Nowhere is the ancient history of Valencia more palpable than at L'Almoina: a former archaeological site which has been converted into a museum. Found next to the cathedral, L'Almoina takes visitors on a walk underneath the ground, and back through time.
Before cobbling together our concise history of the city, we decided to refresh our knowledge at the Valencian History Museum. Housed inside an old cistern, this museum takes visitors on a comprehensive tour from the days of the Romans to Francisco Franco.
Considering the sheer size of Fallas, and the length of time over which it extends, it's not too surprising that we snapped far more photographs of the festival than we could ever hope to publish. But here are some additional pictures which didn't quite fit into our other posts.
Fallas 2015 is over. And the monuments which, for a few brief days, graced the streets of Valencia have been reduced to ash and smoke. But we'll always have the pictures! Here are the monuments which made up the bottom half of this year's sección especial, as voted on by the judges. But that doesn't mean they weren't great -- some of these were among our favorites.
Early on the morning of March 15th, before the sun has even appeared in the sky, the artists of Valencia are hard at work. This is the day of La Plantà, when hundreds of fallas monuments are erected throughout the city.
A major part of Fallas is its competitions. Paella championships, sports tournaments, fallera pageants, and of course the selection of the year's best monuments. But the most dazzling battle takes place on the streets of Ruzafa... or rather, above them. Every year, a few casales compete to erect the city's most mind-blowing streetlights.
The plantà on March 15th seems like a magical occurrence. Just as on Christmas morning, when children come downstairs to find presents under their tree, Valencians come onto the streets to find gigantic monuments erected all about their city. We visited the Ciutat Fallera, where a community of artists work as hard as elves, all year round, creating the monuments of Fallas.
Before they're placed within their Falla, the best ninots from every Fallas commission are displayed in the annual Exposición del Ninot at the Museum of Science. Like so much at Fallas, this is a competition... and from the ninot's point of view, the prize is of utmost importance. The best one, as chosen by the general public, will be spared the flames of the Cremà.
Every year, regular life in Valencia comes to a screeching halt, as the city gives itself over to Fallas: a spectacular celebration of art, light, noise and fire that runs from the end of February to March 19th. It's a festival unlike any other, and comprises so many different elements that we felt a concise explanation might in order. What is Fallas, exactly?
By far the biggest cities in Spain are Madrid and Barcelona: they dominate the country's media, culture, tourism and (especially) sports. But what comes next? What's the Chicago, to Spain's New York and Los Angeles? That, my friends, would be Valencia.
