Some images of the "Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències" last Christmas 2004
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This is the main
entrance to the Oceanographic Park. Most facilities are below the surface.
There is a number of areas (the mains are Oceans, Tropical seas,
Mediterranean Sea, Polar Seas, Red Sea, Mangroves/Birds and Dolphinarium) in isolated spaces to preserve the required
conditions of each environment. |
The surface is
occupied by auxiliary buildings and gardens recreating different scenarios
which link the subterranean installations. A proper visit may require a full
day. I took a combined ticket to visit the park, the Science Museum and a
planetarium show in an exhausting day |
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The surface of the
"Oceans" area with some pelicans in first term, and what I think it
is the submarine restaurant (the structure reminding waves, which I did not
visit) in the last term. The whole seaquarium
complex is structured around these islands. |
This is the Dolphin
area in the seaquarium, where 4-5 times a day
around ten bottle-nosed dolphins (tursiops truncatus) delight children (not only!) with exhibitions.
The glass walls allow seeing the evolutions of the dolphins underwater. |
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The aquariums are
really wonderful. Flash lights are not allowed, so the pictures were taken in
dark conditions and fishes often could not be taken steadily enough. Pity.
Most pictures I took present this problem. |
A detail of one of
the aquariums in the Tropical Seas area. Pictures cannot make justice to the
magnificent impressions of the tropical submarine landscapes. I could not
avoid visiting these aquaria once more before leaving. |
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The surface of the
Ocean area, one of whose entrances is the cylindrical turret on the right.
The complex area was formerly an industrial place now being substituted by
new commercial and residential buildings, than can be seen in the last term.
The soil is however highly polluted by heavy metals from the industrial
activities, now under remediation. |
This is the
subterranean area in the Oceans area. This facility consists of two circular
rooms with aquariums communicated by large tunnel-like corridors, one of
whose entrances can be seen on the right. Fishes can travel circularly around
the room and follow then the tunnel. I think that this is the essential
installation in the oceanographic park. |
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One of the tunnels
before mentioned, although this does not belong to the Ocean but to the
Tropical Seas area. Large fishes drift upon us while we cross below them; it
produces a very special impression. |
Dolphins jumping
during an exhibition. The white dome at the right behind the palm trees is
the Polar Seas area, whereas the large building behind is the Science Museum,
the second facility in the complex. |
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This is a beluga (delphinapterus leucas), a dwarf
white whale from artic regions. It is
housed under the white dome before mentioned, with penguins and walruses. |
The Science Museum
on the left and the Oceanographic park on the right, from a mall in the
neighborhood. |
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The Science Museum
from the park in the former Turia riverbed. It is
an immense structure whose front is like a frozen waterfall, designed by
Santiago Calatrava, an architect born in Valencia. |
The view from one one of the platforms of the Science Museum. I visited
mainly an exhibition on the origin of the Earth and the Life, another on gems
and precious stones, and a third one on the Amazon. |
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A combined picture
of the planetarium (first building) and Science Museum (behind), in an
estrange composition that remind me the gigantic bones of an extinguished
animal. See the size of people beside the dome. |
This is the
Planetarium (called "Hemisferic"), which
is also an IMAX-dome theater and laserium. It
contains a last generation Carl Zeiss mono‑spherical
projector. The quality of the images of stars is superb. |
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And finally, the
Opera House ("Palau de les Arts"), which is under construction, in
the final stage of the assembly. It will be finished in a couple of years and
will house the Comunitat Valenciana
philharmonic orchestra. |
The "Palau de
les Arts" (Palace of the Arts) includes two large auditoriums and it is
architecturally impressive. Have a look to the plume covering the two side
halves. Its construction is being very complex. |
These are just my impressions from a
one-day visit. If you want to see in detail the entire complex, visit the
official website of the Ciutat de les Arts y les Ciències, which I have linked here.