Reina Mariana

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“Reina Mariana” by Manolo Valdés, 2005
Calle de San Vicente Mártir
Valencia, September 2022

“Spanish artist Manolo Valdés began his artistic career at age of 15, using Spain’s rich history of art, influenced by European and African forms, to shape his early works. During the 1960s, he co-founded Equipo Crónica, an artistic team that used Pop Art to question the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, who suppressed his country’s social and cultural life between 1939 and 1975. After the group dissolved in 1981, as Spain awoke from its enforced slumber, Valdés reinvented his work creating the figurative, expressive style centered on art historical motifs in drawing, painting, printmaking and sculpture. Reina Mariana (Queen Mariana) is part of Valdés’s most famous series of sculptures, based on Spanish artist Diego Velázquez’s Queen Mariana (1652-1653), a portrait of the second wife of Felipe IV. Velázquez was the chronicler of court life for the King and his family, capturing them at a time when Spain’s imperial power stretched across the globe. Mariana, from the Austrian Hapsburg family, was well known to be an unhappy participant in her adopted country’s life. The voluminous and starched costume of the regal Spanish aristocracy holds her upright and rigid, like a bird caught in a cage. Valdés pays homage to one of his country’s most iconic painters and subjects, while commenting upon the life of those who serve subservient roles in history.” (Reina Mariana, Google Arts & Culture)

Santos Juanes

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Church of the Santos Juanes, rear (apse) facade
Plaza del Mercado
Valencia, September 2022

“Santos Juanes or Sant Joan del Mercat is a Roman Catholic church located in the Mercat neighborhood of the city of Valencia, Spain. The church is also denominated the Real Parroquia de los Santos Juanes (Royal Parish of the St Johns) or San Juan del Mercado (Sant Joan del Mercat in Valencian or St John of the Market) due to its location adjacent to the city Central Market and facing the Llotja de la Seda building. By the mid-13th century, a church was built atop the site of a former mosque, initially in a Gothic style; however, fires in the 14th century necessitated reconstruction. A major fire in 1592 led to another reconstruction, commissioned by the Archbishop and Viceroy Juan de Ribera in an exuberant Baroque style completed in 1700. This was located in the Boatella neighborhood, then working class quarters, outside the town walls, that housed some of the Morisco population. The main facade of the church retains a walled-up oculus of a rose window from the older church. The square exterior of the apse, facing the piazza, houses a central niche decorated with a stucco statuary group of the Virgen del Rosario (Virgin of the Rosary) attributed to Jacopo Bertesi. The group display the Virgin and Child (his hand on the globe) ensconced in a burst of rays, angels, and cherubs. Other portals contain the symbols of John the Baptist (lamb) and John the Evangelist (eagle). The center is surmounted by a clock tower, and a roofline dominated by statues of the Juanes: including the Baptist, the Evangelist, and Saints Francesco Borgia and Luis Bertrán. This facade includes profuse complex iconography including a lamb atop a book with five seals.” (Santos Juanes, Wikipedia)

Mercado Central

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Mercado Central (Central Market)
Plaza del Mercado
Valencia, September 2022

“If you love food, then you will enjoy the fresh produce, their colour and flavour, and if you value richness, variety and quality in the kitchen, then the Central Market in Valencia is a paradise you cannot miss out on. It is an essential place to visit in the city, with an enormous collection of modernist architecture containing fresh produce from the Valencia orchard and all the flavour and aromas from the Mediterranean. Don't doubt about it, visit Central Market. Your senses will thank you!It is the largest market with fresh produce in Europe and it stands out for its rich and varied cuisine. It is located in one of the most emblematic modernist buildings in the city. It is 8,000 m2 and full of decorative references to the orchard and gardens in Valencia. Its structure, formed by iron columns, remind us of the Eiffel Tower; tile and stained glass make it an attractive architecture that is a must to see. When you visit it, you will not only love what you see, but also the colours, aromas, smells...it is full of Mediterranean life. It is a place where you can buy traditional products, yet it is also a space where more and more tourists visit. This Valencia agora has more than 1200 stalls with fresh fruit and vegetables, especially oranges, tomatoes and beans. Meat, cheese, spices, nuts, spices fish, seafood are just some of the other products on offer, yet it is the live eels that seem to catch everyone's attention. If you do not want to buy anything, but you want to taste the food, you can stop at the Central Bar, the Central Market's traditional bar at the hands of chef Ricard Camarena, where you can have tapas, assorted dishes and sandwiches. Whether you want to buy products or enjoy the cuisine, the Central Market is a magical place.” (Central Market, Visit Valencia)

