History of Valencia
Founded in 138 BC, under the consulate of Decimus Junius Brutus, Valencia was a settlement
for regular soldiers who were also granted land near the new city. Archaeological
excavations have unearthed evidence of the first settlement such as holes used to
support posts for log cabins and tents at what was most probably a makeshift camp
which, within a few years, had given way to more permanent constructions. Valencia
quickly prospered and before long started to coin its own money.
The city was razed to the ground in 75 BC during the war waged between Pompey and
Sertorius. Discoveries at a site at La Almoina include the dismembered bodies of
various soldiers alongside their weapons, which indicates that a skirmish occurred
there. As a result of the conflict, it appears that the settlement was virtually
abandoned for at least half a century.
From the middle of the first century onwards Valencia gradually recovered lost ground
and embarked on a lengthy period of development typified by urban growth, the wealth
of the new settlers and the aggrandizement of the city through the construction of
large public buildings, such as the forum and the amphitheatre. Sizeable infrastructure
projects were also completed, such as a river port next to the modern-day Torres
dels Serrans or the water supply system, a facility that the people of Valencia were
unable to make use of again until the middle of the nineteenth century
Valencia was not immune to the crisis that afflicted the rest of the Roman Empire
in the second half of the third century and the city entered a lengthy period of
decline during which its boundaries shrank, whole suburbs were left deserted and
its infrastructures abandoned. In the middle of the fourth century the city was inhabited
by a Christian community drawn there in memory of San Vicente, who was martyred in
Valencia in 304.
A century later, at the same time as the first waves of Germanic invaders arrived
and in response the power vacuum bequeathed by the Romans, the church took the reins
of the city, replacing ancient Roman temples with Christian places of worship. In
the sixth century, during the time of Bishop Justinian, Valencia recovered its former
glory to some extent. Urban decline was momentarily halted and the city played host
to an important regional council. The city acquired a strategic importance following
the Byzantine invasion of the south east of the Iberian peninsula in 554 with Visigoth
armies using it as a base and fortifying the ancient Roman amphitheatre. The expulsion
of the Byzantines in 625 heralded a dark period and what little documentation there
is suggests that the city developed little during this period.
Valencian Nightlife
The city of Valencia is known for its active and attractive night atmosphere, with
a great range of possibilities which makes visitors feel at ease out in the streets.
The mild characteristic weather invites everybody to stay out in the terraces and
open air bars, many of them open almost all year.
This city has one of the highest rates of music bars and leisure zones, up to the
point that even people from other Spanish cities come to spend one night, attracted
by the so known as the "Ruta del Bacalao" (a road which has lots of discos on each
side, one after the other)
In general, in the city of Valencia the bars, cafes and pubs remain open for many
hours, due to the fact that a morning meeting with friends can sometimes take all
day and stretch well into midnight.
People usually go out around 23,00 or 00,00. Some people go out a bit earlier to
have some "tapas" for dinner.
