Valencia's Complex
Added: (Fri Aug 27 2010)
Ciutat de Les Arts I Les CiCiències or The City of Arts and Sciences is an entertainment complex in the city of Valencia. This is a place that is considered the most important modern tourist destination in the city.
In 1989, the President of the Valencian Generality, Joan Lerma followed upon the idea of a professor of the history of science at the University of Valencia, José María López Piñero who proposed that a scientific museum should be built on the land by the Turia River that bordered the road with Mulberry trees. Lerma set up a team that he let handle the project, they visited spaces that had similar characteristics in other cities such as Munich and London to have a broad idea of what they to see.
It was designed by Spanish Architects Santiago Calatrava and Felix Candela. The Plans included a 370m communications tower , which would have been the third highest one in the world at that time.
The complex is made up of eight buildings which each have their own unique characters and serve different purposes. L' Hemisferic is a dynamic building that was built in the shape of an eye. It features an IMAX Cinema, Planetarium and Laserium. The cover of the cinema looks like the eye lips of the eye, this can be closed or opened. The next building is the El Museu de Les Ciències Príncipe Felipe this is a museum that looks like the remains of a whale's skeleton. Everything inside the museum is graphically displayed and features assorted mix of subjects for its exhibitions, for example the recent ones have featured spy science, climate change, the human body and biometrics.
L'Umbracle is a walkway/park which features plant life that is indigenous to Valencia. In the interior part of the walk are sculptures, an outdoor art gallery with sculptures from contemporary artists from all over the world. L'Oceanogràfic is the largest marine complex in Europe, which features 45,000 animals of 500 different species. Animals that feature there include sharks, penguins, dolphins, sea lions, walruses, beluga whales, and many more. They all inhabit nine underwater towers; each tower is structured in two levels and represents the major ecosystems of the planet. The park is divided into ten areas and they reflect different parts of the world such as the Mediterranean, the Arctic and tropical seas.
Palau de Les Arts Reina Sofía also known as Queen Sofia Palace of the Arts is an opera house and cultural centre. The theatre opened on 8 October 2005. It has become one of the finest international venues for theatre, dance, opera and musicals. The building rises fourteen stories above ground and includes three stories below ground.
El Puente de l'Assut de l'Or is the bridge that connects the south side of the complex with Minorca Street; it features the highest point in the city which is 125 meters. There is also the L'Àgora which is a place where concerts and sports events are held, the maximum seating capacity for it is 6,000 people. Both are still being developed and the same applies to the Valencia Towers that form the three skyscrapers but they have been put on hold.
So next time you're in the country staying at one of the Spanish villas in Valencia visit this great complex.
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