Located in the former House of the Rocks and an adjacent building were restored in May 2006 to house the museum.
The Corpus Christi Museum or House of the Rocks, located in the middle of the Carmen neighbourhood and next to the Portal dels Serrans, houses the pieces used in the cavalcades and processions of Corpus Christi, celebrated in Valencia since the 14th century, as well as the interactive audio-visuals of the fiesta declared a site of Cultural Interest in 2010.
The construction of the old building began in 1435. In 1446, it was bought the City Council to house the triumphal chariots used in the Corpus Christi festivities, where dramatic plays were performed as part of the Corpus procession.
The building was flooded to a height of four metres during the flood of 1957. The budget of the Town Hall to restore it amounted to 150.000 pesetas.
Beside these ceremonial horse-drawn carts, The Museum houses many other items that are used in the procession, including several mythological creatures such as winged Saint George’s Dragon, the legendary dragon of saint Martha and the Tarascan, the “Cuca Fera” (mythical turtle-shape monster), giants and bigheads, three symbolic eagles, the Ark of the Covenant, etc.
No-one knows for certain where the name roca (rock) originates, but it may come from their shape, because they are also known, as the first ones that were built had a rock appearance.
Nowadays, there are eleven rocks, all of them paraded in the procession, drawn by horses decorated in the traditional style. For centuries the festa grossa has been the main festival of the city. First celebrated in 1355 and then continuously since 1372.
The eleven rocks are, in chronological order:
Pluto’s Rock called “La Diablera” (Hell’s rock) (1511-1542)
Saint Michael’s Rock (1528 or 1535)
The Faith Rock (1512 or 1542)
The Rock of the Immaculate Conception (1542)
Saint-Vincent’s Rock (1665)
The Holy Trinity (1674)
The Valencia Rock (1855)
Rock of Fame (1899)
The Patriarch’s Rock, San Juan de Ribera (1961)
The Rock of Our Lady of the Abandoned (1995)
The Holy Grail Rock (2001)
