The statue of El Cid in Valencia is a statue with high symbolic value for many of the travellers that make their way along The Way of El Cid. This is the reason why it is one of the places where tourists take photos which they then connect with the photos taken at other statues along the way: Camino en Vivar, Burgos, Mecerreyes, Caleruega and El Poyo del Cid.
The statue was created by Juan de Ávalos, though the original statue is the work of American sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington and it stands on the grounds of the Hispanic Society of America, in New York city. The sculptor herself made a copy of the sculpture for the city of Seville coinciding with the Ibero-American exhibition held in 1929. It was on the basis of this sculpture that Juan de Ávalos created the copy that can be found in Valencia. There are also copies of the statue in Buenos Aires, San Diego and San Francisco.
The historical connection between El Cid and Valencia is well known: in 1094, after a siege of six months during which he suffered the agonies of hunger, El Cid conquered Valencia (15th June 1094). Valencia was a city of such importance that the Almoravids came all the way from Marruecos and attempted several times to recover the city; yet, they did so unsuccessfully. Rodrigo died on the 10th July 1099, after which his widow, Jimena Díaz, aided by Alfonso VI, defended the place against several determined Almoravid intents to take the city back under Muslim control. She maintained herself in Valencia until 1102, when the city was abandoned and burnt. She mounted her husband’s corpse on Babieca and took him to the monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña in Burgos.
Rev. PAB 28.12.18
