Michael Powell's Blog, page 63
July 27, 2015
The Street Art of Valencia
Even if you’re the kind of person who refuses to visit a museum, it’s impossible to completely avoid art in Valencia. For years, underground artists have been transforming the city into an open-air gallery, covering walls, fences and entire buildings with works of remarkable beauty and ingenuity.
The nexus for Valencia’s street art is indisputably El Carmen. For years, this was a run-down neighborhood full of neglected buildings, empty walls, and apathetic residents… making it a perfect play...
July 26, 2015
The BioParc of Valencia
Valencia is home to the best zoo in the world. That’s a bold claim, but the BioParc is at least the best zoo Jürgen and I have ever visited. Designed in a way that makes cages (almost) obsolete, the BioParc allows an unobstructed view of the animals, and lets you get close to them… uncomfortably close, sometimes. Let’s just say, it’s a good thing hyenas aren’t strong jumpers.
The BioParc opened its doors in 2008, replacing the former city zoo which had been located in the Viveros Gardens. Cu...
July 20, 2015
A Walk Through El Carmen
A tangled web of streets, alleys and plazas, El Carmen has (largely) shaken off its seedy past to become Valencia’s most famous neighborhood. For many, El Carmen is the city; when you “go downtown,” this is where you generally end up. With hip restaurants, cool shops, insane street art, excellent museums, and an eclectic mix of people milling about its plazas, El Carmen is beautiful, strange, and occasionally scary… but it’s never boring.
Portal de Valldigna
Roughly speaking, El Carmen is bou...
July 19, 2015
Gulliver’s Park in the Turia Riverbed
If you’re looking at the Turia Riverbed using a satellite program such as Google Earth, you might be surprised by the presence of a giant tied onto the ground with ropes. And zoom in closer… what are those little specks climbing all over him? Are they Lilliputians?
The Gulliver Park is probably the most inspired playground I’ve ever seen. Valencia’s Fallas artists have created a giant replica of Jonathan Swift’s hero in the Turia Riverbed, sprawled out on the ground and bound by ropes. The b...
Adjusting to the Ritmo Valenciano
Although it’s possible to superimpose your own schedule onto Valencia, life is a whole lot easier when you submit to its way of doing things. But what does a normal Valencian day look like? Here’s a quick, and very generalized rundown. Don’t worry, there are going to be a lot of snack breaks along the way.
By and large, Valencia is a city which rises late. At 7am, its streets are largely empty. By 8, people are moving around, but it’s quieter than you might expect. And on weekends, especiall...
July 11, 2015
San Vicente Martír and San Vicente Ferrer
Jesus and the Virgin Mary rank high, too, but the two most important religious figures in Valencia are a pair of Vicentes. San Vicente Martir met his grisly fate in the city, while a thousand years later San Vicente Ferrer would become one of Valencia’s most influential sons.
San Vicente Martír was born in Huesca, at the end of the 3rd century. This was a time when the Romans had dominion over the Iberian Peninsula, and Christianity was just beginning to spread its wings. Vicente was deacon...
July 9, 2015
Derby Night at the Mestalla
It should come as no surprise that the most popular sport in Valencia is football. This is Spain, after all. And of the twenty teams in La Liga (Spain’s First Division), five are based in the Comunidad Valenciana. Three are from province of Valencia, and two of these can be found in the city itself: Valencia Club de Fútbol and Levante UD. We attended a Monday night derby between these two teams.
A note of apology to my American amigos on the matter of this sport’s name. I’ve simply been over...
July 6, 2015
The Glory of the Baroque: San Juan de la Cruz
Following the San Martín Obispo and San Esteban, the San Juan de la Cruz completes Valencia’s trio of churches which have been recently restored to their original Baroque brilliance. Like its brothers, this is one of the city’s oldest churches, founded in 1343, immediately after the Reconquista. And also like its brothers, it’s just… wow.
Just like the San Martín and San Esteban, the San Juan de la Cruz was erected on top of a mosque, shortly after the Christians took back the city. The curr...
July 5, 2015
The Glory of the Baroque: San Esteban
The San Esteban is among the oldest churches in Valencia, and has become a popular spot for baptisms. Along with the nearby San Martín and San Juan de la Cruz, it forms part of the city’s trio of exquisite baroque churches.
Like most ancient structures, the life of the San Esteban has had a few distinct phases. Before the arrival of the Christians, this had been the site of one of the Moorish city’s principal mosques. In the 13th-century, the mosque was demolished and replaced by a small woo...
July 4, 2015
The Glory of the Baroque: The Iglesia de San Martín
Back in 2010, Valencia unveiled the results of an effort to restore three of its most impressive Baroque-era churches: the San Martín, San Esteban and San Juan de la Cruz, all located a short distance from each other in the city center. If any of these had been my childhood church, I might have grown up with a very different idea of “God”: not some wizened, white-bearded grump sitting on a cloud, but a flamboyant show-off with a flair for the extravagant.
The Iglesia Parroquial de San Martín...
