INTRODUCTION

This site is a unique opportunity to learn in depth and detail about the set of diverse cultural landscapes extending, both in view and hidden, the length and breadth of the territory through which passes the ancient Royal Irrigation Canal of Montcada. From the beginning, we have tried to avoid the most clichés and frequent praises regarding the region surrounding the capital of Valencia, as well as placing too much emphasis on appearances perhaps too simplistic, or, conversely, overly technical or academic. Above all, we wanted a wide and diverse audience to be able to approach accessible, expedient and dynamic content from very diverse perspectives, always in relation to the canal. As suggested in the editorial of the website, this corridor or coastal passage in the heart of the Gulf of València was, above any chauvinist temptation as a land of time and cultural fusion every moment in time. A public square patch of the Mediterranean, where for thousands of years the inhabitants of the garden have been in constant contact with people from other cultures, various merchandise, flows of thoughts, religious cults, artistic expression, distant technologies, and much more. All this external diversity, together with a disparate and not always obvious internal diversity, has constructed a multitude of landscapes that extend to the very beginnings of the irrigation canal. In between all this complexity where changes are intertwined with resistance, inside and outside, near and far, past and present, hides the area where one of the few aspects that has remained constant is the physical presence of the Royal Irrigation Canal of Montcada and its irrigation community. The canal, which has hardly moved over the past thousand years and occupies a substantial part of the last six major areas of genuine traditional orchards are in the Mediterranean, is in the present still, unquestionably, a vital presence. And, of course, it is the axis around which revolved the project web site. However, the different colors, textures, plans, events, designs, activities, and many other features collected by the entire landscape-purists, unorthodox, government officials, outsiders, marginal etc. - which oscillate around the Royal Irrigation Canal of Montcada cannot be properly deciphered in all its complexity, without going through the filter of a critical and transdisciplinary that may interpret or at least glimpse a handful of all the information layers and structures inferred in this territory.

STRUCTURE

Therefore, the architecture of the main block of content on the web has been designed together with a group of specialists from different academic disciplines and technical professionals around the idea that ​​social sciences and natural sciences coexist, and to achieve read at least guarantees the multi-functionality of this area blending the biological with the social. This blog has been divided into three main sub-blocks or large areas, which are: the physical space, water landscapes, and people. The justification for this division connects with the perennial duality that occurs in the region between the biosphere and ionosphere. The area of ​​physical space corresponds to the natural representation of the biosphere. While the other two sub-blocks, the water landscapes and people, correspond to anything that is the representation of the cultural landscape, the ionosphere. Let's look a little bit in detail at the contents of each of these large containers. The first block, the PHYSICAL SPACE will help us position ourselves geographically with respect to the general framework of the geographic location to the Royal Irrigation Canal of Montcada, known as the physical space occupied by the canal, and the main features of the physical environment of the region. Through knowing the relief features of our coastal plain, knowing about climate, we can understand the functioning of the Turia River and other waterways that exist in the gardens. Here one can also discover the natural cover and last natural areas related to plants, animals and insects. In the second area, WATER LANDSCAPES, one can get to know in detail the main features that the world of historical irrigation brings to us, knowing that this is flood irrigation, and we also enter within the network Royal Irrigation Canal of Montcada in order to understand how it operates.  Afterwards, we review how we built over time divisions of plots of land irrigated by the canal. We also get to know the crops of the past and the present that have occurred in the gardens. And lastly, we discover new possibilities that exist, as an inexpensive quality, organic, and sustainable pantry, the territory watered by the Royal Irrigation Canal of Montcada. In the last part, THE INHABITED HORTA, we come to know the residents of these cultural landscapes in the past, through whom life was organized, as were their houses, and the main stages that led to changes over time in different societies and cultures. Observe closely how the arrangement in recent years of the urban areas in the region and the prospects for balance and harmony between the conservation of the irrigation canal and its landscape with urban and metropolitan life. We will investigate the identity of and how to organize communities in general irrigation of the gardens of Valencia over time, and in particular we will stop at the Royal Irrigation Canal of Montcada, to scrutinize its history and approach an understanding of its operation. We will get to know how our ancestors lived, saw, felt and used water, through their words and memories of family and friends, stopping for major issues such as irrigation. And lastly, we will rescue the tangible and intangible heritage of this region, and also enjoy the knowledge of loved landscapes, and the different feelings and emotions between its residents and visitors that have been aroused or awakened by the canal.