The Principe Felipe Science Museum of the City of Arts and Sciences is a world reference museum for interactive science, over 25 million visitors have visited such great museum thus it has become one of the most visited destinations in the country. It was inaugurated in 2000 aiming at stimulating curiosity and critical thinking; it surprises and amuses the audience through contents from the world of science, technology, and the environment.
This 21st-century Science Museum was designed by Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava for letting know in an interactive, and entertaining way everything related to life, science, and technology. It is unique in the world due to geometry of the building, structure, the materials used and the constant presence of nature.
Several basic principles link the world of science with technology through Museum building, architecture, engineering and art. These principles are: simplicity of approach and elegance of architectural forms. Thus, contents and container are linked in a coherent way.
Museum architecture
The Museum houses different activities due to its colossal size, 20,000 square metres of glass with over 4,000 panes, 42,000 square metres of built-on surface area, of which 26,000 square metres are exhibition space. It is the largest surface space in Spain and one of the largest in Europe.
There is 13,500 square metres lake that surrounds the building which is 220 metres long 80 metres wide and 55 metres high. In the construction of the Science Museum of the City of Arts and Sciences were used 58,000 m³ of concrete and 14.000 tons of steel.
The 42,000 square metres Science Museum has an area of 26,000 square metres for exhibitions.
Museum building
The Museum of the City of Arts and Sciences has 3 floors.
The ground floor called Calle Menor houses the main services open to the public (ticket offices, restaurants, shops…) and access to the Santiago Grisolía Auditorium and the Salón Arquerías for congresses and events.
The entrance for Calle Menor is free and is the stage for a large number of exhibitions throughout the year. The ground floor includes the “Science on Stage” and “TV Studio” classrooms.
The first floor of the Museum there are interactive science exhibitions such as “Exploratorium”, “Furnishing the world, hand in hand with nature”, access to the Calle Mayor where the huge and artistic representation of DNA made as a sculpture 15 metres in height is the star of the hall.
Finally, the 34 metres Foucault Pendulum, one of the longest in the world. There is also an exhibition devoted to climatic change explaining the reasons for it, historical data, its consequences, etc. From this area it is possible to admire the amazing glass surface of the Museum, with over 4,000 panes, and the view of the Turia Garden and Old River from the outside terraces.
The second floor of the Science Museum of the City of Arts and Sciences is for 42,000 square metres that reveals the life and the research evolution of three Nobel prize winners: Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Severo Ochoa y Jean Dausset.
The personal and scientific archive of Ochoa can also be seen, together with his library of over 1,200 volumes.
The third floor of the Museum of the City of Arts and Science in Valencia houses the “Chromosome Forest”, over 2,600 square metres devoted to the greatest milestone in modern science: the sequencing of human DNA. A large-scale reproduction of the 23 pairs of chromosomes of the human species is also placed in this space.
Other interactive exhibitions on this floor are the “Zero Gravity” and the “Space Academy” that represents three stages in the preparation of the space launch to the International Space Station.
Hostel close to Science Museum
The Science Museum of the City of Arts and Science is close to Home Youth Hostel and Home Backpackers Hostel, you can go by bus or taxi. Home Youth Hostel and Home Backpackers Hostel are placed in the city centre of Valencia.
For information how to arrive click: Arrive at the City of Arts and Sciences
For more information regarding Museums in Valencia click: Museums in Valencia
To see the official website of the City of Arts and Science click: City of Arts and Sciences web