Travels with Craig and Jeri: Spanish Holiday Day 13

Day 13: Barcelona and Architecture of Gaudi

Early morning today for a short flight to Barcelona. Vueling Airlines is Iberia's answer to Spirit Air. Tight seats but, fortunately, short flights. Our hotel rooms were not yet ready, so we decided to take a walk in the area and grab some lunch (ie tapas). Just down the street from our hotel was the Plaça de Catalunya, one of the busiest squares in Barcelona.

We headed down the largest street we could find which turned out to be La Rambla, the main avenue in Barcelona. We happened to find the largest market as well, La Boqueria (the goat-originally a goat market) or St Josep Mercato (a nearby church)

The market was huge, offering any conceivable type of food, meats vegetables, fruit, and fish

We headed back to the hotel to finish check-in and relax for 5 minutes before we were to meet our guide for the afternoon.

After our 5 minute break, we met our guide, Sonia, who was going to give us a tour of Gaudi buildings.

Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) was an early 20th Century Catalan architect and designer, and major proponent of Modernism in architecture. Gaudí's work was influenced by his passions in life: architecture, nature, and religion. He brought nature into everyone of his works and by the end of his life, he had devoted himself completely to the Catholic Church, giving up his salary and all his possessions to the Church to work (and live in) the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia. He died tragically at age 74 when he was struck by a tram and died two days later in the hospital for the poor. He was brought to this hospital because he was thought to be homeless due to his shabby dishevelled appearance. A priest/doctor in the hospital recognized Gaudi as the famous architect and wanted to move him to better facilities, but Gaudi refused preferntial treatment. He has recently been beatified and may soon be Saint Antoni.

Our first stop was to Park Guell on a hill overlooking Barcelona and the Mediterranean. Count Eusepi Guell befriended Gaudi and realized his genius and in 1900 hired him to create a master plan community (David's words, not mine) for the wealthy.

He let his imagination run wild creating sweeping roads with supports that looked like trees

haphazard columns,

and even a wave.

The views were spectacular.

The central square of the community and much of the art work were made from recycled materials, putting him way ahead of his time.

Sadly, only three homes were built here including these two quite bizarre "Hansel and Gretel "houses.

The project was an abysmal failure, mostly due to its location. At the time, it was far away from the city with no easy access to the city center. The project was abandoned and the city bought the grounds for use as a public park. There is also a grammar school here on the grounds.

Siegels, Cohens, and Gaudi

Guell continued to support his friend and commissioned several other buildings. Gaudi's fame spread and when the architect for the Sagrada Familia suddenly died, Gaudi took up the baton and through himself completely into the project.

Gaudi was unique at the time in working with 3-D scale models of his concepts.

The church is still under construction after more than 100 years, and the hope is to complete it in 2026 for the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death.

Gaudi devised a church 90m long and 60m wide able to seat 13,000 with a central tower 170m high and another 17 towers of 100m or more. 12 of the towers represent the Apostles, and the other five, Mary and the Evangelists(not sure what they are?). At his death, only the crypt, the apse walls and one tower had been built.

Due to a bombing attempt on the church in 2017, security is very high and getting in was like going through airport security. Once inside, Gaudi's brilliance is immediately obvious. The church roof was completed in 2010 and is held up by a series of pillars that appear as tree trunks with the the roof the forest canopy. This is typical of Gaudi to incorporate nature in his designs.

The late afternoon lighting was beautiful.

Gaudi is buried in the crypt of the church.

Another of his works, the Batllo House, is located on the most Modernist block in the city adjacent to four other Modernist buildings by other architects.