http://www.alifeinvalencia.com Guide to Valencia Thu, 23 Jun 2011 07:13:33 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/art-and-culture/city-hall-plaza/ http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/art-and-culture/city-hall-plaza/#comments Mon, 05 Jul 2010 11:35:53 +0000 Valencia Guide http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/city-hall-plaza/ The Plaza del Ayuntamiento is the largest and probably most important plaza in Valencia.
Home to the city hall (ayuntamiento) and the magnificent central post office (edificio de correos), the Plaza del Ayuntamiento also serves as the centre for the Fallas celebrations
The triangular shape of the plaza is amazing. At its southern end, where it’s widest, there’s a large area which is the site of many mascletàs during the year, the largest and most spectacular held during Fallas. It is surrounded by bountiful flower sellers, who always have a huge array of flowers, bringing a real old fashioned street feel [...]]]> http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/art-and-culture/city-hall-plaza/feed/ 0 http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/things-to-do-in-valencia/beaches/las-arenas-beach-beach-of-cabanyal/ http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/things-to-do-in-valencia/beaches/las-arenas-beach-beach-of-cabanyal/#comments Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:23:03 +0000 Valencia Guide http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/playa-las-arenas-playa-de-cabanyal/ This beach is the beginning of the amazing sea front of Valencia.
The beach joins with the straights of the America’s Cup Port and it is the closest, the most built-up and the most accessible beach to the city and therefore it is the official city beach for activities and events. Whenever there is a sports event or a public event it generally happens here.
The southern part of this beach is a massive leisure area for promenades, events, restaurants, bars and hotels. The northern part becomes more of a traditional beach  gradually merging into the [...]]]> http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/things-to-do-in-valencia/beaches/las-arenas-beach-beach-of-cabanyal/feed/ 0 http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/things-to-do-in-valencia/turia-riverbed-parks/ http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/things-to-do-in-valencia/turia-riverbed-parks/#comments Tue, 08 Jun 2010 13:25:20 +0000 Valencia Guide http://www.alifeinspain.com/?p=227 It was then decided that living alongside the river imposed a huge risk and the river was diverted. Today, the Turia’s old riverbed is the largest urban garden in Spain.
The old riverbed is now a verdant sunken park that allows cyclists and pedestrians to traverse much of the city without the use of roads. The park, called the ‘Garden of the Turia’ (Jardí del Túria/Jardín del Turia) boasts numerous ponds, paths, fountains, flowers, football pitches, cafés, artworks, climbing walls, an athletics track, a zen garden and more. The [...]]]> http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/things-to-do-in-valencia/turia-riverbed-parks/feed/ 1 http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/art-and-culture/valencia-cathedral-catedral-valencia/ http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/art-and-culture/valencia-cathedral-catedral-valencia/#comments Tue, 08 Jun 2010 12:35:32 +0000 Valencia Guide http://www.alifeinspain.com/?p=634 Centrally located on the Plaza de la Reina, this is the religious centre of Valencia and one of the city’s landmarks.
Many centuries ago, it used to be a mosque, but when El Cid conquered the city, it became a Roman Catholic cathedral. Later the city was re-conquered by the Muslims as part of the Arab Moorish invasion of Spain and the South of France. The cathedral again became a mosque.
Later, when the Christian King Jaume I  re-conquered Valencia it reverted to a Christian cathedral. The Miguelete bell tower (El Miguelete) is a hexagonal Gothic tower towering over Plaza de la Reina. [...]]]> http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/art-and-culture/valencia-cathedral-catedral-valencia/feed/ 0 http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/art-and-culture/monasterio-de-san-miguel-de-los-reyes-monastery-of-san-miguel-of-the-kings/ http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/art-and-culture/monasterio-de-san-miguel-de-los-reyes-monastery-of-san-miguel-of-the-kings/#comments Tue, 08 Jun 2010 10:42:29 +0000 Valencia Guide http://www.alifeinspain.com/?p=674 The Hieronymite monastery of San Miguel de los Reyes (San Miguel of the Kings) rose in 16th century on the site of the old mercedaria abbey of Sant Bernat de Rascanya, thanks to the patronage of Duke de Calabria, Virrey of Valencia.
The building started in 1546 in the South cloister, following the plans of Juan de Vidaña and Alonso de Covarrubias. Shortly after the death of their founder, in 1550, the works practically became paralyzed. They were not started again until 1570, and were fully under the influence of the “Evangelistas de El Escorial”.
