esplanade of the , which before the conversion work of 2001 was a car park dotted with plane trees, is today a wide tree-lined esplanade, where one can see beyond the Rhône to the Château de Crussol, at the forefront of the Ardèche mountains. The Philolaus water tower (first studies of the sculptor in 1963), built between 1969 and 1971, is located in , between the quarters of le Plan and Fontbarlettes, east of the city. It consists of two twisted towers with high clean lines, and high, which combine functionality and artistic research. In 1981, he received the "prix du quartier de l'Horloge" [prize of the quarter of the clock] for the best work of urban art in the 1970s. The water tower sculpture was distinguished by the label "20th century" in 2003 and was the subject of a stamp in 2013. The Valence channels A unique ecological and natural heritage in France, channels accompany Valence since Roman times. The name of Valence comes from three Celtic words: "val" (water), "len" (plain) and "ty" (House) and would mean "water-rich inhabited place". At the time these rivers allowed the inhabitants to satisfy many needs and activities: Fishing, irrigation, washing, soaking, driving force for flour mills, oil, fuller and silk. They are now a place to walk for many inhabitants. It is in the neighborhoods east of Valence, at the foot of a terrace, the terrasse du séminaire, that the channels (with a total length of , or when counting secondary irrigation channels) originate. Very quickly, the Valence people strove to channel these waters forming unhealthy marshes. In the 13th century, the regulation and the use of the channels was the privilege of the monasteries of Saint-Ruf and Saint-Victor, who decided the location of the mills. Indeed, the water used for irrigation, drinking water and washhouses, was also a valuable source of energy for the economic development of the era. The main (Charran, Thon, Moulins and Malcontents) cross the city from east to west before joining to form the which then flows into the Rhône. In the 19th century, the channels lost their significance and would even be a little forgotten, hidden by urbanisation, high-rise buildings and roads. In recent years, the municipality has undertaken a development work of paths, bordered by poplars and willows, along these channels. Green routes have been signposted along the canals of des Malcontents, de la