Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (City of Arts and Sciences) in Valencia
At the beginning of October, we spent a long weekend in Valencia. The reason for the trip was, of course, the City of Arts and Sciences, but the city has a lot more to offer.
So I booked a hotel nearby and took the opportunity to take photos there in the evening and early in the morning. Valencia isn't too big, and even though we were staying a little outside the city, we could easily walk to the city center in half an hour to 45 minutes.
This time, I'm not writing the usual travel report like the one about London. Instead, you'll find three separate reports – this one about the City of Arts and Sciences, one about L'Oceanografic, and one in which I show you some other places worth visiting in Valencia.
The City of Arts and Sciences [↗] is located southeast of the city center. After a devastating flood in 1957, the Turia River was drained and a 9 km long park was created. At the end of the park, the City of Arts and Sciences was built between 1995 and 2009. You can find out more about the turmoil and various plans in the linked Wikipedia article.
Most of the buildings were designed by Spanish-Swiss architect Santiago Calatrava [↗], who was born in Valencia. We already know him from the train stations in Liège and Lyon, as well as the Auditorio de Tenerife. However, he has also been responsible for many other striking buildings around the globe.
The science city mainly consists of the
Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía (opera and similar),
L'Hemisfèric (IMAX and planetarium), the
Príncipe Felipe science museum, L'Umbracle (green space and nightclub), and the
Caixa Forum in the Agora building (events ranging from trade fairs to tennis).
Whether you include the neighboring L'Oceanografic is a matter of taste. I will cover it in a separate article.
Due to its futuristic appearance, the site has been the setting for several science fiction films and series, from Dr. Who to Star Wars: Andor.
