Church of San Salvador and Santa Monica, Valencia

The Parish of Saint Salvador in Valencia was founded on October 20, 1238, on the site of an Arab mosque by King Jaime I the Conqueror, and in 1603 the Augustinian monks opened the monastery of Saint Monica here. A year later, Patriarch San Juan de Ribera presented the monastery with a figure of the crucified Christ, which he named "Faith" (Cristo de la Fe) and declared miraculous. A small chapel was built for the shrine. History is silent about what miracles happened to him, but in 1604 the local Santísimo Cristo de la Fe festival appeared, one of the most iconic and oldest in Valencia. It is celebrated on the Tuesday after the Day of the Holy Trinity (Pentecost) and includes a procession in the area of Sagunto Street with a crucifix at the head. In 1630, construction began on a large church designed by José Camaña Pañella, which was opened in 1662 and inherited the names of the parish and monastery (Parroquia del Salvador y Santa Monica). In 1672, a miraculous crucifix was placed in the altar.

The bell tower was added in 1915, designed by architect Javier Goerlich. In 1936, during the period of anarchy, the church was it was looted and since then the fate of the wonderful sculpture is unknown. After the war, the church was restored, and the sculptor Carmelo Vicent made a new crucifix using the preserved images of the relic. In 1942, the icon was blessed by the Archbishop of Valencia and placed on the altar. Today, the processions use a crucifix made at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, stored in a side altar and which survived the pogrom. The interiors of the temple, judging by the descriptions, are quite luxurious, but on the morning of January 1 there was no opportunity to look at them.

In front of the facade of the church, in a small park, there is a monument to St. Teresa Jornet, the founder of the charity shelter.