Museo Del Patriarca, Valencia, Spain.

© Neil Farrin/Getty Images

Museo del Patriarca

Top choice in Valencia


This seminary was founded in the late 16th century by San Juan de Ribera, a towering Counter-Reformation figure who wielded enormous spiritual and temporal power in Spain and beyond. With an impressive if austere Renaissance courtyard-cloister, its main attraction is a small but excellent religious-art museum. Caravaggio, El Greco and local boys José de Ribera and Juan de Juanes are represented. Most surprising is the manuscript that Thomas More was writing while awaiting his execution in the Tower of London.

The adjacent church has a soberly handsome cloister, some high-quality Renaissance frescoes, and a stuffed caiman, Lepanto, in the anteroom. Note that the museum is accessed through the right-hand doorway.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Valencia attractions

1. Centro Cultural La Nau

0.02 MILES

Long the headquarters of the University of Valencia, with a harmonious cloister-courtyard that's worth popping into. It's lined with plaques of notable…

2. Palacio del Marqués de Dos Aguas

0.08 MILES

Quite a sight from outside, this immoderate palace has a pair of wonderfully extravagant rococo caryatids curling around the main entrance. The exterior…

3. Luis Adelantado

0.09 MILES

This stylish spot is a local reference point for high-quality, carefully selected contemporary art exhibitions. There are often some real gems on display,…

4. Museo Nacional de Cerámica

0.09 MILES

Inside a striking palace, this ceramics museum celebrates an important local industry. Downstairs (which also features a decadent hand-painted 1753…

5. Baños del Almirante

0.18 MILES

These Arab-style baths, constructed in 1313, functioned continuously as public bathing facilities until 1959. It's worth dropping in if you're passing by…

6. Centro Cultural Bancaja

0.18 MILES

High-quality temporary art exhibitions, often featuring major international names, are the main offering at this bank-run centre, which also has other…

7. Iglesia de Santa Catalina

0.22 MILES

This church, badly knocked about in the civil war, is starkly impressive inside. It’s dwarfed by the striking late-17th-century hexagonal baroque bell…

8. Museo Catedralicio Diocesano

0.24 MILES

Newly reopened, this cathedral museum is a good-looking blend of the modern and venerable. There are some excellent religious paintings here; it's…