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| Valencia’s Town Hall (“Ajuntament”) |
Valencia has a unique classical architecture. We’ll call it “Valencian”. It’s something of an ornate blend of mediterranean Europe with functional artistic embellishment.
In the center of the old city, only two blocks from our apartment for the month, is the Plaça de l’Ajuntament, a large fountain-filled plaza flanked on one side by the town hall (Ajuntament) and on the other by the post office. You can also see it here in our YouTube video “Noon in Valencia”. The buildings are splendidly–but not overly so–decorated with gleaming bronze domes and towers and statues.
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| A favorite discussion of ours: are the domes glazed tile or metal? |
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| Valencia’s Post Office |
Many of Valencia’s buildings are adorned with art that reflects the purpose of the building, like the post office and it’s winged couriers ready to whisk your letter or package off to the far reaches of the globe. The building is stamped with “Correos Y Telegrafos”–correspondence and telegraphs–harkening to the way things used to happen. A nearby building is topped with a massive black lion, we suppose to portray the strength and power of a bank or insurance company.
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| A church gargoyle: if you look closely, it’s a saint, not a lizard |
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| Many buildings have elaborate terraces and towers atop them |
Even the plazas and sidewalks themselves bear the “Valencian” style, with marble side walks (which you can see in our Café Timelapse YouTube video) and gardens of colorful flowers and walls of bougainvillea.
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| Valencia’s Palacio del Marques de Dos Aguas |
Between the new of yesterday’s blog and the old of today’s blog, we might be a bit partial to the old. You might want to ask us again tomorrow, though.
