Connecting

cultural experiences

The decision was made to use urban lighting to create a spectacular tourist route emphasizing Valladolid’s spectacular sights. Aureolighting, a local design agency, developed the ‘Rivers of Light’ concept. The name refers to the Esgueva River, which once ran through the old city, but which was diverted when Valladolid started industrializing. The project would create a new symbolic ‘river’ where the Esgueva once was, beautifully illuminating the spaces and monuments along the way.

Philips worked with ELPA, the city’s electrical contracting supplier, to install a plethora of LED fixtures along the route. The lights take visitors through the route by illuminating the surrounding architecture with bright colourful lighting. The main color of Valladolid, burgundy, is used to light up cultural buildings, while a green-blue color is used to help people navigate through the path of the river. The colors on the rest of the buildings change in line with cultural events like Christmas.

To provide information about the monuments along the route, LED screens were installed. There were some technical challenges around this addition to the route, as the technology to connect the screens wirelessly didn’t exist at the time. However, with a bit of R&D, a solution was found, and Philips was able to provide a turnkey solution for the city.

The Rivers of Light route is a stunning example of urban and landscape lighting. The project has brought new charm to the city, and the walk along the route is an excellent excursion for both tourists and residents.