On 27th March a Masterclass on the Holy Grail was held in the Castellón room of the Hotel Turia, located next to the Valencia bus station. The lecture, given by Dr. Ana Mafé García, president of the Cultural Association The Way of the Holy Grail, was attended by professionals from the tourism sector, journalism and academia.

The event took place in one of the magnificent rooms of the Hotel Turia in Valencia, starting at 16:30h on Monday. The first part of the class focused on presenting the relic, its history and the references that, through literature, painting and other arts, have left a witness of its importance throughout the centuries.

Those present were provided with material on the Holy Chalice and the international route of the Way of the Holy Grail.  The exhibition was supported by Dr. Mafé’s graphic equipment, mostly unpublished images, with which she presented fragments of her doctoral thesis ‘Aportes desde la Historia del Arte al turismo cultural: el Santo Cáliz de Valencia como eje del relato turístico que sustenta el Camino del Santo Graal en el siglo XXI.’ The thesis was published in the United States by the prestigious American publisher ProQuest and hard copies are available for consultation in the Archive of the Cathedral of Valencia, as well as the National Library of Spain and the Archive of the Diocesan Museum of Jaca.

In the mid-afternoon, the attendees enjoyed a pleasant break on one of the terraces of the Hotel Turia provided by the attentive staff. This break was very much appreciated by the attendees for its fabulous presentation and generosity.

The presentation continued in the Castellón room of the Hotel Turia until well past the end of the event. During this second part, Dr. Mafé presented the scientific method to which the relic had been exposed over the centuries, the previous work carried out on it and the lines of action that are currently being carried out to promote the Way of the Holy Grail, the Route of Knowledge, the Way of Peace.

Finally, there was a round of questions and a colloquium among the attendees. The aim of all this was to train professionals from the Valencian tourism sector in the subject, so that they can continue with the transmission of knowledge in their respective sectors with the guarantee of knowing the most important relic in the world.

We would like to remind you that, according to Dr. Mafé, “Valencia is the third most important Christian city in the world for several reasons. The first is because of the frequency with which the Cathedral of Valencia celebrates the Jubilee (every five years and in perpetuity), the second is because it is the end point of the Holy Grail Route, the Route of Knowledge, the Route of Peace, a route that civil society is trying to make into a true European Cultural Itinerary. But the third reason, which could well be the first, is because the protagonist of this route is Jesus, the rightful owner of the Kos Kidush, the Hebrew cup of blessing that we have been guarding in Hispania for more than XVII centuries. A Christian oral tradition that has been proven by the application of the scientific method through my doctorate”.

And so it is, the only Hebrew cup from two thousand years ago, contemporary to Herod the Great and from the time of the Second Temple is the Holy Chalice of the Cathedral of Valencia, the Holy Grail. A sacred relic that has left its mark in multiple frescoes in Rome (Mafé, 2018), in the Roman prayer or Roman Canon (studied by Canon Oñate in 1952 and developed by Dr. Jaime Sancho), in the Roman prayer or Roman Canon (studied by Canon Oñate in 1952 and developed by Dr. Jaime Sancho), in the Roman prayer or Roman Canon (studied by Canónigo Oñate in 1952 and developed by Dr. Jaime Sancho), in the capital of the Cathedral of Jaca, in the Romanesque frescoes of the Virgins of the Pyrenees.

It was in 2005 when Professor Joseph Goering of the Department of History of the University of Toronto wrote his book The Virgin and the Grail: Origins of a Legend and developed it in 2008 by Dr. Vicente Francesc Zuriaga Senentino. Vicente Francesc Zuriaga Senentino is professor of Art History at the Catholic University of Valencia.   The Holy Grail is an icon of painting whose theme is the Last Supper (studied by Dr. Asunción Alejos in her book Presencia del Santo Cáliz en el Arte, published in 2000).

The Cultural Association The Way of the Holy Grail is publicly grateful for the dissemination of the event carried out by all those that have collaborated, especially AEVAV. The Hotel Turia has offered a marvellous setting for the event.

Report by ‘24/7 Valencia’ team

Article copyright ‘24/7 Valencia’