El Cabanyal

This guide to El Cabanyal in Valencia opens at the eighteen sixty-seven Paris World's Fair, where a French firm unveiled a way to fake the look of costly ceramic tile using pressed, colored cement instead of a kiln. It follows how that trick reached this fishermen's quarter after fires forced families to rebuild their straw-roofed cottages in brick, and how a technique built for the wealthy ended up affordable enough for ordinary front rooms. You'll also hear about the fishing village's painted facades, famous long before anyone looked at the floors. Notice the geometric patterns underfoot as you walk between the tiled houses still standing here.