- The exhibition, promoted by the Port Authority of Valencia, will be open to the public free of charge from 2 October to 9 November in the Clock Building
- The exhibition will allow the visitors to check the names of streets and squares that Valencia and its port neighbourhoods have dedicated to the sea
Valencia, 26 October 2025 – The Port Authority of Valencia (APV) inaugurates the exhibition “El Marítim, a peu de carrer” in the emblematic Clock Building, inviting residents and visitors to immerse themselves in the living memory of the “poblats de la mar”, the maritime neighbourhoods of Valencia, whose identity has always been linked to the Mediterranean.
The exhibition, which can be visited free of charge from 2 October to 9 November, from 11:00 to 19:00, is a journey through panels with text, historical images, objects and memorabilia about fishing, trade, coastal defence and leisure, as factors that have transformed the port community and the city of Valencia itself.
A journey through Valencia’s maritime history
“El Marítim, a peu de carrer” traces a journey from the 15th century, when the port boosted the city’s economy and trade, to the 19th and 20th centuries, when the arrival of the railway, the fall of the city walls and the construction of a modern port consolidated the urban and cultural dynamism of the maritime neighbourhoods.
In this sense, as in any city, the names of streets and squares are a living reflection of its past. In this case, the exhibition collects and highlights the history of some of the current place names linked to the Maritime District of Valencia, formed by the annexation at the end of the 19th century of neighbourhoods such as Malva-rosa, Poble Nou de la Mar, Cap de França, Cabanyal, Canyamelar, Vilanova del Grau or Natzaret.
In this way, the exhibition seeks to bring history to street level, rescuing the identity and cultural heritage of the Maritime neighbourhoods, linking past and present.
The Port of Valencia, step by step
The history of the Port of Valencia is another of the protagonists of “El Marítim, a peu de carrer”. Visitors will discover how Valencia, since its origins, has been a commercial city and a meeting point for merchants from all over the world, and how it has evolved to become a transoceanic port that is now a benchmark reference for global markets.
Specifically, the exhibition traces the attempts, technical challenges and major projects that, from the 17th century to the second half of the 19th century, made it possible to transform a harbour with no natural shelter into a modern and safe infrastructure.
A story of collective effort in which names such as Juan Bautista Llovera, Luis Dicenta, Just Vilar, Manuel Maese and Fausto Elio come to life again, reminding visitors that they are still engraved in the streets of Valencia today. The exhibition is curated by art historian Ester Medán, a specialist in the history of architecture, engineering and public works.