L'Umbracle

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L'Umbracle by Santiago Calatrava, 2001
Avinguda del Professor López Piñero
Valencia, September 2022

“L'Umbracle (part of the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències (City of Arts and Sciences) complex in Valencia, Spain, is a sculpture garden and landscaped walk with plant species indigenous to Valencia (such as rockrose, lentisca, romero, honeysuckle, bougainvillea and palm trees). It harbors in its interior The Walk of the Sculptures, an outdoor art gallery with sculptures from contemporary artists (Miquel from Navarre, Francesc Abbot, Yoko Ono and others). The Umbracle is a space that is a home to numerous sculptures surrounded by nature. It was designed by Santiago Calatrava as an entrance along the south-western edge to the City of Arts and Sciences and as a cover over its car park. L'Umbracle was completed in 2001. It is 320 m long and 60 m wide, located on the southern side of the complex. It has 55 fixed arches and 54 floating arches that stand 18 m high. The arches are parabolic. The plants in the garden were carefully picked to change colour with the seasons. The garden consists of 99 palm trees, 78 small palm trees, and 62 bitter orange trees. There are 42 varieties of shrubs from the Region of Valencia including cistuses, mastics, buddleia, pampas grass, and plumbagos. Honeysuckle and hanging bougainvillea are two of the 450 climbing plants in the Umbracle. It also has 5,500 ground cover plants such as lotus, Spanish Flags, and fig-marigolds. There are over a hundred aromatic plants including rosemary and lavender.” (L'Umbracle, Wikipedia)

Banco de Valencia

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Edificio del Banco de Valencia (Bank of Valencia Building)
Calle del Pintor Sorolla
Valencia, September 2022

“The Bank of Valencia project was developed back in 1935. architect Francisco Almenar Quinzá, with whom Javier Goerlich Lleó later began to work. Due to the death of Almenar in March 1936. and the Civil War that began soon, there was a break in construction and the work was completed only by 1942. Edificio del Banco de Valencia is considered the most outstanding example of Valencian neo-baroque, vividly demonstrating the changes that took place in the architecture of public buildings in Valencia after the Civil War. The name of the old bank can still be read above the front door. It was the headquarters of Banco de Valencia, and since December 2017. is Caixabank, which acquired the building in 2012. for only 1 € at auction.” (Edificio del Banco de Valencia, UPV)

Casa consistorial de Valencia

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Casa consistorial de Valencia (Valencia City Hall)
Plaza del Ayuntamiento
Valencia, September 2022

“Valencia City Hall (Spanish: Casa consistorial de Valencia; Catalan: Palau consistorial de València) is the seat of local government in Valencia, Spain. It was declared a Bien de Interés Cultural in 1962. The structure is made of two buildings which were constructed at different times: a school building and then the new façade. The building also includes the Municipal History Museum. The museum was opened in what was a chapel of the school building in 1927, and includes the Room of the Fueros, where Ramón Stolz Viciano painted eight medieval monarchs in 1956, starting with the city's conqueror James II of Aragon. From November 1936 to October 1937, the city hall shared its chamber with the Cortes Generales of the Second Spanish Republic, during the early stages of the Spanish Civil War. On 28 May 1937, it was bombed by the Italian Air Force in service of the Nationalist faction, causing 2 million Spanish pesetas in damage. During the war, to protect the children educated at the city hall, an underground bomb shelter was added with capacity for 700 people.” (Valencia City Hall, Wikipedia)

José de Ribera

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José de Ribera “el Españoleto” by Mariano Benlliure, 1888
Plaza del Poeta Llorente
Valencia, September 2022

“Jusepe de Ribera (1591 – 1652) was a painter and printmaker, who along with Francisco de Zurbarán, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, and the singular Diego Velázquez, are regarded as the major artists of Spanish Baroque painting. Referring to a series of Ribera exhibitions held in the late 20th century, Philippe de Montebello wrote ‘If Ribera's status as the undisputed protagonist of Neapolitan painting had ever been in doubt, it was not longer. Indeed, to many it seemed that Ribera emerged from these exhibitions as not simply the greatest Neapolitan artist of his age but one of the outstanding European masters of the seventeenth century.’: vii p.  Jusepe de Ribera has also been referred to as José de Ribera, Josep de Ribera, and Lo Spagnoletto (the Little Spaniard) by his contemporaries, early historians, and biographers.” (Jusepe de Ribera, Wikipedia)

Monumento a Cervantes

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Monumento a Cervantes by Mariano Benlliure, 1906
Calle Guillén de Castro
Valencia, September 2022

