The Compañía del Ferrocarril Central de Aragón built the Valencia-Puçol section of the railway in 1901, the first stretch of a long line which was to run from Calatayud to Zaragoza through Teruel. The original concession was granted n 1887, although the initial project only involved a 133 km long line from Calatayud to Teruel. A year later the project was extended as far as Valencia through the Palancia valley but it was over seven years later before any work was actually started.

Finally, in 1895 Belgian investors arrived on the scene and formed the Compañía del Ferrocarril Central de Aragón. Work on the railway was quickly started and seven years later the line was fully operational. In the Huerta Norte region of Valencia two broad gauge railways operated on practically parallel lines: the Central de Aragón (whose Puçol-Valencia section now forms the basis of our Greenway) and the Compañía del Norte

This situation remained unchanged until Renfe was created in 1941. Now both lines belonged to the same company it seemed illogical to operate both, and so gradually traffic was diverted onto the Compañía del Norte line. In 1968 the Valencia-Alameda station was closed and demolished, and only the connection with Cabanyal remained operational to back up the main line. However, once dual track operation was established on the main line, the Central de Aragón line was deemed unviable and in 1985 it was definitively axed and the tracks taken up.

Over ten years later the Department of Public Works, Urban Development and Transport of the Generalitat Valenciana (Valencia Regional Government) reclaimed the route as a cycle trail providing non-motorized access (separate from the congested roads of this area) to the rural district of L’Horta Nord.

The El Puig Monastery

A mere 300 metres from the Xurra Greenway can be seen the stony silhouette of the El Puig Monastery, declared a National Historic-Artistic Monument in 1969. This monastery was founded in gratitude for divine intervention in the conquest of Valencia.

Nearby there used to be a Moorish watchtower where an image of the Virgin Mary was said to have appeared miraculously beneath a bell. Jaime I ‘El Conquistador’ donated the land on which the monastery was built and subsequently entrusted to the Military Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy.

This occurred around 1240. In 1300 work began on the sanctuary thanks to the efforts of the renowned admiral Roger de Lauria and his daughters. This Gothic edifice was later affected by changes made in the 18th century but it still retains much of its original style. The monastery, which is attached to the sanctuary, was enlarged in the 16th century to its current spectacular size. During all this time the site was of great importance to the Valencian people due to their veneration of the figure of the Virgin Mary. In the 19th century Mendizábal’s disentailment, in which church property was confiscated, caused the monastery to be abandoned and it began to fall into disrepair. This deterioration was halted in 1948 when the monks of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy returned and began work to restore the monastery to its former glory.

Inside this magnificent building there is a central cloister on two levels whose galleries are a veritable museum of Valencian painting of the 17th and 18th centuries. The monastery is also home to a Museum of Printing and Graphic Arts.