Spain Guide
Valencia and Murcia
La Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias
Telephone: 902 100 031
Website: www.cac.es
Price: Combined entrance to all three attractions €30.60
The breathtaking Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (City of Arts and Sciences), still rising from the riverbed, symbolizes the autonomous government's vision for Valencia and its quest to establish the city as a prime tourist destination. The giant complex consisting of four futuristic edifices designed mainly by Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava, and the recent completion of the iconic pistachio-nut-shaped Palacio de las Artes has confirmed it as Europe's largest cultural centre.
The architecture itself is simply stunning, the eye-catching buildings surrounded by huge, shallow pools. Calatrava's designs adopt an organic form, his technical and engineering brilliance providing the basis for his pioneering concrete, steel and glass creations.
Arguably the most astonishing building of the lot is the Hemisfèric (normally 10am–7pm; €7.50),: a striking eye-shaped concrete structure – complete with lashes, and an eyeball that forms a huge concave screen used to project IMAX movies. Unfortunately, the documentary films are pretty disappointing, and spoiled by gimmicky laser effects. Next door, the colossal Museo de las Ciencias (Science Museum; daily 10am–7pm, July to mid-Sept until 9pm; €7.50), whose protruding supports make the building resemble a giant sun-bleached carcass, is crammed with interactive exhibits about science, sport and the human body that are sure to appeal to children. Parallel to these two buildings unfolds the Umbracle, a series of eighteen-metre-high arches towering over a landscaped walkway.
Some 500m south, the Parque Oceanográfico (mid-June to mid-July & Sept 1–15 daily 10am–8pm; mid-July to Aug daily 10am– midnight; rest of year Mon– Fri & Sun 10am–6pm, Sat 10am–8pm; €23.30), designed by Félix Candela, is one of the world's largest aquariums. It's divided into ten zones, with beluga whales in the arctic area, Japanese spider crabs in the temperate zone, and a kaleidoscopic collection of reef fish, sharks and turtles in the seventy-metre tunnel that forms the tropical zone.
The final section of the centre is the majestic Palacio de las Artes (box office Mon– Fri 10am–6pm; closed Aug 4–24; t902 202 383, www.lesarts.com), a high-tech performing arts palace, with renowned musical director Lorin Maazel at the helm.