Gaudi in Barcelona
Trip Start
Unknown
1
7
9
Trip End
Ongoing
Barcelona,
Spain
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Antoni Gaudi was born in 1852 in Catalonia, in the city of Reus. From his early ages, he suffered rheumatism, which obliged him to play close to his house. Some sources assumed that his high observation and analysis of nature come from these early times in his life.
He attends the Escola Tècnica Superior d'Arquitectura in Barcelona from 1873 to 1877 and gets awarded as architect in 1878. Via his early career he met the rich industrial Eusebi Güell in Paris in 1878; the two men will become inseparably known, one as the artist, the other as the patron.
Gaudi's early works were designed in the style of gothic and Spanish traditional architecture. But he soon used nature-inspired irregular and fantastic geometrics and details. This inspiration in the Nature allowed him not to design his works with the usual orthogonal lines but to use biomorphic shapes instead. As such, Gaudi is believed to be part of Art Nouveau architecture, even though we now realize he had his own style.
He began his today's most famous work, la Sagrada Familia, in 1884. This massive cathedral had been started by the architect Francisco del Vilar who abandoned the project in 1883. Unfortunately, Gaudi died in 1926 before the cathedral was even close to be finished. Indeed, the completion of la Sagrada Familia is planned for 2026, considering most optimistic opinions.
After a great number of friends and family died, Gaudi became more and more devout and was reluctant to get out of his masterpiece work la Sagrada Familia. After death, he was buried in the midst of the cathedral.
Here is a list of Gaudi's most famous work around Barcelona:
Sagrada Familia: open to visits every day from 9am to 6pm (8pm in summer). The entrance will cost you between 5€ and 8€, including one euro donation. The visit of the Passion façade will cost you an extra 2€.
Metro Sagrada Familia (metro L2)
Casa Battló : open to visit every day from 9am to 8pm. The entrance will cost you between 13.8€ and 16.2€.
Metro Passeig de Gracia (metro L3) street Passeig de Gracia 43
Casa Milà (la Pedrera) : open every day from 9am to 6pm (8pm in summer). The entrance will cost you between 4.50€ and 8€.
Metro Diagonal (metro L3) street Provença, 261
Park Güell : open every day for visits, free entrance.
Metro Vallcarca (metro L3)
Colonia Güell : open to visits every day from April to October from 10am to 7pm (Sundays 10am to 3pm). From November to March open from 10am to 3pm. The entrance for the crypt + the Colonia Güell will cost you 5€.
This ensemble is located in Santa Coloma de Cervelló, in the suburb of Barcelona. You will have to take the local train from Barcelona (in the metro stop Plaza Espanya). For more information : http://www.fgc.es/
Casa Vincens : unfortunately the house belongs to a private owner and is not to visit. You may still have a look at its exterior. The house is currently for sale, worth 30 millions euros !
Metro Fontana or Lesseps (metro L3), street de Les Carolines 18
Barcelona offers lots of different accommodations, from pensions to five-star hotels. We recommend you to stay in Bcn Loft for apartments located in the very center of Barcelona: www.bcnloft.com.
