IES Camp de Morvedre Comenius Regio Gilet- Järvenpää

IES Camp de Morvedre Comenius Regio Gilet- Järvenpää 24 th April, 2012 A VISIT TO VALENCIA THE HISTORICAL CITY CENTRE Cristina Marqués i Ferrer / Fina Soto Chavarría

THE SERRANOS’ TOWERS • • BUILT IN 1300 THEY WERE NAMED ‘SERRANOS’ BECAUSE THEY FACED THE REGION OF THE SIERRA. THERE, IT WAS THE MAIN ENTRANCE TO THE MEDIEVAL CITY. AT NIGHT, THEIR DOORS WERE CLOSED AND NOBODY WAS ALLOWED TO ENTER THE CITY. IN 1363 A BELL WAS HANGED ON THE TOWER. ITS SOUND WARNED OF THE ARRIVAL OF INVADING ARMIES OR OF PRISONERS WHO TRIED TO ESCAPE.

THE MONUMENTAL ENSEMBLE OF ‘PLAZA DE LA VIRGEN’ • • THE CATHEDRAL THE MICALET LA BASILICA OF THE LADY OF THE FORSAKEN FATHER TURIA’S FOUNTAIN

THE CATHEDRAL • IT HAS GOT A GOTHIC STYLE (ALTHOUGH DIFFERENT STYLES HAVE BEEN ADDED TO IT THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES) • YOU CAN FIND THREE COVERS, A ROMANCE ONE, A GOTHIC ONE AND A BAROQUE ONE. THE MAIN CHAPEL HAS GOT A BAROQUE STYLE AND THE CHAPELSIDE IS NEOCLASSICAL. • THE CATHEDRAL OF VALENCIA (LE SEU) HAS THE OLDEST MUSEUM IN THE CITY (SALA CAPITULAR) WHICH CONTAINS THE HOLY CHALICE OF VALENCIA. THIS IS SAID TO BE THE OFFICIAL CHALICE USED BY CHRIST ON THE LAST SUPPER - THE VERY SACRED HOLY GRAIL

THE ‘MICALET’ • • • EL MICALET IS THE BELL-TOWER ATTACHED TO THE CATHEDRAL OF VALENCIA AND ALSO THE NAME OF THE BIGGEST BELL IN THE TOWER. . THE NAMED WAS GIVEN IN HONOUR TO SAINT MIGUEL, GUARD ANGEL OF VALENCIA THE BELL WEIGHS 7000 KG THE TOWER GUARDED THE CITY AND WHEN INVADERS WERE SEEN, A TORCH WAS DROPPED FROM THE TOP. IF YOU CAN CLIMB THE 207 STEPS (MORE THAN 50 METERS HIGH) INSIDE EL MICALET, YOU'LL BE REWARDED WITH FANTASTIC VIEWS OF VALENCIA.

THE FOUNTAIN OF FATHER TURIA PLACED AT THE PLAZA OF THE VIRGIN, THIS FOUNTAIN REPRESENTS RIVER TURIA. THE FIGURE IS A MYTHOLOGICAL GIANT WHO HOLDS A HORN OF RICHNESS (MEANING WATER AS A SYMBOL OF WEALTH). THE GIANT IS SURROUNDED BY 8 NYMPHS REPRESENTING EACH OF THE GUTTERS WHICH DISTRIBUTED WATER ALL AROUND THE LAND OF VALENCIA.

THE ‘BASILICA’ OF THE FORSAKEN • • • THE LADY OF THE FORSAKEN IS THE PATRON VIRGIN OF THE CITY. IT IS ALSO NAMED THE LITTLE HUNCHBACK (GEPERUDETA). IT WAS GIVEN THIS NICK NAME OF GEPERUDETA BECAUSE THE BEAUTIFUL STATUE OF HER SUSPENDED INSIDE THE CHURCH TILTS SLIGHTLY FORWARD. THE FLOWER OFFERING TO THE VIRGIN HAPPENS DURING THE FEAST OF SAN JOSE (FALLAS). THE IMAGE IS COVERED WITH A LOVELY COAT OF FLOWERS.

