The Ruzafa neighborhood was a recreational area for the Muslim kings of Valencia from the 10th to the 13th centuries. The name of Ruzafa comes from the Arabic word garden, which was one of the hundred names that Muslims used to refer to heaven or Eden.
In this street of Dr. Serrano are the Bodegas Biosca, since 1932.
After the conquest of Valencia by Jaime I, the Ruzafa gardens became farmlands with farmhouses occupied by the conquerors. The army of Jaime I settled in Ruzafa to direct the siege and the conquest of Valencia from here. The surrender of Muslim Valencia would also be signed here, on September 28, 1238.
From 1811 to 1877, Ruzafa was an independent town from Valencia.
Today the town of Ruzafa has been completely absorbed by the city of Valencia and is very close to the city center.
Ruzafa, in its oldest part, has a nucleus of irregular streets. This is testament to its Islamic layout.
One of its best known inhabitants was the poet Al-Russafí, who died in Granada in 1177. The two public libraries in Ruzafa are named after him.
The Ruzafa neighborhood also has some examples of popular modernist architecture from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The inhabitants of this neighborhood spent a lot of time picking up the logs transported from the Serranía by the Turia River with irons, for this reason the neighborhood was known as "Terra del ganxo".
This was the church of the old town of Ruzafa. The church had been built on the site of the old medieval church and was renovated in 1676 by Juan Bautista Pérez Castiel, who gave it its current appearance. The bell tower is already from the 18th century. Burned in 1936, it was rebuilt from 1939. In 1940-1949 the Communion Chapel was built.
This market was designed by Julio Bellot Senent and is built on a site of about 4,800 m. Its factory is made of cement. Despite being a closed market, the construction of stalls facing the outside gives it an open-air market aspect. One of these stalls is a toy sales and repair shop, Star Toys.
The Ruzafa neighborhood was very degraded a few years ago, but today it has become a cultural and leisure reference for Valencia. It is a neighborhood where many painters have settled and there are several art galleries in it. There are also several cafe-bookstores such as Slaughterhouse, Cosecha Roja and Ubik, as well as bars, restaurants and pubs.
This 17th century convent is located at the point where Jaime I set up his camp for the conquest of Valencia and where Zayyán, the last Moorish king of Valencia, signed the capitulation.
The Avenida del Reino de Valencia separates the Ruzafa neighborhood from the Ensanche. This avenue has had different names: Victoria Eugenia, April 14, José Antonio and Antiguo Reino de Valencia.
On the right you can see the building of the School of Craftsmen, from 1868.
In this avenue, planted with palm trees along its entire length, is the collegiate church of San Bartolomé (1962), where the ceramic mural by the artist Andrés Cillero stands out, which was considered too modern in its time and was controversial. This collegiate church was formerly in the Carmen neighborhood, where now only its tower is preserved.