agosto 2014 ~ Beautiful places of Barcelona and Catalonia

viernes, 8 de agosto de 2014

BARCELONA: MODERNISM ROUTE

The most beautiful Barcelona modernist buildings, many of them designed by the brilliant architect Antoni Gaudí, are located in diferent places of the city. So, in this post, I would like to suggest you a route, called Modernist route, which will let you see these buildings walking along two of the most interesting avenues of Barcelona: Avinguda Diagonal and Passeig de Gràcia.

Walking along this route you will see the following modernist buildings:

1) Park Güell
2) Sagrada Familia
3) Hospital de Sant Pau
4) Casa Vicens
5) Casa Fuster
6) Casa Terrades or "Casa de les Punxes"
7) Casa Thomas
8) Casa Mila or "La Pedrera"
9) Casa Batlló
10) Casa Amatller
11) Casa Lleó i Morera
12) Casa Calvet
13) Palau de la Música Catalana
14) Casa Martí (Restaurant els Quatre Gats)
15) Mercat de la Boqueria
16) Palau Güell
17) Col·legi de les Teresianes
18) Torre i Viaducte Bellesguard

Besides, near Barcelona you can visit more modernist buildings in La Colònia Güell.

Let's start the route!

Park Güell

A popular dragon is in the entrance of the Park Güell in Barcelona, designed by Antoni Gaudí

Typical benchs in the Park Güell. A nice place where you can spend a lovely sunday morning with children and enjoy fantastic views of Barcelona

Park Guell designed by Gaudí in Barcelona

Tile on the ceiling of Sala Hipóstila in Park Güell

- Useful information about the Park Güell:

Address: C/ Olot, 1-13
How to get there: Bus 24 and 92, Barcelona Bus Turístic, stop Park Güell.
Web site: www.bcn.cat/parcsijardins

Sagrada Familia

Birth's façade of the temple of Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, conceived by Gaudí. This temple is still under construction and it is believed that it could be finished in twenty years

Passion's façade of La Sagrada Familia. The height of this four towers is 140m

Inside La Sagrada Familia you can enjoy views as fantastic as this one of the transept

- Useful information about La Sagrada Família:

Address: Mallorca, 401 (08013 Barcelona)
How to get there: Metro L2 and L5, stop Sagrada Família. Bus 19, 33, 34, 43, 44, 50 and 51.
Web site: www.sagradafamilia.org

Hospital de Sant Pau

The roofs of the pavilions with tiles, tiles in flake shaped, chimneys, domes and pinnacles underline the lush application of ceramic to decorate the pavilions of Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona

Casa Vicens

Casa Vicens designed by Antoni Gaudí in Barcelona

Casa Fuster

Casa Fuster was Luís Domènech i Montaner last building

- Useful information about La Casa Fuster:

Address: Pg. de Gràcia, 132
How to get there: Bus 22, 24 and 28.

Casa Terrades or "Casa de les Punxes"

The Terrades house or "Casa de les Punxes", designed by Puig i Cadafalch is another example of Modernist architecture you can see in Barcelona

- Useful information about La Casa de les Punxes:

Address: Av. Diagonal, 416
How to get there: Metro L4 and L5, stop Verdaguer.| Bus 20, 39, 45 and 47.

Casa Thomas

Casa Thomas is another beautiful modernist building you can see in Barcelona designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner

- Useful information about La Casa Thomas:

Address: Mallorca, 293.
How to get there: Bus 20, 43, 44, 45 and 47.

Modernism along the Passeig de Gràcia

Along the Passeig de Gràcia there are some of the most important modernist buildings of Barcelona, like Casa Milà o Casa Batlló, masterpieces of the brilliant architect Antoni Gaudí.

