It's no secret that I love big cities - of course when it comes to visiting them. Valencia may not be that big, but for me, it was a real pleasure to take a walk that our son gave us. Actually, it is always a pleasure to be in Valencia as I like it a lot.
Yesterday morning, the three of us went to that city, fixed some things in his rented place and then went to the old city centre. He wanted to show me how beautifully everything was decorated in the centre and how the Christmas lights illuminated the streets, but we couldn't stay until dark. Early afternoon he had a bus to Barcelona where he would spend a couple of days, so we returned home after he left. Nevertheless, this walk, where he proudly guided us, made me happy.
One of the buildings we passed by was the train station. Its name is simply North Station. I asked my son if we could enter as well so he gladly guided us there too as a few times he travelled by train from this station. Right now he can't come to our city with the railways as there are still tracks that need to be fixed after the recent floods. The good news is that rail traffic has been restored in almost all the other directions.
The exterior of this building is eye-catching. It has two lateral towers and one central tower, with a clock and a big eagle on the top of it. You can see many decorative elements on the façade, like oranges and orange blossoms (Azahar) and the flag and coat of arms of Valencia. I found it odd to see so many red stars on the lateral towers; they made me feel like I was in some country of the former Soviet Union. But later I found out it was the emblematic symbol of Compañía de los Caminos de Hierro del Norte de España (Northern Spain Railway Company) - the company that commissioned the construction of this train station. They inaugurated the station in 1917.
When you enter, the first thing you see is the hall decorated with small tiles - glazed ceramics, and the ceiling. Like on the façade, here too I saw many oranges and plants as the main decorative elements, which undoubtedly allude to Valencia.
The pillars were decorated with glazed ceramics. How pretty are the hanging lamps around the pillars!
All windows and doors are made of solid wood and the stained glass windows feature floral elements, especially roses, oranges (again) and the Valencia flag.
Now you all know what time it was when I was at this train station. 😁
Walking around in this hall I could not find a calm place, there were quite a lot of people travelling at this time. It is normal, this it is a busy train station and when the passengers are greeted in this way, in several languages, then it is a pleasure to travel from here.
When I took the photo of the clock I spotted a separate hall where some passengers were buying their tickets. It was separated with a huge glass screen, even the doors were made of glass. It was like a beautiful showcase of art. Even though I didn't have to buy a ticket, I felt free to enter and take a few photos.
The walls were mosaics of glazed ceramics, with Valencian countryside motives. The ceiling was also awesome, illuminating the space with hanging lamps.
Motifs of the Valencian lagoon (l'Albufera), with the typical reed huts. You can't go wrong in guessing which city you are in. So bad I couldn't take better photos of all the details. This part of the station looked like a museum and not just a regular train station.
Well, this central part of the station can't showcase its beauty as it has been under maintenance work already for some time (as my son says). The roof is shaped like an arch with guides that represent the train tracks. It is a shame we can't see it better now, it is full of scaffolding and netting because of the work being done.
After leaving the building we went toward the city centre. Right next to this train station, there are other important buildings like the Plaza de Torros (bullring), hotels and bank buildings, the city hall etc.
Here I was standing almost in front of the city hall... we can still see the North Station from here in the distance. Is there a better location for a main train station in a city? You arrive and in no time can explore the historical centre. 😊
Djanet