Estació del Nord

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Estació del Nord (Estación del Norte)
Calle de Xàtiva
Valencia, September 2022

“The North Station (Spanish: Estación del Norte, Valencian: Estació del Nord) is the major railway station in Valencia, Spain. It is located in the city centre next to the Plaza de Toros de Valencia, the city's bullring, and 200m from the town hall. The building is one of the main works of the Valencian Art Nouveau and was declared Good of Cultural Heritage in 1987. It has connections with Metrovalencia and the city bus network. AVE (high-speed) trains from Madrid and some other long-distance trains use Valencia-Joaquín Sorolla railway station, a short walk away, instead. This station's name is a reference to Caminos de Hierro del Norte de España (Railways of the North of Spain), the railway company that constructed it and opened it in 1917, which was later nationalized and incorporated into RENFE, and later separated into Adif, the company that currently owns and runs it. It was declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Good of Cultural Heritage, a type of listed monument) in 1987. Dutch Symphonic Metal band Within Temptation performed at the station in July 2005 as a one-time event. The concert was filmed and broadcast on Spanish television.” (Estació del Nord, Wikipedia)

Plaza de Toros de Valencia

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Plaça de bous de València (Plaza de Toros de Valencia)
Calle de Xàtiva
Valencia, September 2022

“Plaza de Toros de Valencia, officially Plaça de bous de València, is a bullring in València, Spain. It was built between 1850 and 1859 in the neoclassical style, inspired by civil Roman architecture such as the Colosseum in Rome or the Arena of Nîmes (France). It was built by the Valencian architect Sebastián Monleón Estellés. Its structure is formed by a 48-sided polygon, with 384 external arches. It follows the so-called Neo-Mudéjar style. When constructed the bullfighting arena was outside the city walls near the Ruzafa Gate. The architect designed the 17.50 meter-high building with 48 sides. Originally the bullring had an inside diameter of 52 meters, which was later reduced. It is an early example of a building that used cast iron columns that provide remarkable transparency in the boxes. Plaza de Toros is one of the more beautiful bullrings in Spain, with an outside diameter of 108 meters and a capacity of 16,851 seated spectators (also reduced to 12,884 seats later on). These dimensions make it one of the largest bullrings in Spain. As reflected in the media at that time. It was inaugurated on June 20, 1859.” (Plaza de Toros de Valencia, Wikipedia)

L'Hemisfèric

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L'Hemisfèric by Santiago Calatrava, 1998
Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències (City of Arts and Sciences)
Valencia, September 2022

“L'Hemisfèric (1998) – an IMAX Cinema, planetarium and laserium. The building is meant to resemble a giant eye, and has an approximate surface of 13,000 m². The Hemisfèric, also known as the planetarium or the ‘eye of knowledge’, is the centerpiece of the City of Arts and Sciences. It was the first building completed in 1998. Its design resembles an eyelid that opens to access the surrounding water pool. The bottom of the pool is glass, creating the illusion of the eye as a whole. This planetarium is a half-sphere in a concrete structure 110 meters long and 55.5 meters wide. The shutter is built of elongated aluminum awnings that fold upward collectively to form a brise soleil roof that opens along the curved axis of the eye. It opens to reveal the dome, the "iris" of the eye, which is the planetarium or Ominax theater. The structure is divided in half by a set of stairs that descend into the vaulted concrete lobby. The underground spaces are illuminated with the use of translucent glass panels within the walking path. The transparent roof is supported by concrete arches that connect to the sunken gallery. There is a remarkable echo in the building and if two people stand at the two opposite pillars inside of the eye they can speak with each other.” (City of Arts and Sciences, Wikipedia)

L'Àgora

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L'Àgora (The Agora) by Santiago Calatrava, 2009
Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències (City of Arts and Sciences)
Valencia, September 2022

“In early 2018, the Catalan architect Enric Ruiz-Geli was announced to be the winner of a private architecture competition to build the new CaixaForum Valencia inside L'Àgora. CaixaForum Valencia will adapt 6,500 square meters to house two exhibition halls, an auditorium with 300 seats, two multipurpose rooms, a bar-restaurant, a bookstore, and family and educational space on a second level. The space will offer art exhibitions, conferences, concerts and shows, social events, educational and family workshops and activities for the elderly. An investment of around 18 million euros is needed to renovate L'Àgora to house CaixaForum Valencia. In addition, about 5 million euros may be allocated annually for the maintenance, programming and operation of the center. It is expected to open in early 2021.” (L'Àgora, Wikipedia)

Jaime I de Aragón

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Equestrian statue of Jaime I de Aragón by Agapit Vallmitjana i Barbany, 1891
Plaza de Alfonso el Magnánimo
Valencia, September 2022

