To spot the Palacio de los Catalá de Valeriola, look to your right for a stately building with creamy brick walls, tall wooden windows, and elegant balconies that jut out over a stone base on the corner of Plaza de Nules.
Now, let’s step back in time and imagine the centuries breathing quietly through these sturdy walls. Picture Valencia in the 1400s-horse hooves echo off cobblestones, nobles sweep past in velvet cloaks, and sunlight filters softly into the grand patio inside, the beating heart of this palace. The original owners, the Catalá de Valeriola family, designed their home with the spirit of Valencian Gothic, centering everything around that hidden courtyard, with a zigzag-patterned staircase so stylish even modern designers would be jealous!
But life here wasn’t always calm and neat. Over the centuries, this house morphed in bursts-like a palace putting on new coats for every era. In 1727, things got dramatic: a next-door house was bought, the building was turned to face this very plaza, and a brand-new façade went up. Four layers stacked up on each other-starting with a semi-basement for storage (maybe even a few secret barrels of wine), then a service floor, a noble residence dripping with grandeur, and rooms above for servants and attic secrets. The balconies you see today were added to give the palace that extra flourish; I wonder how many stories those old iron railings have overheard at night!
Inside, echoes of Gothic arches survive, like a few clues from a medieval mystery book. In the 1800s, a new family crest appeared-the Escofets had arrived! Even more changes came in the early 2000s, when restoration works uncovered painted wooden ceilings and breathed color back onto faded walls. Now, this grand building houses the offices of the Vice President of Valencia, but you can still sense the layered centuries whispering just behind those elegant balconies. Wouldn’t you love to overhear one of those walls gossiping about the past?
