Traveling with children? Valencia is home to a thousand and one curious stories that, if told right, can make the difference between hearing the usual "Booooooring!" and the much less frequent, but always appreciated, “Cool! Tell another one!" Here are a few stories for you to share this city's secrets with the little ones. Here we go: Did you know that Indiana Jones was wrong about the Grail he was looking for, because it's in Valencia? Have you experienced the mystery of sound waves? Would you like to find out how there can be a river without water or why the Torres de Serrans were turned into an improvised Prado Museum? Let's go!
Open secrets in the Museu de les Ciències (Museum of Science)
The Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències is a must-see when visiting the city. Surprise your child and show them how sound waves work. Stand underneath the entrance arches at the Museu de les Ciències, one at each arch. Even though they are about 50 meters apart, you will hear each other perfectly without anyone knowing what you are saying to each other! If you walk towards the Hemisfèric, you will come upon a most popular selfie these days: one with the giant letters of Valencia. You won't be able to resist!
A river without water in the Turia Garden
We drive our visitors crazy when we give them directions for how to get to some tourist attraction. Whether it's on this or that side of the river, or you'll find it across the river... We keep referring to a river that no longer is, and they look for water where there is none to be found. The best story to tell your children if you're walking through the Turia Garden, is how the decision was made to transform it into a veritable green lung for the city. After the floods of 1957, it was decided to divert the river toward the south of the city. But there was still the question of what to do with the land that would be now be empty. One of the proposals involved building a 12-lane highway crossing the city, a project that is on display in the Valencia History Museum. Fortunately, this idea was abandoned due to pressure from the residents, who preferred a project to turn the old riverbed into a landscaped area that would first be developed in the 1980s, with architect Ricardo Bofill getting involved in the first of the sections to be built, next to the Palau de la Música. See if your kids can guess the total length of our "river". And you, do you know how long it is? The answer is at the bottom of this post.
The flowers that gave Playa de la Malvarrosa (Hollyhock Beach) its name
Valencia's most famous beach is Malvarrosa. Have you ever wondered how it got its name? Well, its history dates back to 1856, when the Cabanyal was a marshland, can you imagine that? French botanist Jean Felix Robillard Closier, who was then working on our spectacular Botanical Garden, transformed a swampy area into into fertile orchards of the flowers popularly known as hollyhock (alcea rosea), using them to create essential oils in a factory that he set up very close to the fields.
An epidemic that was cured in Ensanche
Unfortunately, pandemics have been recurrent evils throughout history. A terrible one was the cholera pandemic that affected the province of Valencia in the second half of the 19th century. It was one of the outbreaks that was usually brought to the peninsula by sailors from other countries who docked in Spanish ports. Back then - this would've been 1885 - Catalan doctor Jaime Ferrán was making great strides in researching a cure for cholera, so he was called to Valencia by local officials to try to contain the spread of the disease. He moved into a home in Ensanche neighborhood, go to number 22 Pascual y Genís Street. On the façade you will see a plaque carved with the bust of Doctor Jaime Ferrán, the perfect excuse to ask your children: do you know why this man became famous?
A gift in the shape of a blue lady
You've no doubt seen all kinds of birthday gifts. But Valencia and its inhabitants received one that you would never imagine, a gift crafted by artist Manolo Valdés and given to the city thanks to the patronage of some private companies. It is an 18-meter-high sculpture inspired by the Lady of Elche, an Iberian limestone figure that is now kept at the National Archeological Museum of Madrid. The one here, known as Dama Ibérica, is made up of 22,000 miniatures barely 20 centimeters tall of that sculpture, and has been located at the roundabout of Avenida de Cortes Valencianas since 2007, near the Palacio de Congresos.
Another of Valdés's works can be seen in the Marina de València, which is home to the sculpture La Pamela, a huge female head that protects itself from the Mediterranean sun by covering itself with a pamela (sunhat). This elegant lady wound up on the city’s coast with help from the Hortensia Herrero Foundation, and is part of a series of giant busts inspired by Henri Matisse, to which Valdés added everyday objects.
The thousand and one stories of the city center
It'll be easy to entertain the kids when it's time to stroll through the historic center. lo tienes fácil para entretener a los niños. One of the best-known legends in Valencia is that of the Patriarch's dragon. Apparently, there was an alligator in a Valencian orchard that was terrorizing its inhabitants. No one had been able to drive it out, but an inmate asked to be released in exchange for getting rid of the animal. He invented a suit of mirrors, armed himself with a spear, and went in search of the animal, which, upon seeing itself reflected in the mirrors and thinking it was seeing monsters, got frightened, dizzy and the prisoner managed to kill it. You won't be able to see it now, but it makes for a perfect excursion to see with the kids.
Dr. Jones, the Grail is in Valencia!
Indiana Jones was on the wrong track when he went to the ruins of Petra looking for the Holy Grail used by Christ at the Last Supper. Because it's always been in Valencia. At least since 1424, when King Alfonso the Magnanimous gave it to the city as a token of his appreciation for the military aid provided by the kingdom of Valencia. You can see the Holy Grail if you visit the cathedral and go to the chapel that bears its name (Santo Grial). Get as close as you can. You will see that the top part, a simple cup carved out of chalcedony stone, stands out from the rest. This is the part that dates back to the time of Jesus of Nazareth. If you want more information about the Grail, you can play the geocaching game “Tras las pistas del Santo Grial” (On the Trail of the Holy Grail).
The jewels of El Prado in the Torres de Serrans
The Torres (towers) of Serrans, one of the ancient access roads to the medieval city, are strikingly majestic. But do you know that for a few months, they housed many of the Prado Museum's collection of paintings? It was in late 1936, during the Spanish Civil War. Due to the bombing of Madrid, which even affected the country's leading art gallery, the main canvases were moved by road to save them from the flames. They were housed at the base of the Towers, protected by a bunch of sandbags. They remained there until April 1938.
And speaking of towers. Visit the other gates of the city to have survived the passage of time, the Torres de Quart. Despite the strength of this structure, the multiple changes they have experienced have left deep marks on their walls. Notice the spherical markings they have, the result of the cannonballs they received when Napoleon's troops lay siege to the city.
See the House of Cats
We are going to finish our tour with the Casa de los Gatos (House of Cats), a miniature house at number 9 Museo Street. Take a good look: the window curtains, the main entrance, the fountain next to the door... they are all highly realistic! Even the inscription that its author wrote in 1904, in memory of the entrance of El Cid to the city, after a long siege, when only “four cats” remained in what is today the Barrio del Carmen. And one more odd fact. Looking at the house head on, you will see a tile showing how far the water rose during last flood in the city, in 1957. At which point, you can continue your walk with the story of the transformation of the Turia riverbed that we started with earlier.
PS: The Turia Garden is 9 kilometers long. Did you get it right?
