Located in the central and bustling Plaza de la Virgen, in front of the Basílica and the Cathedral, the Palau de la Generalitat was declared a historical-artistic monument in 1931.
It is preceded by a pleasant orange tree garden, which was occupied by the former Casa de la Ciudad (the town hall) until the 19th century. It is a Gothic building from the 15th century, supported by two turrets from the 16th and 20th century. Its construction was started by Pere Compte, the architect that built the Silk Exchange of Valencia.
The palace is at the beginning of the well-known Calle Caballeros (Caballeros Street): precisely because it is one of the widest and most beautiful streets of the medieval Valencia, today it preserves most of the old palaces of the Valencian nobility at both sides of the street. Walking down Caballeros Street, you can discover, almost by surprise, the access to one of the most beautiful churches in the city: the Church of San Nicolás, popularly known as the Valencian Sistine Chapel.