From 4 to 22 April 2024. The inauguration will take place on Friday 12 April at 1:30 p.m. It will be attended by Vicente Dómine, secretary of Infrastructure and Transport, and Mar Chao, president of the Autoridad Portuaria of València.

The Ministry of Environment, Wter, Infrastructure and Territory of the Generalitat Valenciana, in collaboration with the Autoridad Portuaria of Valencia, presents the exhibition 'De temor y seda. Las torres de vigilancia de la costa' ('Of Fear and Silk. The Watchtowers of the Coastline'), produced by the Demetrio Ribes Chair, a centre of the Universitat de València which has been promoting research and dissemination on the history of transport and its infrastructures, public work and engineering for two decades in the Valencian Community. 

The exhibition explores the watchtowers distributed along the almost 500 km of coastline of the Valencian Community. This watchtowers formed a coordinated system to control the territory since the mid-19th century. As the title of the exhibition suggests, its construction was driven by the fear of pirates and corsairs. Their construction was funded by the Generalitat through a tax on silk. At the time, this procedure was considered exemplary in the Hispanic kingdoms. It is a heritage linked to the sea, to vigilance and to security in navigation and in the lives of the people near the coastline.

This heritage shapes a cultural landscape with important heritage elements. The project shows results and materials all beautifully oriented as a cultural, leisure and touristic resource.

The study backing the exhibition i supported by the scientific rigour while its presentation to society is carried out in a didactic way, with a graphic and audiovisual perspective. The information is presented in Valencian, Spanish and English.

The exhibition has a multidisciplinary character and will travel to several places of the Valencian Community. In the capital, the Edificio del Reloj (Clock tower) has been chosen due to its closeness with the old defensive infrastructure which was part of the system: the Baluarte del Grao. La muestra abrirá sus puertas a las 17:00 horas del 4 de abril y se podrá disfrutar hasta el 22 del mismo mes.

The official inauguration will take place on Friday 12 April at 1:30 p.m. It will be attended by Vicente Dómine, secretary of Infrastructure and Transport, and Mar Chao, president of the Autoridad Portuaria of València.