Carme Contemporary Culture Centre

It is several museums rolled into one, covering all artistic disciplines, past and future: visual arts, performing arts, performance art, music, design, books and a wide range of artistic languages and practices for every taste. 

What the CCCC offers

Centre del Carme is a great cultural vessel centred on people. A living venue where you will find all kinds of exhibitions. There is room for absolutely everything: from urban art to an opera recital.  

There is even a permanent gallery focusing on early childhood, ages 0 to 3, the Espai de Telles Gallery. If you visit Valencia with the kids, don't hesitate: they’ll love it. 

Its exploration of the contemporary world through a wide variety of media and languages has made the CCCC one of València’s most highly prized cultural institutions. 

If we had to come up with just one adjective to describe it, we would choose eclectic. 

And the building’s personality is as varied as its uses. Its essence is made up of a mix of styles, making it the best venue for the exhibitions, concerts and educational offerings housed there. 

The building, which was listed as a National Historic-Artistic Monument in 1983, has an architecture as diverse as its cultural offerings. You may find yourself walking through a Gothic or a Renaissance cloister, which share space with the remnants of an Islamic dwelling. 

This is what makes the atmosphere at CCCC so special. Experience it and share what you discover, but first … 

A short history of the CCCC

Carme Contemporary Culture Centre is a true reflection of the history and artistic tradition of Valencia. 

It takes its name from the city's coolest neighbourhood, the one of the most flavour. 

It was built on the site of Nuestra Señora del Carmen de València Royal Monastery, founded in 1281, following the Christian conquest. And that was how the city's most authentic neighbourhood got its name: Barrio del Carmen. 

Since it was established in the late 13th century, over the course of its history, the monastery has undergone several expansions and modifications that have given us the cloisters, refectory and chapterhouse. 

Its use as a centre for culture dates from the 19th century, when it was converted into the Museum of Fine Arts and the location for the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and the Schools of Fine Arts and Crafts. In fact, that is what saved its life. 

You might be interested to know that the greatest Valencian artists of the 19th and 20th centuries passed through its classrooms, such famed creators as Joaquín Sorolla, Francisco Domingo, Ignacio Pinazo, Manuel Benedito and the Benlliure brothers.  

What is clear is that the Carme Contemporary Culture Centre has become a meeting spot for locals and travellers, reflecting the transformation of the Barrio del Carmen, Valencia’s oldest and most bohemian neighbourhood. We love it, as you may have noticed. 

Its narrow streets are lined with art galleries, small bars and restaurants where there is always something new going on. 

So how about it? Are you up for a visit to the CCCC and a stroll around the area to savour everything the neighbourhood has to offer?