Casa Mila or "La Pedrera"

Casa Milà designed by Gaudí in Barcelona

Casa Milà, also known as "La Pedrera", is another impressive modernist building in Barcelona

The chimneys and balconys of "La Pedrera" were really carefully designed by Antoni Gaudí

The chimenys of La Casa Milà are, in my opinion, the most impressive elements of this wonderful modernist building

- Useful information about La Casa Milà

Address: Provença, 261-265
How to get there: Metro L3 and L5, stop Diagonal. Bus 7, 16, 17, 22, 24 and 28. FGC, stop Provença. Barcelona Bus Turístic, stop Pg. de Gràcia-La Pedrera.

Casa Batlló

The facade of La Casa Batlló lit at night

Chimneys on the roof of La Casa Batlló, one of the most beautiful modernist buildings in Barcelona

- Useful information about La Casa Batllo:

Address: Pg. de Gràcia, 43
How to get there: Metro L2, L3 and L4, stop Passeig de Gràcia.Bus 7, 16, 17, 22, 24 and 28. Barcelona Bus Turístic, stop Casa Batlló-Fundació Antoni Tàpies.
Web site: www.casabatllo.cat

Casa Amatller

La Casa Amatller, designed by Puig i Cadafalch, and Casa Batlló, conceived by Gaudi, are in the block of buildings called Block of discord, together with the Lleó Morera house

- Useful information about La Casa Amatller:

Address: Pg. de Gràcia, 41
How to get there: Metro L2, L3 and L4, stop Passeig de Gràcia. Bus 7, 16, 17, 22, 24 and 28.
Web site: www.amatller.org

Casa Lleó i Morera

Besides the boutiques, the Passeig de Gràcia is the best place to start the modernism route. This route can start, for instance, in the Lleó Morera house, shown by this picture, built by Domènech i Montaner

- Useful information about La Casa Lleó i Morera:

Address: Pg. de Gràcia, 35
How to get there: Metro L2, L3 and L4, stop Passeig de Gràcia. Bus 7, 16, 17, 22, 24 and 28.

Casa Calvet

Casa Calvet in Barcelona designed by Antoni Gaudí

Modernism in Barcelona Old City

Palau de la Música Catalana

Detail of the Palau de la Música main facade. This building was designed by Domènech i Montaner

Inside the Palau de la Música Catalana (image obtained from wikipedia)

- Useful information about El Palau de la Música:

Address: Palau de la Música, 4-6
How to get there: Metro L1 and L4, stop Urquinaona. Bus 17, 19, 40 and 45
Web site: www.palaumusica.org

Casa Martí (Restaurant els Quatre Gats)

Inside this building there were interesting meetings of modernist writers and artists at the beginning of the 20th century

- Useful information about Els Quatre Gats:

Address: Montsió, 3
How to get there: Metro L1 and L3, stop Catalunya and L4, stop Urquinaona. Bus 16, 17, 19, 40, 41, 42, 45, 55 and 141

Mercat de la Boqueria

Mercat de la Boqueria main entrance, one of the largest markets in Barcelona

Modernist detail of Mercat de la Boqueria, one of the largest markets in Barcelona

Palau Güell

Main facade of El Palau Güell, a really beutiful modernist building in Barcelona

Detail of the main entrance of El Palau Güell, another masterpiece designed by Gaudí

- Useful information about El Palau Güell:

Address: Nou de la Rambla, 3-5
How to get there: Metro L3, stop Liceu. Bus 14, 59, 91, 120.
Website: www.palauguell.cat

Col·legi de les Teresianes

Col·legi de les Teresianes in Barcelona

Casa Bellesguard

Casa Bellesguard in Barcelona

I hope you enjoyed this route. Other interesting routes in Barcelona are:

Gaudí Route
Gothic Quarter Route
Raval Route
Montjuïc route
Route along the Marina and Beach of Barcelona
Vila de Gràcia Route

Finally, clicking on the next link you will find links to more beautiful places of Barcelona.

martes, 5 de agosto de 2014

BARCELONA: HOSPITAL DE SANT PAU

The Modernist Hospital de Sant Pau i la Santa Creu Complex was built between 1905 and 1930 and designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner as a garden city for nursing the sick. Together with Palau de la Música Catalana, also designed by this architect, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona

After being used as a public hospital for a century, its newly refurbished pavilions shine again in all their splendour.