LA LONJA DE LA SEDA • • • NOT FAR AWAY FROM THE BASILICA DE LA VIRGEN DE LOS DESAMPARADOS IS THE GLORIOUS 15 TH CENTURY INDOOR GOTHIC MARKET PLACE CALLED ‘LA LONJA’. HERITAGE DECLARED BY ITS BEAUTY AND ARTISTIC VALUE. LA LONJA DE LA SEDA (THE SILK EXCHANGE), IS WHERE THE SILK MERCHANTS USED TO EXCHANGE THEIR GOODS. THE BUILDING IS FILLED WITH MEDALLIONS OF MYTHOLOGICAL BEINGS. ONCE YOU'VE ABSORBED THE AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL INTERIOR, TAKE A LOOK AT THE PRETTY AND VERY COOL LITTLE GARDEN WHICH HAS ORANGE TREES AND A FOUNTAIN.

ART NOUVEAU IN VALENCIA • • • THE CENTRAL MARKET IN THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY, MODERNISM ARRIVED IN VALENCIA. THIS FULL OF FANTASY FREESTYLE FILLED VALENCIA WITH FORMS AND COLORS WHICH WERE REALLY FRESH FOR THE TIME. ONE OF THE MOST IMPRESSIVE BUILDINGS IN THE CITY IS THE CENTRAL MARKET. IT HAS MORE THAN THREE HUNDRED STALLS ON A SURFACE OF 8000 SQUARE METERS. THERE YOU CAN BUY OR TRY TYPICAL GOODS AND FOOD FROM VALENCIA. BUT THE MOST CURIOUS THING IN THE MARKET IS A PARAKEET WHICH HAS BECOME A SYMBOL AND REMEMBER THE LIVELY ENVIRONMENT THAT FROM EARLY IN THE MORNING WE FIND IN THE MARKET.

THE NORTH RAILWAY STATION • • IN 1852, THE FIRST RAILWAY ARRIVED IN VALENCIA. IT WAS THE THIRD TRAIN , AFTER MADRID AND BARCELONA, CIRCULATING IN SPAIN. THE NORTH RAILWAY STATION WAS BUILT IN 1906 ON THE ANCIENT WALLS OF THE CITY IT HAS AN ART NOUVEAU STYLE AND IN ITS TILES WE CAN FIND HOW TO SAY 'BON VOYAGE' IN SEVERAL LANGUAGES. WE ALSO NOTICED ORANGES AND LEAVES ON ITS FRONT AND A LOVELY ART NOUVEAU CLOCK.

THE CITY HALL The City Hall stands on the former ‘Casa de Enseñanza’, a school for destitute girls which was built in the mid eighteenth century. Between 1904 and 1942 different rooms were added to the building. The current City Hall has a surface of 6, 173 square meters. The facade consists of a central body topped by a clock tower. On each side and in perfect symmetry, you can see a square tower. There are windows and balconies all around and on both corners, you can find a circular tower with a dome. Outstanding Mariano Benlliure’s figures in marble representing the Administration and Justice and the Arts and Letters.

IES Camp de Morvedre Comenius Regio Gilet- Järvenpää 24 th April, 2012 LAS FALLAS THE FIRE FESTIVAL Cristina Marqués i Ferrer / Fina Soto Chavarría

WHAT ARE THE FALLAS? • SAN JOSE FESTIVITIES, HELD TO BETWEEN 15 TH AND 19 TH MARCH • HELD SINCE 1500 TO WELCOME THE SPRING • CONSISTING OF GREAT MONUMENTS AND SCULPTURES MADE OF POLYSTYRENE WHICH SHOW CURRENT EVENTS USING A CRITICAL AND IRONIC SENSE OF HUMOUR.

THE ORIGIN OF THE FALLAS • THE MOST CREDIBLE THEORY ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF THE FALLAS OF VALENCIA, DATES BACK TO THE TRADITION OF CARPENTERS BURNING THEIR ‘PAROTS’ JUST ON THE EVE OF ST. JOSEPH, HER PATRON SAINT, AND JUST BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF SPRING. • THE ‘PAROTS’ WERE ARTIFACTS USED TO HANG THE LAMPS WHICH LIT THEM AS THEY WORKED. FROM THIS TIME OF THE YEAR, AS THE DAYS GOT LONGER , THEY WOULN’T NEED MORE LIGHT. • LATER THEY DRESSED THE ‘PAROTS’ WITH OLD CLOTHES, AND EVEN BEGAN TO PUT UP SIGNS REFERRING SOMEONE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

