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Note: You can click on each image below to view a larger version.
Barcelona is a vibrant city as well known for its nightlife as its considerable artistic heritage. It is also
a major port and the capital of the semi-autonomous region of Catalonia. Catalans have a very independent spirit and
a strong sense of their own identity, so most signs, menus, etc. are in both Catalan and Spanish, which is almost
treated like a foreign language.
Barcelona was originally founded by the Carthaginians, who named it after Hamil Barca, father of the famous Hannibal,
and was conquered by the Romans soon after. The remains of the Roman settlement of Barcino can be seen at the
Museu d'Història de la Ciutat,
where whole streets and squares have been excavated. Visitors walk over and around them on suspended walkways, following the streets and seeing how the area was built and re-built over the centuries.
I'd also recommend the exhibitions of Gothic and Romanesque art at the
Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya.
The latter
includes an extraordinary collection of medieval church frescos, which have been removed from their original sites and
re-mounted in the museum. Goodness knows how they did it, but it's really worth seeing.
| RIGHT: The Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia, the as-yet
unfinished cathedral begun in 1883 by
Antoni Gaudí. Construction
is now financed by public subscription,
demonstrating the strength of both faith and civic pride in Catalonia.
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It's also a glimpse of how the great medieval cathedrals would have been
built, slowly rising over several generations and dependent on the continued support of the local community.
Eventually it will have twelve spires representing the Apostles (eight have been built so far) and a huge central tower
representing Christ, with four more towers around it representing the Evangelists. There is a small museum on the site that
has artists' impressions of how it should look when finished, but nothing to say how long it will take. It's a strange
feeling for someone of my age to know that this building might not be finished in my lifetime.
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ABOVE LEFT: The Apse, the first part of the church to be completed.
ABOVE CENTER: The top of one of the spires - visitors can take the stairs or lift to the top for a superb view of the city.
ABOVE RIGHT: The Nativity Façade from behind.
LEFT: The Nativity Façade, with its three doorways representing
Faith, Hope and Charity. |
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ABOVE LEFT and CENTER: Decoration around the doorways -
Sagrada Familia is huge, but there's an astonishing amount of detail on it.
ABOVE RIGHT: The partly finished interior.
BELOW: The view from the top. |
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LEFT: The controversial Passion Façade. Whatever their artistic merits, I think
that the bleak modern sculptures by Josep Maria Subirachs are totally at odds with the fluid organic shapes of the rest
of the building. |
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LEFT: Casa Milà, an apartment block designed by Gaudí and
known as "La Pedrera" (the Stone Quarry). It was completed in 1910. |
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ABOVE LEFT and CENTER: Some of the sculptured ducts and
chimneys on the roof of Casa Milà.
ABOVE RIGHT: The Poble Espanyol, a model village built for the 1929 International Exhibition
(a huge international trade fair) to illustrate the different architectural styles of Spain's regions.
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| RIGHT: The Casa Lleó Morera. Designed by Domènech
i Montaner and completed in 1906, it is in the
Modernista style of which Gaudí was the most famous exponent. |
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LEFT: Casa Amatller, designed by Puig i Cadafalch in 1898, and
Gaudí's Casa Batlló (1904 - 1906).
I have to admit that Casa Amatller immediately made me think of the old ZX Spectrum game
Jet Set Willy!
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ABOVE LEFT: Casa Batlló. Gaudí took
his inspiration from nature, and many of his buildings do look as if they were grown rather than built.
ABOVE CENTER and RIGHT and BELOW: Interior detail of the Casa Batlló. |
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ABOVE and LEFT: The roof of Casa Batlló. The chimneys and
the hump-backed roof are thought to represent St. George and the dragon respectively. |
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| RIGHT: Pavelló Mies van der Rohe, an exact replica of the
pavilion built by
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
for the 1929 International Exhibition. It looks modern today, so in 1929
it must have seemed like something from another planet. |
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LEFT: Another view of the city. There are good views from the highest
point of Parc Güell and from the hill of Montjuïc, especially if you take the cable car to the latter. |
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| RIGHT: The mosaic-covered balcony of the
Gran Plaça Circular in the Gaudí-designed Parc Güell. The spire in the background belongs
to one of the ornate pavilions at the park entrance. |
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