Masterpiece of Modern Architecture

In October 2005 the Valencia Opera House was officially opened by Queen Sofia of Spain. It is named for the Queen as 'el Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía'. The opera house was designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava who was actually born in Valencia.

For Calatrava, the completion of the opera house is the culmination of 14 years' work. The architect commented "Because of the time spent, its size and because it involves music, this project is the most intense and the one I've devoted most time on, so far. It represents a correlation between spectator, musician and artist".

The actual building is a masterpiece of modern architecture and descriptions of it have varied from 'a blend of seagoing vessel and spacecraft' to 'some sort of prehistoric trilobite' or a 'giant warrior's helmet'.

"The roof or 'feather plume' consists of two 'shells' which embrace the building on the outside."Whatever the perception of the building there is no doubt it will become a symbol of the city of Valencia just as the Sydney opera house in Australia has.