The Sapiencia Chapel is one of the most striking places of the university complex. It was originally built by the architects Pere Compte and Pere Bernia in 1498, and was later fully refurbished during the 18th century by the master builder Miguel Martínez. This single-nave chapel built in a Baroque classicist style is topped with a barrel vault with lunettes, and is divided into sections by a series of transverse arches. The keystones of the arch show the shield of the city of Valencia, commemorating the origin and municipal ownership of the Universitat until midway through the 19th century, when it was transferred to State ownership. At the far end is a large chancel topped by a dome with four pendetives painted with images of the evangelists.

The Baroque altarpiece contains the oldest and most important work belonging to the university collection: the panel of the Virgin of Sapience, “Our Lady of Wisdom”, a magnificent work painted by Nicolau Falco in 1516.

On the walls on either side of the chancel are two large paintings by Luciano Salvador Gómez, with the Judgment of Solomon on the Epistle side, to the right of the altar, and the Revenge of Tomyris on the Gospel side, to our left. These exemplary and enlightening paintings show that justice must also prevail in this area of the university.

At the back of the chapel is a choir loft, under which we can see a painting of the Concepción Niña (“Young Immaculate Conception”) by Jerónimo Jacinto de Espinosa of Valencia’s Baroque school of painting.

The walls of the nave are adorned with figures of saints, the work of important 18th-century Valencian painters like Luis Planes, Manuel Camarón, José Camarón and José Vergara. The second painting on the Epistle side is an anonymous portrait of Saint Vicente Ferrer. The background shows a scene from the founding of the Universitat de València, in which the saint is participating allegorically. In a niche on the Gospel side is an image of Saint Bruno Abad, sculpted in 1750 by the Valencian sculptor Ignacio Vergara.

The painted tile skirting that goes around three of the walls of the chapel is a work from 1944 by the ceramicist from Manises, José Gimeno. It is a reproduction of 18th-century Valencian tile, blending in seamlessly with the other elements of the chapel.

This important space was used as a setting for the sabatines, public debates on the different areas of knowledge taught at the university. It offers excellent acoustics, and is currently used for chamber concerts from the School of Music at the Universitat de València.