Portal de Valldigna

The Portal de Valldigna is a historic city gate in the El Carmen neighborhood of Valencia's Old Town. It was cut into the older Arab wall from the 11th century in the 14th century and once separated the Christian city from the Morería. The name comes from the nearby Monastery of Santa María de la Valldigna, whose abbot resided outside the gate. Architecturally, the structure is a Gothic round arch built of ashlar stone, restored in 1965. Today, visitors will find a replica of an altar erected in 1589 that shows King James II of Aragon at the founding of the monastery, topped by a depiction of the Virgin with the city's coats of arms. Of particular historical significance is the fact that in 1474 Lambert Palmart set up the first printing press in the Kingdom of Valencia here, which produced the first book printed in Valencian on the Iberian Peninsula. A memorial stone also commemorates the founding of the world's first insane asylum in 1409, which was established after an incident involving a mentally ill man.