City of arts and sciences in Valencia - a great venue for getting knowledge!

What can be more exciting than getting knowledge? Interesting and useful knowledge, which reveal the principles and features of the functioning of the world. When I have an opportunity to learn something new, I'm eager to absorb the information entirely. Therefore, the place, which I'm going to talk about, stands at one of the first positions of my future travels in Spain.

Meet the "City of Arts and Sciences" (Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias)! This incredible complex is located in Valencia (the east coast of the country, 350 km from Barcelona, ​​with a population of 800,000 people).

*

No wonder this complex is called a "city": it consists of six buildings and a bridge, occupying (attention!) 350 000 sq.m. Given that the territory is simply huge, every meter on it was carefully designed by Santiago Calatrava and Felix Candela, and construction began in July 1996. The first building was completed and publicly opened in April 1998 and then the rest of the complex was built one after another. I can not help noting the super-interesting design of each building, but, actually, it was worth expecting, as the spent budget was about 1 billion euros.

The idea of ​​creating (I'm not afraid of this word) miracle belongs to one professor of the history of science at the University of Valencia, which in 1989 was supported by the president of the city. By the way, initially the costs were planned to be within 300 million euros, but apparently imagination and ideas extremely floated into reality.

Hemisfèric was the first building to be completed. It is a 3D IMAX cinema with a concave screen of 900 sq.m. and digital projections. The shape of the building is mesmerizing: reflection in the pool creates the illusion of an open eye, which symbolizes the observation of the surrounding world. One can guess that the subjects of films consist of documentary and educational collections for all tastes and ages lasting up to 45 minutes. For example, nowadays there is a movie about Jacques Cousteau and research of the underwater world, about virgin places of America and a video on dinosaurs.
The cost of visiting only Hemisfèric will be from 6.85 euros.

*

*

The next item is the Museum of Sciences, which offers interactive exhibitions and participation in various scientific activities. There are even classes for conducting experiments. You can make up for lost time, if at school the lessons of physics and chemistry caused yawning. In addition, competitions are held in the center, so that besides knowledge, you can also bring away gifts. For example, there is an opportunity to build a robot, and then take part in a contest in which robots demonstrate their skills.
Visiting the museum will cost 6.20 euros.

*

*

We go further to the building of oceanology — the largest aquarium in Europe, containing about 45,000 subspecies of marine life. In several separate compartments there are different activities, including diving with sharks for 290 euros, of course, for those who are brave and have the necessary certificates and experience for this.
Well, just to look around, you will have to pay from 21.85 euros.

*

*

Now let's look into the Palace of Arts, which is a direct aim for admirers of the beauty. From October to the end of November, various concerts, operas and ballets are held here.

*

On the territory of the complex of arts and sciences there is also a beautiful park zone l'Umbracle, made in the form of an alley. Walking along it you can see not only neatly and tastefully selected compositions of plants, but also sculptures of modern figures. It can not be avoided, since it serves as an entrance to the entire territory of the city.

*

*

And the last sixth building is Àgora, a multifunctional space design space for various events that can hold up to 5,000 spectators. It is closed to public access and works only during the events: concerts, conventions, speeches and even sports.

*

Attention is also drawn to the modern bridge that connects the two banks of the Turia River.

*

Let me speak about the prices of visits again. To save money, it is better to cooperate with friends and enjoy the city in a group — it will be both cheerful and cheaper.

Stay tuned with me!

Sources: 1, 2.