Hemisfèric (FullDome and IMAX Dome programme)

The Hemisfèric is the eye-shaped landmark of the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències in València. Designed by Santiago Calatrava and opened in 1998 as the first building of the complex, it brings a large-format cinema and a planetarium together under one sweeping shell.

Inside, a concave screen of 24 metres in diameter and about 900 square metres wraps around an auditorium seating more than 300 spectators. The permanent programme combines IMAX Dome large-format films, FullDome digital projections in 2D and 3D driven by laser projectors and a real-time astronomical simulator, and live planetarium sessions, with titles that rotate over time.

A visit follows the rhythm of the sessions. You take your seat, the lights go down and the curved screen fills your field of view to its edges, so the film is not something in front of you but something around you.

Each format offers a different experience. IMAX Dome films use the full surface for large-format cinema, FullDome sessions travel through digital worlds in 2D or 3D with the laser projectors and the real-time astronomical simulator, and the live planetarium sessions are presented in person. The titles rotate, among them Recombination, Auroras. Luces del Norte and Eclipse, so it is worth checking the programme for the day of your visit.