Following the foundation of Valentia Edetanorum in 138 BC, the city and its territory were completely Romanised and the imperial reign of Augustus was the pinnacle of Roman life in Valencia. Valencia was allied to the Visigoth monarchy in the 6th century and later fell under the dominion of the Muslim empire in 714. It was during this period that Valencia’s standing increased thanks to the agricultural development of the surrounding area.

In the 10th century, Valencia took on an important role in the politics of Al-Andalus as the capital of a Taifa kingdom. The weakening of the Tiafa made it possible for the city to be conquered by El Cid in 1094 and to subsequently fall in to the hands of the Almoravids in 1102.

In 1238 James I reconquered the city for good and incorporated it into the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Valencia was founded. James I granted the kingdom the Furs (legal privileges) and its own autonomous institutions such as the Consolat del Mar (Sea Consulate), the Tribunal de las Aguas (Water Court), the Taula de Canvis (Exchange Table)… In the 15th century, Valencia became the most important city in the Crown of Aragon and it continued to hold that position until the 17th century. The prosperity of its agricultural area and of its silk industry, its development as a financial and business centre and its cultural boom made this its Golden Age with such eminent figures as Joanot Martorell -author of Tirant lo Blanc (The White Knight)-, Ausias March, Roig de Corella and Isabel de Villena.

The failure of the Germanías deteriorated its position, but the final straw for its economy was the expulsion of the Moriscos in 1609. As a result of the victory of the Bourbons at the Battle of Almansa (1707), Philip V decreed that the city’s privileges or furs were to be abolished because the Valencians had sided with Archduke Charles of Austria in the War of the Spanish Succession. Throughout the 18th century, Valencia participated in the country’s economic and cultural Renaissance. With the 19th century came the War of Independence and the heroic deeds of El Palleter, Romeu and Pep de L'Horta, the Carlist Wars and the Canton of Valencia in 1873. In the following year, Alphonse XII was proclaimed constitutional King in Sagunto.

During the Civil War (1936-1939), Valencia was, for a time, the capital of the Republican Government. Later it suffered great losses in the floods of 1957. When democracy was re-established the Valencia Region obtained the Statute of Autonomy.