Valencia is a city that historically, was glorified by the Romans as an earthly paradise. Nowadays, many still consider the city to be the wonderland that it was proclaimed as by our distant ancestors. So, we have put together 6 essential places to visit in Valencia.
Essential places to visit in Valencia: Port Saplaya, Alboraya
Port Saplaya is a small coastal residential area of Alboraya, located 4 kilometers from Valencia. It is famous for it’s beautiful beaches and unusual urban architecture that reminds locals of Venice. Which is why it got its nickname – “Little Venice”.
Saplaya port became a residential area relatively recently – only in 1970. Since then, the population has continued to grow significantly. In addition to this, the area receives a large number of tourists in the summertime who want to visit “Little Venice” and enjoy its diversity and colourful streets.
Blue canals and white private yachts, colored building facades give Port Saplaya a special chic. So, visiting this place should definitely be on your to-go-to list.
Visit Valencia: La Ciudad de Las Artes y Las Ciencias
This unusual architectural space is one of the most famous places in Valencia. It is a center of interactive technology, where you can touch and participate in everything. It will leave you with a unique experience. The City of Art was designed by Santiago Calatrava and Felix Candela.
This is the place where the sea meets the light of the Mediterranean culture, where blue and white colors prevail, which unite the modern part of the city with the old one. Therefore, every year millions of tourists come here to see and enjoy the City of Arts and Sciences – its purpose is spreading culture nationally and internationally.
A visitor can choose what he or she likes among the activities of art, culture, and science. It hosts numerous interactive exhibitions, conferences, concerts, and performances. This complex consists of five main elements: Planetarium (HEMISFÈRIC), Scientific Museum (MUSEO DE LAS CIENCIAS), Opera Theater (PALACIO DE LAS ARTES), Conference Center (ÁGORA),Oceanografic Park (OCEANOGRÁFICO).
Oceanografic, Valencia
Oceanographic is the largest aquarium in Europe. It presents the main marine animals and ecosystems on the planet.
Each building is dedicated to a specific group of aquatic ecosystems such as the Mediterranean and other tropical seas, swamp environments, oceans, the Antarctic, and the Arctic regions. It even has an underwater restaurant.
Essential places to visit in Valencia: Torres de Serranos
The magnificent Torres de Serranos is an important historical landmark along with other significant places in Valencia.
This dynamic structure was designed and built by the architect Pere Balaguer in the 14th century. During the Middle Ages, the gates were a part of the fortress walls that surrounded the city. In 1586 a fire significantly damaged the tower and after it’s restoration, the towers became a prison for knights and nobles. Despite the fact that in 1865 the government decided to demolish the fortress walls, the Torres de Serranos were left untouched.
During the Civil War, the towers kept paintings from the Museo Nacional del Prado of Madrid. The government created a special secret bunker directly under the towers, that made it possible to save valuable exhibits.
You can observe The Torres de Serranos gates from the outside as well as from the very top to see the city.
Essential places to visit in Valencia: North Station
Valencia North Station is located on the very border of the Old Town, next to the bullring, 300 meters from the City Hall and the main square. In 1917, a Spanish architect built the station building in the Art Nouveau style. It has various floral ornaments, the city’s historical details. One of these was the symbol of the Association of Railways of Northern Spain.
Inside you can find a beautiful hall with mosaic compositions depicting scenes of rural life. And at Christmas time, you can find a lot of decorations inside and out. So, even if you don’t intend to go anywhere, just walk into the station building and admire its beautiful interior.
Prehistoric Museum of Valencia
The museum was founded in the first half of the XX century. Its extensive collection includes archaeological sites from the Stone Age to the Visigothic era. However, since 1982 it has been part of a church.
By the year 1995, the complete restoration of the building began. From that year, the House of Mercy, now the Museum of Prehistory, consists of a ground floor and two floors. The ground floor has a shop, a cafeteria, two temporary exhibition halls, workshops, warehouses and laboratories. The first floor houses a library and permanent rooms dedicated to the Paleolithic and Bronze Ages. On the second floor, there are permanent galleries dedicated to Iberian culture and the Roman world.
