The Holy Grail in the Cathedral of Valencia, Spain

Healthy scpeticism is expected, but this seems to be the real deal.

Your quest for the Holy Grail is complete once you land in Valencia.

It is inevitable that such a seemengly bold claim will evoke a cynical grin from most people who hear of the Holy Grail kept in the Valencia Cathedral. However, and contrary to how it may seem, such scepticism is an uninformed reaction, rather than otherwise.

It is common knowledge that if you collect all the nails with which Jesus was cruxified, it turns out that the poor guy had a few hundred nails in Him. And you could build a house from all the wood that is claimed to be part of His cross. However, it is just not like that with the Cup that can be much more scientifically analysed and cross-examined with various historical records and references. As a result, every single claim in the world have been dispelled. Apart from that of the Valencia Cathedral. On the contrary - historians all over the world point all their evidence to this item as being the authentic Cup used in the Last Supper.

Hollywood has, as usual, impregnated the public with a pseudo-historical moment of truth. Indiana Jones speculates that the Cup was wooden since Jesus was a carpenter. Well, shoe-makers don't drink from leather cups and blacksmiths don't make their own steel mugs. While it would be absurd to see a golden or platinum cup used by Jesus, it is also a bit silly to expect Him to have found time in His very busy schedule to make all kinds of cutlery and domestic items for His following, rather than just buy one on the market or have one donated. Porous wooden cups, impractical and forbidden for the Jewish Passover, are unlikely to have been used by Him.

In fact, the Cup is made of agate stone - a popular material for drink vessels in those times. It is a homogenous piece cut out entirely from a lare chunk of agate, 9 cm in diameter. Naturally, decorations of gold and pearls were added to the supporting structure over the centuries.

The Holy Grail is believed to had been left in the house where the Last Supper took place - a house belonging to the family of St Mark the Evangelists, who later took it to Rome when he went to serve as an interpreter for St Peter. Passed on within the church and used as Papal Chalice, the relic was shipped out of Rome in 3rd century by St Lawrence, in anticipation of a persecution. It was taken out of Rome in the hands of a Spanish soldier to Huesca, Spain. During the Muslim occupation of the Iberic peninsula, the Grail went into hiding and later re-emerged in various Spanish monasteries and cathedrals. The Kings of Spain looked after it, on occasions taking it into their treasuries or palaces, until it was finally presented to the Valencia Cathedral in XV century, where it remained ever since. It briefly left the Cathedral only twice, both times during the 1930s Civil War, for fears of plunder.

To be totally fair, the Cup in the Antioch Cathedral also passes tests on authenticity. However, it is way too large to be passed around as a cup. Records refer to two cups being used in the Last Supper - one as a communal tank for wine and the other as a cup to drink from.

The Holy Grail can be easily viewed in the Valencia Cathedral >>>

For photos of the Chapel of the Holy Grail see "Traveling in Spain"