It was [...]]]> http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/art-and-culture/monasterio-de-san-miguel-de-los-reyes-monastery-of-san-miguel-of-the-kings/feed/ 0 http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/art-and-culture/el-museu-de-les-ciencies-principe-prince-felipe-museum-of-science/ http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/art-and-culture/el-museu-de-les-ciencies-principe-prince-felipe-museum-of-science/#comments Tue, 08 Jun 2010 10:28:27 +0000 Valencia Guide http://www.alifeinspain.com/?p=785 The building was designed by Santiago Calatrava and was built in a joint venture of Fomento de Construcciones and Contratas and Necso. It was opened on 13th November 2000.
The building was designed in 1991 and construction began in 1996. It is over 41,000 square meters in area and resembles the prehistoric-skeleton of a whale. The building is three stories high and is surrounded by clear blue swimming pools. The side of the swimming pool provides a long slow walk. Each one of the three floors provides an area of [...]]]> http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/art-and-culture/el-museu-de-les-ciencies-principe-prince-felipe-museum-of-science/feed/ 0 http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/art-and-culture/mercado-central-de-valencia-central-market/ http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/art-and-culture/mercado-central-de-valencia-central-market/#comments Tue, 08 Jun 2010 10:26:35 +0000 Valencia Guide http://www.alifeinspain.com/?p=608 The designers, Francisco Guard Vial and Alexander Soler, both trained at the School of Architecture of Barcelona and worked closely with Domènech i Montaner, an architect who characterized himself as a modernist.
There is great beauty in the architecture as well as the tradition and history of the market. The combination of metal, glass and the Gothic columns is a testament to modernism, as if the Market is a cathedral to the commerce-centre it once was.
The market is located at the Plaza del Mercado, next to La Lonja [...]]]> http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/art-and-culture/mercado-central-de-valencia-central-market/feed/ 0 http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/art-and-culture/oceanografico-aquarium/ http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/art-and-culture/oceanografico-aquarium/#comments Tue, 08 Jun 2010 10:13:00 +0000 Valencia Guide http://localhost/?p=16 Spread over an area of 100,000 m2, it is home to hundreds of marine water and fresh water aquatic species.
The whole area is amazingly constructed under water. This underwater aquarium holds 45,000 aquatic creatures of 500 species. These include invertebrates, reptiles, birds and fish. Visitors can see the deadly sharks swimming inches away from the protective glass panels. Penguins, sea lions, dolphins, beluga whales, walruses and many more aquatic species move freely in this gigantic aquarium. No aquarium would be complete without a dolphin show and Oceanografico has one of the [...]]]> http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/art-and-culture/oceanografico-aquarium/feed/ 0 http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/art-and-culture/torres-de-serranos/ http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/art-and-culture/torres-de-serranos/#comments Tue, 08 Jun 2010 09:51:29 +0000 Valencia Guide http://www.alifeinspain.com/?p=643 Their initial function was to serve as fortification, a fact that testifies to their heavy walls and their solidiness, but they were generally used for ceremonies and official entrances for important personalities that visited the city, the main reason why they are considered to be the main entrance to the city of Valencia.
Their name seems to come from the fact that they are located approximately to the northwest, therefore, they were the natural entrance that communicated with the ways to the Highlands (the Camino Real of Saragossa, that [...]]]> http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/art-and-culture/torres-de-serranos/feed/ 0 http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/art-and-culture/museums-art-and-culture/the-gonzalez-marti-national-ceramics-museum/ http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/art-and-culture/museums-art-and-culture/the-gonzalez-marti-national-ceramics-museum/#comments Sat, 14 Mar 2009 13:32:03 +0000 Valencia Guide http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/?p=1653 The National Ceramics Museum is housed in a 15th century Rococco palace and was refurbished in 1740 on rococo style with a magnificent alabaster entrance.
You can enjoy the luxurious splendour of the rooms, some of which are kept in the original Gothic style of XV century, and others bring you back into the age of salons, orientalism and ballroom dancing. There is even a carriage entrance complete with a few carriages.
All rooms, in addition to luxurious interior, hold fine examples of ceramics. There is even a fully equipped typical Valencian kitchen made 100% of ceramics from top [...]]]> http://www.alifeinvalencia.com/art-and-culture/museums-art-and-culture/the-gonzalez-marti-national-ceramics-museum/feed/ 1