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The City of Arts and Sciences – Travel to 23rd Century
 Welcome
to the new millennium tourism – where you travel to see the architecture of the
future, not the past. The City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia is an
unforgettable trip into 22nd century.
The usual paradigm of travelling is to see something old, historic, ancient.
It’s not that Valencia does not have history set in stone. The Old Town is
entirely charming and packed with all kinds of Gothic, Renaissance and
neo-classical sights. But in one audacious move, Valencia has become a new
European holiday destination – by inviting you into the future, not the past.
The City of Arts and Sciences leads a revolutionary trend – where you travel to
see buildings from 23rd, not 14th, century.
Since the construction of the City of Arts and Sciences, the tourism in Valencia
sky-rocketed. Travellers doing a tour of Spain will go well out of their way to
see it. Overnight, Valencia has become a true pioneer of new millennium tourism.
The alien skeletons
Spilled out in a vast green expanse of a river bed converted into a garden, the
City of Arts and Sciences is truly a city within a city. Enormous white
structures glistering in the Mediterranean sun leaves every single person
wide-eyed. It is a “never seen before” factor, a feeling of having landed on
another planet, the sheer elegance, harmony and pure ambition of the project.
The architect Santiago Calatrava, the famous son of Valencia, is said to base
his visions on animal skeletons. Indeed, the City of Arts and Sciences looks
like a shining, polished set of remains of various unknown extra-terrestrial
animals, good 20-30 times larger than any of the dinosaurs have ever been.
The Museum of Sciences looks like a 220 metres long and 55 metres high giant
half-ribcage covered in glass membrane. L’Hemisferic, an IMAX movie theatre, is
a gigantic shell of an armoured creature, like a turtle or an enormous bug. By
night it turns into an open human eye. The Oceanographic invokes images of a
complex moon base built out of various giant sea shells, just one of which could
compete for food with T-Rex. And the King of the City – the Palace of Arts – has
been very accurately referred to by The Guardian as “an intergalactic skull”.
Who would have such a skull is for you to decide – it is 70 metres in height.
 All
that gorge is actually placed in pure blue water surrounding all of the
structures. Not only does it accentuate the purist brilliance of architecture,
it serves to truly transfer you from dry ancient Valencia into another city.
And don’t forget to look at the City of Arts and Sciences at night – that is
when the true science fiction, shining through the vastness of the universe,
comes alive.
Not just the pretty face
The inside is just as amazing as the outside. Every section of the City of Arts
and Sciences is “the biggest” and “the best”. It will take you a good couple of
day to experience everything on offer.
The Museum of Sciences is the largest museum space in Spain. It hosts an
ultramodern permanent exhibition on all imaginable sectors of science, from
sport to lasers. Moreover, it is mostly interactive: you see the science unfold
before your eyes. Just touch, pull, rub, push the button.
The Hemispheric is not just another IMAX cinema. It is a giant space ship.
Everyone straps themselves to the floor, stares into the ceiling and enjoys the
3D journey. Kids love that stuff.
The Oceanographic refuses to come second too. The largest marine park in Europe,
it is home to over 45000 specimens of over 500 species from all corners of the
planet – from Antarctica to the Med. All viewing is actually underground where
you can come nose-to-nose with a giant Japanese crab, or have sharks swim right
over you while you walk through a tunnel.
The Palace of Arts is said to be the biggest stage space in Europe, with four
auditoriums designed to host anything from theatre to opera. The lovers of
classical music will be interested to find out that the acoustics in the Palace
is meant to be as futuristically incredible as the building itself.
The City of Arts and Sciences is open all year round. The hours vary – in the
winter it tends to be open until 7-8 PM, while in the summer that changes to
10-11 PM. You can choose which parts you want to see if you don’t have time for
all of them. A complete set will cost you 30 euros. Naturally, enjoying the
outer walls of the City of Arts and Sciences is free of charge.
Seeing something like this will leave an ever-lasting imprint in your mind. Not
just “wow, its beautiful” or “that’s very pretty”, not just another original
variation on well-established styles, but an awe-inspiring, speechless surrender
to the genius that will remain in your memory for years.
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