Right next to the Catedral, on Placa de la Verge (beautiful stone, wet from the rain) –

is the Basilica de la Mare de Déu dels Desamparats. That’s Valènciano for Mother of God of the Dispossessed. She is a key figure in Valencian Catholic identity.

The bascilica is (at the risk of understatement) a chapel –

– and we walked in right as a choral mass (sung by the boys choir) was starting:

Leaving the church proper and entering through the next door down took us to the museum, which encompasses the entire upper gallery around the chapel. We found ourselves virtually alone with 500 years of manuscripts and art dedicated to the cult:

A hidden gem. This is very typical Valencian tile work in one of the upper corridors:

A few more photos from K