Barcelona - Page 2

Barcelona

By train we went to Barcelona today, the capital of Catalonia. First we visited the Gothic cathedral Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulalia. In the crypt is the tomb of its namesake, Saint Eulalia, one of the many victims of early persecutions of Christians in ancient Rome. The attached monastery, also built in her honor, is said to always have 13 geese, each goose for 1 year of her life, she had only lived to be 13. We now walked to Antoni Gaudí's masterpiece, the Sagrada Família. Long lines of people awaited us there, so we bought tickets for the afternoon. But we got a first impression of this unique building and eternal construction site. Many cranes and scaffolding were part of the picture.

So in the meantime we looked at the other works of Gaudí, spread over the city. At the Passeig de Gràcia one finds residential houses, the Casa Amatller and Casa Batlló. In the latter there are no corners, everything is undulating and rounded as in the sea. The porch is covered with mosaics reminiscent of fish scales. Antoni Gaudí also strictly avoided the use of straight lines in the interior design. A little further on, stands the Casa Milà, also called La Pedrera. It was Gaudí's last secular project before the Sagrada Família. Again built outside and inside in organic and natural forms, there was trouble with the client in the end, as non-cornered rooms were difficult to rent out. There are other designs of houses here, such as Casa Vicens, we now wanted to go to Park Güell, another work by the star architect.

Gaudí was commissioned by Eusebi Güell to build villas on one-sixth of the green area of the city park, and for the rest he was able to realize his ideas about architecture inspired by nature. Even at that time, he paid attention to environmentally friendly construction, avoiding large-scale earthmoving and adapting his plans to the hilly terrain. For the many mosaics he used leftovers from the nearby ceramic factories. The result was an original tangle of paths, arcades, viaducts, walls and bridges. In between, colorfully decorated elements of broken ceramics such as the Salmander, benches and walls. A special attraction is the Casa Museu Gaudí, the house in which Antoni Gaudí spent his last 20 years and gave insight into his work. By the way, from here you also have a great view over the city. In 1922, this wonderful park was sold to the city.

The afternoon was on and we were allowed into the Sagrada Família. Gaudí took over the building of another architect here and changed it according to his plans. He worked until his death in 1926. Even today Sagrada Família is unfinished, in 2019 70% was completed, at 100% it would be the largest church in the world. From the facades that reflect the life of Jesus, to the special columns in the interior with an ingenious distribution of light, everything here is special. Gaudí tested interesting Gothic methods of construction on the crypt of Colònia Güell, 16 km from Barcelona, in part using them here: The supporting structure was made of cords and small weights and suspended upside down. Thus, one finds a form that is stressed in compression and not in bending. In construction and aesthetic execution, a man of genius. Under the altar, in the oldest part of the basilica, he is buried.

After this marvel, at Manu's insistent request 🙂, we strolled along La Rambla to the old port with the Rambla de Mar. On the 1.2 km long promenade pulsates the life: Street artists, markets, stores. At the end of the harbor is the Monumento a Colon, a column with Columbus statue, and exactly where he came back from America in 1493.