By the late 19th century, the old Hospital de la Santa Creu in Barcelona’s Raval neighbourhood needed to be relocated because it had become obsolete and too small. The result was an ambitious project inspired by the breakthroughs in health and hygiene at the time.

Scale model of Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona

It was awarded World Heritage status by UNESCO in 1997 and now its architectural and artistic values have been brought to a wider audience with the new use of its pavilions.

The former hospital complex is now a knowledge campus and the headquarters of international organizations including the European Forest Institute, the Casa Àsia, the Global University Network for Innovation, and the United Nations University Institute on Globalization, Culture and Mobility.

A modernist pavilion of Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona

A visit to this magnificent complex allows you to delve into history, art and the present day. The pavilions, set among gardens and connected by underground passages, are really beautiful and a showcase for the applied arts, featuring sculptures, stained glass and mosaics.

These are the places I could visit inside The Hospital de Sant Pau:

Administration pavilion
Main facade
Hypostyle Hall
Gardens
Surgery Pavilion
Sant Rafael Pavilion
Main Hall
Domènech i Montaner Room

Administration Pavilion

Main facade of the Hospital de Sant Pau i la Santa Creu

Main facade

Entrance to the Administration Pavilion of the Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona

Detail of the main facade of Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona

Modernist facade of Hospital de Sant Pau i la Santa Creu in Barcelona

Hypostyle Hall

Hypostyle Hall of Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona

Gardens

Gardens between the modernist pavilions of Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona

Surgery pavilion behind the gardens of Sant Pau Hospital in Barcelona

Taking pictures of the gardens between the modernist pavilions of Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona

Surgery Pavilion

Surgery Pavilion of Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona

A closer view os the surgery pavilion of Hospital de Sant Pau i la Santa Creu

This cross is the symbol of La Santa Creu institution

Sant Rafael Pavilion

Modernist details of Sant Rafael pavilion of Hospital de Sant Pau. The roofs of the pavilions with tiles, tiles in flake shaped, chimneys, domes and pinnacles underline the lush application of ceramic to decorate them

Modernist dome of Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona

Modernist dome of one of the pavilions of Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona

Pinnacle of a pavilion of Sant Pau Hospital highly decorated with pottery

Main Hall

Main hall in the Administration Pavilion of Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona

Ceiling of the main hall of the Administration pavilion of Hospital de Sant Pau

Detail of the main hall of Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona

Distributing corridor of the two wings of the administration pavilion of Hospital de Sant Pau. These corridors are bright spaces with large windows that contain most of the stained glass windows of the building. They have vaults with richly decorated pottery

Detail of a stained glass window in the previous corridor of Hospital de Sant Pau

Dome over the main staircase in the administration pavilion of Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona

A closer view of the previous dome

Domènech i Montaner Room

Domènech i Montaner room in Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona

Large stained glass window in Domènech i Montaner room of Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona

Below you can see some useful information:

- Address: Sant Antoni Maria Claret, 167

- How to get there:

Metro: L5 stop Hospital de Sant Pau and L4 stop Guinardó
Bus: 19, 20, 45, 47, 50, 51, 92, H6 and H8.

- Web site: www.santpaubarcelona.org

Next you have links of some of the most beautiful places of Barcelona and surroundings

Most of them are located in four areas: Modernism Route, Gothic Quarter (and Old City), Montjuïc and Barcelona Seafront. Cliking on the links below you will get more and information and pictures.

- Modernism Route

- Gothic Quarter, Montjuíc, Promenade and Tibidabo

Finally, clicking on the next link you will find more links to other beautiful places in Barcelona, among them, more fantastic modernist masterpieces you can see along the Modernist Route.

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