Michael Powell's Blog, page 60
November 4, 2015
Sunny Greetings from Valencia’s City Beach
Although it sounds crazy, there are a lot of visitors to Valencia who never bother to see the city center even once. Many come strictly for the beach. It’s a few kilometers from downtown, and when the sun is shining and the waves are sparkling, it’s hard to resist spending yet another day on the sand. “Tomorrow we’ll make it into town, get some culture.” And then tomorrow comes, and the sun is shining again…
Actually, two beaches make up what’s generally considered to be Valencia’s “city bea...
October 26, 2015
Valencia’s Ethnologic and Prehistory Museums
Constructed in 1876 over the ruins of a convent, the enormous Casa de la Beneficencia occupies an entire city block. Until 1982, the building was used to educate children, but today it’s home to two separate museums: the Museu Valencià d’Etnologia and the Museu Prehistòria de Valencia. These are fields of study which complement each other well and — if you have a lot of time — both museums can be visited with a single ticket.
We started in the Museum of Ethnology. There are three permanent e...
October 22, 2015
Making Paella at La Matandeta
A humble dish originally from the rice fields of Valencia, paella has become the most famous representative of Spanish cuisine, and is now served in restaurants across the world. But for our money, the best is still found in the Comunidad Valenciana. We visited La Matandeta, a popular restaurant near the Albufera, to learn how the perfect paella is made.
The exact origins of paella are murky, but the dish (or something similar to it) probably emerged during Moorish rule over Valencia, when i...
October 19, 2015
The Albufera and El Palmar
The natural lagoon of the Albufera extends to the south of Valencia, separated from the Mediterranean Sea by a narrow strip of sand. It’s the largest natural lake in Spain, and supports a diverse ecosystem of birds, fish and plant life. And with its abundance of rice fields, paella restaurants, and traditional houses called barracas, the Albufera has become an important piece of Valencia’s cultural identity.
The Albufera’s name comes from the Arabic expression “al-buhayra,” meaning “little s...
October 17, 2015
L’Iber Tin Soldier Museum
L’Iber Museo de los Solditos de Plomo lays claim to the largest collection of tin soldiers in the entire world, with over one million tiny figurines lining its shelves. It’s a strange museum, made even stranger by its location within a beautiful palace on one of Valencia’s most popular streets. Collections as eccentric as L’Iber are usually found in the dusty attic of a scary old hermit.
The scope of L’Iber’s collection is breathtaking, with over a dozen rooms loosely organized by time perio...
October 5, 2015
The Micalet and the Santa Catalina
At either end of the Plaza de la Reina, you’ll find Valencia’s two most emblematic church towers. The Micalet, or “Little Michael,” is attached to the city cathedral, while the bell tower of the Santa Catalina church is found at the very end of Calle Paz. Both towers can be ascended for the cost of a small entry fee, and an exhausting workout.
We’ll start with the Santa Catalina’s tower, which is the smaller of the two. The Santa Catalina is among Valencia’s original Gothic churches, constru...
September 28, 2015
The Tribunal de las Aguas
If passing through the Plaza de la Virgen at noon on a Thursday, you’ll have to fight your way past a huge conglomeration of people gathered at the cathedral’s back door. You might want to pause and join the group yourself, in order to see Valencia’s Tribunal de las Aguas: the oldest continuing court in Europe.
Water distribution has always been a difficult topic in Valencia, from the days of the Romans up into the present. There are eight principal aqueducts (Mislata-Chirivella, Mestalla, Q...
September 27, 2015
The Cathedral of Valencia
Originally built in 1238, shortly after the Reconquista, the Iglesia Catedral-Basílica Metropolitana de la Asunción de Nuestra Señora de Valencia is the religious center of the Comunidad Valenciana. It’s located in the very heart of the capital, sandwiched between the city’s two most important plazas: la Reina and la Virgen.
The location had been of special religious significance, even before the construction of the cathedral. This was where the long-reigning Moors had built their primary mo...
September 22, 2015
The Jardín Botánico de Valencia
Valencia’s botanic garden has a history dating back to the 16th century. Home to thousands of species of plants, and nearly as many cats, the garden is one of the city’s most relaxing corners.
In 1567, the University of Valencia established a small garden in which to grow medicinal herbs and plants. But it wasn’t until 1802 that the garden was moved to its current location, along the banks of the Turia River. As the years marched along, and Valencia struggled through a turbulent 20th century...
September 20, 2015
The Hemisferic and the Museum of Science
Housed in the dried-out skeleton of the world’s biggest whale, the Prince Felipe Science Museum is worth visiting primarily for the other-worldly architecture of Santiago Calatrava. A joint ticket will allow you to check out the exhibits here, and then catch a show in the IMAX theater found within the nearby Hemsiferic.
I can’t think about the Prince Felipe Science Museum without some anger. Of all the museums we’ve ever visited, this one probably has the wildest architecture. It’s the kind...