THE ‘NINOT’ THE EVOLUTION OF THOSE ‘PAROTS’ WE HAVE MENTION, ARE THE TODAY’S NINOTS: BIG SCULPTURES THAT BEGAN BEING BUILT USING OLD WAX AND CLOTH AND HAVE BECOME LARGE AND IMPRESSIVE STRUCTURES OF EXPANDED POLYSTYRENE. NOT ALL NINOTS BURNED AT THE STAKE. A JURY DECIDES WHICH IS THE BEST NINOT AND SAVES IT FROM FIRE. IT IS CALLED THE ‘NINOT INDULTAT’ Ninot indultat infantil 2012 Ninot indultat 2012

THE ‘PLANTÀ’ ON MARCH 15, THE MONUMENTS ARE ASSEMBLED IN THE STREETS FOR VISITORS TO ENJOY THEM. AFTER TWELVE O'CLOCK ON THE 15 TH OF MARCH, THE PLANT OFFICIALLY STARTS. THE FALLAS MONUMENTS CAN BE SEEN ON THE STREETS AND NEIGHBORHOODS ALL AROUND THE CITY.

THE OFFERING OF FLOWERS BETWEEN 17 AND 18 MARCH, ONE OF THE MOST TOUCHING AND EMOTIONAL EVENTS HAPPENS IN VALENCIA: THE TRADITIONAL OFFERING OF FLOWERS TO THE VIRGIN OF THE FORSAKEN. THOUSAND OF VALENCIANS COME TOGETHER TO OFFER FLOWERS TO THE "CHEPERUDETA“, THE POPULAR NAME WHICH THE VIRGIN IS GIVEN. DURING THESE DAYS ALL ‘FALLAS COMMISSIONS’, DRESSED WITH TRADITIONAL COSTUMES AND ACCOMPANIED BY BANDS OF MUSIC, PARADE IN FRONT A HUGE REPRODUCTION OF THE VIRGIN WHICH STANDS NEXT TO THE BASILICA. ALL THE FLOWERS ARE LAID FORMING A COLORFUL MULTI-COLORED CLOAK FOR THE VIRGIN. THE LAST PERSON TO MAKE THE OFFERING IS THE MAYOR OF VALENCIA FALLAS.

THE ‘MASCLETÀ’ AT 2 O’CLOCK IN THE AFTERNOON, FROM THE BEGGINING OF MARCH TILL THE LAST DAY OF THE FESTIVITY, YOU CAN GO TO THE TOWN HALL SQUARE AND ATTEND THE ‘MASCLETAES’. THESE ARE SPECIAL FIREWORKS COMPOSED OF A SERIES OF FIRECRACKERS CALLED ‘MASCLETS’ RANGING EXPLODING WITH A CERTAIN PACE AND WHICH END WITH A SPECTACULAR NOISE.

THE LIGHTING OF THE STREETS 1 ST PRIZE TO STREET LIGHTING 2012 FALLA SUECA - LITERARO AZORIN

THE NIGHT OF FIRE • • • ON MARCH 18, VALENCIANS CELEBRATE THE ‘NIT DEL FOC’ OR NIGHT OF FIRE. IT IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT NOCTURNAL FIREWORK DISPLAYS OF THE FALLAS FESTIVAL AND ANNOUNCES THE END OF THE FIESTA. IT IS A SPECTACULAR MOMENT OF THE FESTIVITIES, WHERE, FOR MORE THAN 20 MINUTES, AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF POWDER ( BETWEEN 2, 500 TO 3, 500 KG) IS BURNT.

THE ‘CREMÀ’ ON MARCH 19, THE ‘CREMÀ’ TAKES PLACE. THE FALLAS MONUMENTS ARE SET ON FIRE AND BECOME ASH. IT IS PRECEDED BY A FIREWORKS CASTLE, FIRED BY THE FALLERA MAYOR AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE COMMISSION. IT IS THE CLIMAX OF THE FESTIVAL AND ALSO THE SADDEST MOMENT AS IT MEANS THE END OF THE FALLAS FESTIVAL.

A NEW BEGINNING AFTER THE ‘CREMÀ’ THE CITY OF VALENCIA REMAINS CALM AND QUIET WITH NO MARKS OF THE NIGHT BEFORE ITS PEOPLE START TO PREPARE THE FALLAS FOR NEXT YEAR. A NEW BEGINNING WITH THE SAME HOPE AND ENTHUSIASM