry crashed, leaving thousands of weavers unemployed. The Count of Trigona commissioned this grand space to distribute food rations to those desperate families, even including a preschool. To fit everyone inside, Miramón created a massive nave, which is simply an architectural term for a long, soaring central hall. To support that huge roof without cluttering the floor with pillars, he used laminated iron trusses, making this one of Valencia's earliest examples of modern metal construction. Today, it survives as a school sports pavilion, trading the quiet hum of charity for the chaotic echoes of gym class. It is a beautiful piece of local history that stepped up when the city needed it most. Let's keep wandering to our next stop.
Stop 7 of 17
