Systems of Higher Education in an international Comparison: Spain<title> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../CSS/2col_leftNav.css" type="text/css" /> </head> <body> <div id="masthead"> <h1 id="siteName"> Systems of Higher Education in an international Comparison: Spain</h1> <h1 id="subTitle"> Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Universidad Carlos III, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia</h1> <div id="globalNav"> <a href="../educationalsystem/school.html">Educational System</a> | <a href="../universitylife/living.html"> University Life</a> | <a href="../work/internship.html">Work</a> | <a href="../madrid/geography.html"> Madrid</a> | Valencia | <a href="../authors.html">Authors</a></div> </div>  <div id="content"> <h2 id="pageName"> Sightseeing</h2> <div id="breadCrumb"> <a href="#cathedral">Valencia Cathedral</a> | <a href="#torres">Torres de Serranos</a> | <a href="#toros">Plaza de Toros</a> | <a href="#artes">Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias</a> </div> <div class="feature"> <img src="images/turia.jpg" alt="Rio Turia" width="280" height="200" /> <h3> Turia - From a river to a blooming park </h3> <p> After the last great flooding of the river Turia in 1957 and the big damages of parts of the city the river was re-routet and now passes arround the south and west of Valencia. There were firstly plans to build a big city-motorway in the riverbed. But a Citizens' movement disclaimed this plans under the battle call "El llit es nostre i el volem vert!" (The riverbed is our and we want it green!). And they were succesfull so that in the year 1985 the building of the great park planned by the catalan arquitect Ricardo Bofill started. Now there is a seven kilometer long park in which there are soccer-fields and baseball-fields and places to do many other sport activities. It is used for running and on sundays and holidays many people are spending their free time there. The park is leading to the brand-new Ciudad de as Artes y Ciencias (City of Arts and Sciences), which are futuristic buildings with cinemas, theatres and museums in it. </p> </div> <div class="story"> <a name="cathedral"> <h3> Valencia Cathedral</h3> </a> <p> The construction of the cathedral, located in the center of the city between the Plaza de la Virgen and the Plaza de la Reina, started in the 13th century on the foundation walls of a mosque. There were made changes until the 18th century. The Torre del Miguelete (Tower) was built in the 14th century and is on of the symbols of Valencia. It's worth to get up these 200 stairs to the top of this 51 meter high tower, because up there you have a great overview of the whole city. Since 1506 in the Cathedral there is retained the Santo Cáliz (Holy Grail), which was produced between the 4th century BC and the 1st century AD. </p> </div> <div class="story"> <a name="torres"> <h3> Torres de Serranos</h3> </a> <p> The Torres de Serranos, together with the Torres de Quart are two impresive stone towers, which once provided entry into Valencia from the north and the south. Today the city is much bigger and these towers provide the entry into the nice historical center of the city. These two towers are all, that remains of the original stone wall which protected the city. Constructed in the 14th and 15th century they nowadays belong to the symbols of the city. The Torres de Serranos is one of the important places for the yearly celebration of the biggest fiesta of the city Valencia, the Fallas. </p> </div> <div class="story"> <a name="toros"> <h3> Plaza de Toros</h3> </a> <p> As in every bigger city in spain there is a Plaza de Toros, which is used for celebrating the traditional bullfights. With a heights of 17 meters and a diameter of 52 meters the arena is one of the biggest bullfight-arenas of spain. It's a poligonal Building, with 48 sides. The entrance prices depend on the places, which are mostly defined by sun or shadow places. As one of the most important fights of the year is the Feria de Julio(July Fair), where there are celebrated parades as-well. There are bullfights all over the year, but the most important are during Fallas and in october, where the dia de la Comunidad de Valencia (Day of the valencian Community) is celebrated. The stadium is also used for concerts and other celebrations. Next to the stadium is the Estacion del Norte (Trainstation) of Valencia. With its nice mosaic flagstones on the ceiling in the entrancehall it is also worth a closer view. </p> </div> <div class="story"> <a name="artes"> <h3> Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias</h3> </a> <p> After the buildings explaned before, which are mostly in the historical part of the city, are following some modern and futuristic buildings, known as the Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias (City of Arts and Ciences). These buildings, which are situated at the end of the Rio Turia (River Turia), are describing the modern part of the city. The "city" depends until now out of the Palacio de las Artes Reina Sofia, L'Umbracle, L'Oceanografic, L'Hemisferic and the Museo de Ciencias Principe Felipe. But there are still constructions going so that maybe in 2 years there will be some more buildings to mention here.<br> The Palacio de las Artes Reina Sofia is acting as a multi-hall auditorium, where there are performed operas and large-scale musicals. This is buidling is the last one finished some years before.<br> The first building was L'Hemisferic, which was opened in 1998. From outside it is shaped like a big eye, and with the reflection in the water surrounding it, it makes you fell as if someone is watching you. In this edifice there is an IMAX cinema, where are shown laser shows, planetarium displays and films.<br> L'Umbracle is a 7000 square meter green zone, which is celebrating the stunning array of local flora. It is full with palm trees, orange trees, hanging vines and so on. And the best of it is, that this is the only part of the City of Art and Cience, which is absolutely free.<br> In the Museo de Ciencias Principe Felipe you can see many things about science and there are some really interesting things, where you can interact and test some scientific rules.<br> The last and most spectacular building is L'Oceanographic, which was opened in 2003. This is europe's biggest aquarium, where you can see the different types of fishes and other sea-animals. There are eight main sections, where you can get up close with belugas, walruses, tropical fish, sharks, sea lions and penguins and more. There are also two underwater tunnels, one of them is 70 meters long.<br> With these main buildings the Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias is a must to visit in Valencia. All of these buildings are surrounded by a big pool, which makes the with many lights highlighted scene a great view, with reflections and sometimes there are held concerts, too. </p> </div> <div id="breadCrumb"> <em>Author: Stefan Edbauer</em></div> </div>  <div id="navBar"> <div id="sectionLinks"> <h3> The City of Valencia</h3> <ul> <li><a href="valencia.html">General Information</a></li> <li>Sightseeing</li> <li><a href="events.html">Events</a></li> <li><a href="poli.html">Universidad Politecnica de Valencia</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="relatedLinks"> <h3> Related Links</h3> <ul> <li><a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valencia" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.ayto-valencia.es/" target="_blank">Ayuntamiento de Valencia</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.turisvalencia.es/" target="_blank">Turismus Valencia</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.comunitatvalenciana.com/" target="_blank">Communitat Valenciana (german)</a></li> </ul> </div> </div>  <div id="siteInfo"> (C) 2008, Stefan Edbauer, Arno Scherhorn, <a href="http://www.juergentreml.de/">Jürgen Treml</a> </div> <br /> <script type="text/javascript"> var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? 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