L'Umbracle (), part of the ''

Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències The City of Arts and Sciences ( vl, Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències ; es, Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias ) is a cultural and architectural complex in the city of Valencia, Spain. It is the most important modern tourist destination in the ...

'' (City of Arts and Sciences) complex in

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, is a

sculpture garden A sculpture garden or sculpture park is an outdoor garden or park which includes the presentation of sculpture, usually several permanently sited works in durable materials in landscaped surroundings. A sculpture garden may be private, owned by a ...

and landscaped walk with plant species indigenous to Valencia (such as rockrose, lentisca,

romero The name Romero is a nickname type of surname for a Roman or an Italian. The name was originally derived from the Latin word Romaeus and the Greek word Romaios, which mean Roman. #A person on a religious journey or pilgrimage from Rome (possibly t ...

honeysuckle Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae, native to northern latitudes in North America and Eurasia. Approximately 180 species of honeysuckle have been identified in both contin ...

bougainvillea ''Bougainvillea'' ( , ) is a genus of thorny ornamental vines, bushes, and trees belonging to the four o' clock family, Nyctaginaceae. It is native to eastern South America, found from Brazil, west to Peru, and south to southern Argentina. ...

and

palm tree The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm trees ...

s). It harbors in its interior ''The Walk of the Sculptures'', an outdoor art gallery with sculptures from contemporary artists ( Miquel from Navarre, Francesc Abbot,

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

and others). The Umbracle is a space that is a home to numerous sculptures surrounded by nature. It was designed by

Santiago Calatrava Santiago Calatrava Valls (born 28 July 1951) is a Spanish architect, structural engineer, sculptor and painter, particularly known for his bridges supported by single leaning pylons, and his railway stations, stadiums, and museums, whose sculpt ...

as an entrance along the south-western edge to the City of Arts and Sciences and as a cover over its car park. L'Umbracle was completed in 2001.

Overview

It is 320 m long and 60 m wide, located on the southern side of the complex. It has 55 fixed arches and 54 floating arches that stand 18 m high. The

arches An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vault ...

are parabolic. The plants in the garden were carefully picked to change colour with the seasons. The garden consists of 99 palm trees, 78 small palm trees, and 62 bitter orange trees. There are 42 varieties of shrubs from the

Region of Valencia The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid with ...

including

cistus ''Cistus'' (from the Greek ''kistos'') is a genus of flowering plants in the rockrose family Cistaceae, containing about 20 species (Ellul ''et al.'' 2002). They are perennial shrubs found on dry or rocky soils throughout the Mediterranean region ...

es, mastics,

buddleia ''Buddleja'' (; ''Buddleia''; also historically given as ''Buddlea'') is a genus comprising over 140 species of flowering plants endemic to Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The generic name bestowed by Linnaeus posthumously honoured the Revere ...

pampas grass Pampas grass or pampas-grass is a common name which may refer to any of several similar-looking, tall-growing species of grass: * Species of ''Cortaderia'' including: :* ''Cortaderia selloana'' and its selected cultivars :* '' Cortaderia jubata'' ( ...

, and

plumbago ''Plumbago'' is a genus of 10–20 species of flowering plants in the family Plumbaginaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the world. Common names include plumbago and leadwort (names which are also shared by the genus '' Cerat ...

s. Honeysuckle and hanging bougainvillea are two of the 450 climbing plants in the Umbracle. It also has 5,500 ground cover plants such as lotus,

Spanish Flag The national flag of Spain ( es, Bandera de España), as it is defined in the Constitution of 1978, consists of three horizontal stripes: red, yellow and red, the yellow stripe being twice the size of each red stripe. Traditionally, the middle ...

s, and

fig-marigold The Aizoaceae, or fig-marigold family, is a large Family (biology), family of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing 135 genus, genera and about 1800 species. They are commonly known as ice plants or carpet weeds. They are often called vygies ...

s. There are over a hundred aromatic plants including

rosemary ''Salvia rosmarinus'' (), commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers, native plant, native to the Mediterranean Region, Mediterranean region. Until 2017, it was kn ...

and

lavender ''Lavandula'' (common name lavender) is a genus of 47 known species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is native to the Old World and is found in Cape Verde and the Canary Islands, and from Europe across to northern and easte ...

References

External links

Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències (official website)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Umbracle Buildings and structures in Valencia High-tech architecture Postmodern architecture Santiago Calatrava structures Tourist attractions in Valencia Gardens in Spain Sculpture gardens, trails and parks in Europe