Jul 25, 2018
The City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain
The City of Arts and Sciences is a big complex designed by the famous Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava. He started his work in 1996 and it is still in progress today. The futuristic scientific city is composed by 5 great buildings, hosted in a unique space of clear water and greenery.
It is really a great experience, a fantastic “city within the city”. The architect talking about the complex said “I am proud of the fact that people can walk through and around the main buildings without paying. It is a city to be discovered by promenading”. The works for the last sixth buildings have just commenced. If you are planning a trip to Valencia don’t miss a visit here. It probably represents the true city symbol. Here is a quick description of the 5 buildings.
The Marine Park
The biggest marine park in Europe, L’Oceanographic hosts a collection of thousands of species of marine flora and fauna, including also dolphins and sharks. It’s a very relaxing experience, suitable for kids. You may visit the different sections dedicated to every marine zone in the Globe. For a full visit you need to spend almost 3 hours.
Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia
It’s the Opera House: it contains of 4 distinct auditoriums dedicated to different stages of art. Due to the excellent quality of the acoustic, it has become one of the most important European opera halls.
L’Hemisferic
This is probably the most engaging part for kids and you can spend one hour watching one of the shows, it will be a very interesting experience. You have to lie on the floor horizontally and watch the hemispheric screen above. Every day it presents 5-6-7 shows, on educational or visual topics.
Museo de Ciences Principe Felipe
The Museum of Science is hosted by a huge structure with 3 floors. You may find ultra-interactive science material about different scientific topics such as physical laws, electricity, sport sciences, sound, planetarium, human body and more. The rules are simple: “pull, push, twist, touch”. Some installations are merely for fun, other are more challenging and require brain work. You need 3 hours to visit the whole exposition and interact with the installation. Sometimes you may also find temporary special sections.