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The sights are
plentiful and within walking distance of
each other; you won’t need a week to see
what this city has to offer leaving plenty
of time to relax on the beaches without
worrying about missing the culture.
Valencia Cathedral is the religious centre of
Valencia
and home to the prestigious Holy Grail. The
cathedral is built from a melting pot of
different stylistic influences, comprising
of Gothic, Baroque and Neo-Classical,
reflecting the infusion of a diverse range
of cultures into the metropolitan area.
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The interior is
adorned with religious renaissance frescoes,
elaborate effigies, famous pieces of art
such as the work of Goya and allegedly, the
real Holy Grail. This religious centerpiece
of the city is also stunning enough to
inspire a love of culture in even the most
stubborn of culture-phobes.
The Plaza de Ayuntamento is the largest and most
impressive square in the city, set in the
midst of neo-classical, gothic and modernist
buildings.
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The city
hall
(the Ayuntamento)
is the modernist focus-point of this square
and houses the city government conferences,
and you can visit areas within this building
during opening hours; the Sala de Cristal
(luxurious reception hall), the central hall
and the historic museum, which displays
antiquities from Valencia’s past.
The Plaza de la
Virgin is representative of the Old Town,
and is Valencia’s historic counter to its
modernist developments. It was once the main
square of the city, dating back to its Roman
origins, and displays three outstanding Valencian buildings;
the Basilica de Virgen
de los Desamparados, the Palau de
Generalitat (the seat of the Valencian
Autonomous Region government) and the back
of the main cathedral.
If you fancy
wandering around a succinctly constructed
exhibition after trekking around the city
after the aforementioned sights, Valencia
has plenty of museums and other displays of
exemplary conceptions for you to have a
relaxed meander around. One of the most
famous structures in Valencia is the
City of Arts and Sciences, which is a huge,
futuristic educational complex inspired by
space-age designs and animal skeletons. It
consists of 5 areas; the concert hall, the
marine park (containing thousands of species
of underwater flora and fauna, including
sharks and dolphins), an IMAX cinema, the
museum of science and The Greenhouse which
is a luscious promenade with species of
plants from all over the world. Other
museums located in
Valencia include the IVAM
institute of modern art, the La Beneficencia
Cultural Centre which includes a museum of
prehistory, a museum of ethnology and a
bullfighting museum, the Fallero Museum of
the Las Fallas Festival and the Old
Municipal History Museum amongst others.
Bioparc Valencia is a natural zoo, a
beautiful recreation area and a new
generation zoological park in which the
visitors are transported to Africa just at
the center of
Valencia. |
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For a truly
exquisite and well kept garden, visit the
Turia Gardens which has been likened to a
green city.
Turia Gardens is an urban and cultural hub
over 11 km long that the visitors may
find variety of beautiful trees and shrub
species, children’s play areas such as the
famous Gulliver, sports facilities
such as the Estadio de Atletismo del
Turia, and culture and leisure complexes
such as the
City of Arts and Sciences. |
