We Saw the Holy Grail!

It is the stuff of legends. The Holy Grail… Several Spaniards have told us that when we get to Valencia, we have to go see the Holy Grail in the big Cathedral. We shouldn’t miss it.

There are many tales written abut the Holy Grail, the cup believed to have been used by Jesus at the Last Supper. Quite a number of places (about 200) claim to have it in their possession.

So we went to the huge and highly ornate Cathedral of Valencia, there it was, in its own side chapel, the Holy Grail! At least that is what was claimed. It was hard to believe that this goblet or chalice could indeed be the original Holy Grail. Scholars are not even sure one existed.

The chalice in Valencia is a finely polished agate cup that archaeologists consider to be of Eastern origin from the years 100 to 50 BC. The finely engraved gold handles and foot, as well as the jewels that decorate the base, were added in medieval times.

The story is that Saint Peter entrusted it to Saint Lawrence who eventually sent it to his parents in Huesca, in the north of Spain for safekeeping before he was martyred during religious persecution. The Holy Grail was subsequently hidden in different places around Spain for the next 450 years before its final arrival at the Valencia Cathedral in the 15th century as a gift to the king. And it has been there ever since.

Archaeological studies, historical documents, recent discoveries about the design and the inscription in the base and legends about the Grail, all point to the chalice of Valencia being in the hands of Jesus at the Last Supper.

Only the top portion is the cup. The base, the jewels and the handles were added in the 11th Century to protect the cup.

Pope St. John Paul II (1982) and Benedict XVI (2006) have used the chalice and believe that it is the real deal.

The cathedral is big and quite spectacular with many secrets. Worth visiting with its museum and big watch tower and …the Holy Grail!Read more