Jardines del Real / Viveros

This guide to Jardines del Real in Valencia starts at the vanished Royal Palace that once stood on this ground, where King Alfonso the Magnanimous kept a small agate cup that pilgrims, popes, and kings called the Holy Grail. You'll hear how Alfonso brought the relic west in 1432 and guarded it near his own chambers, taking it out only on the holiest days, and how war with Naples soon put pressure on his treasury. It follows the palace itself into the nineteenth century, when it was pulled down to deny Napoleon's army any shelter, leaving only two grassy mounds behind.