The village of El Grau was founded by James I the Conqueror in 1249. From its very beginnings, it was dedicated to fishing and seafaring, trade, the loading and unloading of goods, the storage and distribution of goods, and other traditional maritime activities. Thanks to its strategic location, between the sea, the Turia River and the city of Valencia, it was the perfect place to defend the seas, the port and the city. Throughout its history, it has been a hub for the movement of people and goods, facilitating communication on land and by sea.

The exhibition Mar y Tierra. Los escenarios del Grao de Valencia [Sea and Land. Scenes of El Grau, Valencia] aims to provide a themed, chronological overview of the history of Valencia’s El Grau, a neighbourhood that has hosted the city’s port, that has become a bastion for the region, that has opened its doors to both trade and beach tourism, and that has been the ideal space for land and maritime mobility, as well as a key location in the territorial development of the Valencian coast. It presents the living history of a neighbourhood, of its historical scenes, of its marks of identity.

Six of these scenes or cultural landscapes introduce us to its history: the history of festivals; tradition and modernity; El Grau, the guardian of the sea; naval construction; land communication; and maritime communication. The aim is to offer an educational, enjoyable insight into the area’s history, with emphasis on historic milestones, written testimonies, monuments, traditions and devotions. Maritime models, old and new photographs, cartographic illustrations, maps and plans, paintings and documents are just some of the items on display, just some of the testimonies that allow us to reconstruct the past and present and imagine the future.