Plaza del Patriarca

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Fuente de la Plaza del Patriarca
Plaza del Patriarca
Valencia, September 2022

Iglesia de San Nicolás de Bari

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Frescoed vault by Antonio Palomino and Dionis Vidal, 1693
Iglesia de San Nicolás de Bari y San Pedro Mártir
Calle Caballeros / Plaza de San Nicolás
Valencia, September 2022

“San Nicolás de Bari and San Pedro Mártir is a Valencian Gothic style, Roman Catholic parish church located in Valencia (Spain). The church was founded in the 13th century, with a layout that includes a single-nave with six chapels between the buttresses and polygonal apse. The church was refurbished in Gothic in the 15th century, and includes a rose window alluding to a miracle of Saint Nicholas. There is an outdoor Chapel closed with a gate which is called the fossar, because there was before the parish cemetery. The other gate, which overlooks the square of San Nicolás, however, is a neo-gothic 19th-century recreation. The interior of the church was completed between 1690-1693, and was decorated by Juan Pérez Castiel in baroque fashion. It has frescoes, depicting the lives of San Nicola and Peter of Verona, along with virtues and allegories, designed by Antonio Palomino and completed by Dionis Vidal. The chapel altarpieces include works by Juan de Juanes, Fernando Yáñez de la Almedina, Jerónimo Jacinto de Espinosa, and José Vergara Gimeno.” (Church of San Nicolás, Wikipedia)

Iglesia del Carmen

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Iglesia del Carmen
Plaza del Carmen
Valencia, September 2022

“This architectural unit used to be part of the Carmelite convent and elements still remain from this time such as the cloister, with its pointed arches, the refectory and the conference room. The whole place was extended in the Baroque style; just next to the main entrance is the dome of the chapel of Nuestra Señora del Carmen, an oval-shaped temple designed by one of those responsible for bringing the neo-Classical style to Valencia, Vicente Gasco.” (Basílica de la Virgen de los Desamparados, Valencia City Guide)

Plaça Redona

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Plaça Redona (Plaza Redonda, Round Square)
Calles Pescaderia
Valencia, September 2022

“Constructed by Salvador Escrig Melchor in 1840, the Plaza Redonda is one of Valencia’s most unique tourist attractions due to its peculiar design. Restored in 2012, this space has become one of the city’s most enchanting spots. Surrounded by traditional craft shops and tapas bars at street level, you can also browse the small stalls that sell lace, embroidery, fabrics and Valencian souvenirs, among other things. You can reach the square on foot via four streets that converge together to form an area which is welcoming and full of light. If you stand by the fountain in the centre, you can take in a new and beautiful view of the Late Baroque bell tower of Santa Catalina, which stands over the three stories of the round building. On the ground, there is a quote by the Valencian writer Vicente Blasco Ibáñez who mentions this place in his novel Arroz y Tartana.” (Round Square, Visit Valencia)

El Miguelete

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El Miguelete
Plaza de la Reina
Valencia, September 2022

“This is the Valencian Gothic-style bell tower of Valncia Cathedral. It is 50.85 metres high and was built between 1381 and 1424 by Andrés Juliá and others. Access to the tower is from inside the Cathedral by means of a spiral staircase with 207 steps. An 18th century steeple crowns the Miguelete belfry.” (El Miguelete, Visit Valencia)

Fuente del Turia

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Fuente del Turia by Manuel Silvestre Montesinos, 1976
Plaza de la Virgen
Valencia, September 2022

“The Turia Fountain is an elaborate oval fountain about 60' across by 26' wide. It was created by sculptor Silvestre Edeta and dedicated in 1976. A bronze statue of the Roman god Neptune sits on a platform is in the center with a cascade of water flowing down to a lower level from all sides. The lower level contains bronze sculptures of eight naked women. The fountain is an allegorical representation of Valencia’s Turia River. The eight statues of women have water pouring from jars representing the irrigation channels of the river.” (Turia Fountain, Waymarking)

Torres de Serranos

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Torres de Serranos (Serranos Towers)
Plaza de los Fueros
Valencia, September 2022

“Under the supervision of Pere Balaguer, construction began in 1392. The towers were designed to be defensive structures at one of the busiest city gates. They were saved from demolition when the city walls were knocked down in 1865 and used as a prison for the nobility between 1586 and 1887. The back of the towers have been opened so that the pointed arches and the vaulted domes can now be seen from the Plaza de los Fueros. The Towers represent an excellent example of gothic architecture.” (Serranos Towers, Visit Valencia)