The New Student's Reference Work/Valencia (Spain)

Valen′cia, an ancient city and seaport of Spain and formerly its capital, stands on the shores of the Mediterranean, 300 miles by rail from Madrid. The Huerta, 35 square miles in extent, which surrounds the city, resembles an immense orchard, and is watered by an intricate network of pipes and rivulets laid down by the Moors 800 years ago and answering its purpose down to the present day. There are numerous picture-galleries in the city, in the chief of which only the productions of the great Valencian school are to be seen. There are a museum, a botanical garden and a fine old cathedral. The university, with its library of 50,000 volumes, has 39 professors and 1,728 students. The custom-house, dating from 1758, is now the cigar-factory, which employs more than 3,000 persons and produces 120,000 pounds of tobacco yearly. Valencia is connected with Madrid by rail, and is a famous summer resort of the more prosperous classes. Population 233,348.