Michael Powell's Blog, page 62

The Gardens of Monforte

Found close to the much-larger Viveros Gardens, the Jardines de Monforte were commissioned in the mid-19th century for the city mansion of the Marquis de San Juan. Today, the romantic gardens provide Valencia with its most popular backdrop for wedding photos.

The Gardens of Monforte are designed in the neo-classical style, with dozens of marble statues scattered about the grounds, and low-lying hedges carved into complicated, labyrinthine patterns. A wide variety of trees line the paths, alo...

The Palace of the Marquis de Dos Aguas

A lot of historic buildings in Valencia have beautiful doors, but the grand prize must go to the Palacio del Marqués de Dos Aguas. Even without its ostentatious marble entryway, it would be among the top sights in Valencia, having been fully restored and retaining much of its original furniture and decoration. The Dos Aguas is also home to the González Martí National Museum of Ceramics and Sumptuary Arts.

The palace was constructed in 1750 for the Rabassa de Perelló family, who held the titl...

The Southern Beaches

Valencia has a couple of great city beaches, Malvarossa and Las Arenas, which are easily-reached by bus or tram. But sometimes, Jürgen and I want to get away from the crowds and enjoy a more low-key day on the sand. So, we hop on bikes and head south to a series of beaches which stretch out along the coast between the city and the Albufera natural park.

We tend to refer to them collectively as “the south beach,” but technically there are six distinct beaches south of the city center, each wi...

The Mercado de Colón

The Mercado de Colón opened its doors in 1916 as a marketplace for the well-to-do residents of the Ensanche (or “Expansion”), which was at the time Valencia’s newest neighborhood. Today, the fruit and veggie sellers have been replaced by cafes, and the Mercado de Colón has evolved into a popular location in which to hang out with friends and relax.

Having undergone a total restoration in 2003, the Mercado de Colón is in wonderful condition, and seeing it for the first time is one of the best...

The Fight for Cabanyal

With its antiquated residential buildings, seaside location, and laid-back way of life, Cabanyal should be the among Valencia’s most desirable places to live. But that’s unfortunately not the case… yet. We took a couple days to explore the neighborhood, enjoying the atmosphere of its narrow streets and learning about the long-running political battle which has left it a shambles.

Cabanyal came into being during the 13th century, as a settlement of fishermen. In 1821, it was incorporated as a...

Cabanyal’s Rice Museum

Valencia continues to surprise us. Although we had known about the existence of Cabanyal’s Museo del Arroz for years, we had never bothered visiting. It’s a rice museum, you know? It never really captured our curiosity. But we shouldn’t have delayed so long, because this museum is fantastic.

The Museo del Arroz is situated in the former Umbert Rice Mill, which dates from the early 1900s. The mill ran for nearly a hundred years and the original equipment is still in place, almost all of it op...

The City of Arts and Sciences

An array of futuristic buildings occupying the eastern end of the Turia River Park, the City of Arts and Sciences is easily Valencia’s most distinctive feature. When people think “Valencia,” the sharp white lines, shallow blue pools and tile-covered curves of Santiago Calatrava’s creations are generally what spring to mind.

Born in Valencia in 1951, Santiago Calatrava has become one of the world’s most successful architects. With neofuturistic designs that defy the laws of physics, his bridg...

The Batalla de Flores

The Feria de Julio has been celebrated in Valencia since 1871. With open-air cinema, concerts, fireworks and more, this month-long festival is an attempt to convince residents to remain in the city during the sweltering summer. The feria’s closing act is the Batalla de Flores, or the Flower Battle.

The Batalla de Flores is easily one of the stranger events on the Valencian calendar. Over twenty elaborately-decorated floats parade around a short section of the Paseo de Alameda, most of them c...

The Neighborhood of Canovas, or Gran Via

A wedge-shaped grid of streets just to the east of the city center, the upscale barrio of Gran Via is popular during the day for its restaurants, and at night for its clubs. Most Valencians refer to the neighborhood as “Canovas,” after the circular plaza which serves as its unofficial entrance.

The neighborhood is delimited by the river Turia and two large avenues: the Gran Via Marqués del Turia and Avenida Regne de Valencia. Within these borders is an urban layout which seems unthinkable to...

Meet the Valencians

Armed with a pen, paper and a list of questions, we set out into the streets of Valencia, hoping to meet some locals. As we suspected, this turned out to be a simple task. Valencians live out on the streets, especially during the summer, and they’re exceedingly approachable. Almost every single person we stopped was happy to take a few minutes out of their day, to answer our questions.

We found Isabela sitting on a bench in the Plaza de la Patriarca, where she was...