Living TRAVEL - SPAIN - 2019
VALENCIA
On our drive from Granada to Valencia, we pass 'under' the Castle of Lorca, near Murcia. It is a large fortress of medieval origin constructed between the 9th and 15th centuries. It consists of a series of defensive structures that, during the Middle Ages, made the town and the fortress an impregnable point in the southeast part of the Iberian Peninsula.
City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia
In 1989, impressed by the new 'City of Science and Industry' in Paris, Valencia decided they would build their own.
The controversies and exploding costs which followed, make good reading in Wikipedia.
Today (2019), 14 years after the final completion of the complex, the controversy continues with the expensive maintenance problems.
View from point 1 in the diagram above - to the left: walkway and car park on the lower level, and the Umbracle on the upper level; on the right: the Museum of the Sciences
A closer view in the same direction, indicating the three levels of the Museum of Sciences on the right, and showing the Hemispheric and Palace of the Arts in the background
The Umbracle - 320 m long, 60 m wide
Contains hundreds of trees and bushes and thousands of ground cover
plants, all from the Valencia area
L'Umbracle, City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia
L'Umbracle, City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia
L'Umbracle, City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia
Looking out the side of the L'Umbracle
The Museum of Sciences
3 floors of interactive science exhibits, a basketball court, and space
for exhibitions
Museum of Sciences, City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia
End view of the Museum of Sciences, City of Arts and Sciences
View from the other side of the Museum of Sciences, City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia
Inside the ground floor of the Museum of Sciences, City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia
Inside the Museum of Sciences, City of Arts and Sciences
The Hemispheric - containing an IMAX cinema and Planetarium
The first building completed in the complex; it is supposed to represent
an eye with its reflection in the pool
Hemispheric, City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia
Hemispheric, City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia
The end of the hemispheric in front of the Umbracle
Palace of the Arts - containing the Valencia Opera House, and other
performing art areas
The building has a metallic feather outer roof that rests on two
supports and is 230 meters long and 70 meters high. Two laminated steel
shells cover the building weighing over 3,000 tons. These shells are 163
meters wide and 163 meters long.
Palace of the Arts, City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia, Spain
Palace of the Arts, City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia, Spain
Bridge at the Art Palace end of the complex
The Agora - an indoor space for any kind of activity
Up to 6,000 people can be accommodated in the 5,000 metre squared space
Closer view of the Agora showing the indoor space
L'Assut de l'Or ('Dam of Gold', refering to a dam that was located
nearby) – a single pylon cable-stayed bridge.
The bridge links the Agora and Oceanographic area to the area and
buildings described above.
L'Assut de l'Or, City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia
Design by Santiago Calatrava, similar to one of his bridges in Seville