Valencia, Spain - Hoptale's Destination Guide

Valencia (València in Valencian) [http://www.turisvalencia.es/], pronounced /baˈlenθja/ (bahl-EHN-thee-ah) in Spanish, and /baˈlensia/ (val-ehn-see-ah) in Valencian, is a charming old city and the capital of the Old Kingdom of Valencia province of Spain that is well worth a visit. It is the third Spanish city in terms of importance and population, and the 15th in the European Union, with 810,064 inhabitants in the city proper and 1,832,270 in the Metropolitan Area (INE 2008). It is on the Mediterranean Sea approximately four hours to the south of Barcelona and three hours to the east of Madrid. Valencia is famous for its Fallas Festival in March, for being the birthplace of paella, for hosting the "2007 & 2010 America's Cup", and for the massive architectural project by Santiago Calatrava called The City of Arts and Sciences. (Valencia Wikitravel)