Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias

As a civil engineer student I admire the works of Santiago Calatrava. This may sound strange as the structures designed by him are anything except economical or energy efficient. However they are grandiose and unique and astonishing.

Valencia is the birthplace of Calatrava and for me, the City of Arts and Sciences designed by him bewitches you more than the city itself. Moreover it is not only its name but it is really like an individual city in the city.

The transport to this place is easy with the public transport by bus that drops you off by the entrance.

When you arrive to the spot, the complex gives you a coherent and definitely breath-taking first impression. The several structures - that you would admire even one by one - just bring you together to another planet. On the other hand I have to admit that I heard opinions of disappointed people, who had high expectations about the complex and they didn't like it so much, however I can only write according to my opinion and my experience.

There are many structures in a row and it will need more than one day to visit them all but if you don't have time and want to spend only a couple of hours in this surrealistic place, you can visit only the outdoor ambient without entering to any building. You can enjoy watching the buildings from outside and I'm pretty sure you will not regret, moreover it's free :) Also there are gardens, large basins of water and many sculptures around. The buildings and structures you can see there are:

• L'Hemisféric, the cinema and planetarium center that looks like the tummy of a sleeping whale for me but it is supposed to symbolize an eye;

• El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe, the modern and interactive museum which building looks like skeleton of some sea animal;

• L'Oceanográfic, the museum of the ocean, so called "aquarium" and the biggest of its kind in Europe and consists of many buildings and open areas;

• L'Àgora, a kind of concert or exhibition hall and maybe the strangest structure of all as it looks like the head of a whale just coming out of the water;
• L'Umbracle, which is basically a series of arches making a path for different species of plants;

• El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, the opera house that has a beautiful aerodynamic shape with interesting cantilever steel shell covering

• El Pont de l'Assut de l'Or - the beautiful asymmetrical cable-stayed bridge

I think that about 80% of tourists that go to Valencia, go to see these incredible works of Calatrava and it is really worth the visit!

You can spend an entire weekend not exiting the area and you would not be bored even for a moment. And these buildings and structures are not only beautiful but they all have also their functionality.

You cannot say that you've been in Valencia if you haven't visited these monuments.

By the way, have you ever been kayaking in a totally transparent plastic boat? No? There you'll have the opportunity even for this!

Looking at the rest of the city of Valencia, the Ciudad de las Artes y de las Ciencias doesn't really seems to fit in. As many other Spanish cities, Valencia has a typical oldtown, with lots of beautiful buildings, squares, churches, etc. But if you go from the city center in the direction of the port of Valencia, you will find at the edge of the river Túria, a place that looks like out of science fiction movie.

The Ciudad de las Artes y de las Ciencias is a huge complex out of futuristic looking buildings and water pools. As the name says it already, it is a “city” for arts and sciences. It has a interactive science museum, a planetarium and cinema, an opera house and is the home of one of the biggest oceanographic aquariums in the world.

It offers a lot of attractions for tourists, but what most people come here for, is the marvelous architecture of the buildings. With its astonishing designs with lots of glass and shallow water pools, the Ciudad de las Artes y de las Ciencias truly looks like a city we could imagine people living in in the future.

I personally didn’t go into any of the buildings, so I can’t give any recommendation on the attractions, but of what I heard, the attractions are more interesting for children. But if you just have one or two days in Valencia, like I did, just a walk through the complex, marvelling at the buildings, is already fine enough. Also you can enter the roofed garden of "Umbracle" for free and relax sitting at the stairs of the water pools.

So whether you want to enter at any of the attractions or just enjoy the futuristic architecture, a visit to the Ciudad de las Artes y de las Ciencias is worth it and definitely a must-see if you are visiting Valencia.

It is probably one of the best places in the world, where you can appreciate the mix of big architectonic pieces, and the culture of the country, and it's nature.