Antoni Gaudi, Art Nouveau a la Barcelona, October 17th

Wednesday, 11 a.m. is our timed entrance to Gaudi's famous cathedral, Sagrada Familia (Holy Family), an amazing structure, started in 1882 by a diocesan architect and continued by Gaudi in 1883. He worked on it until he died in 1926, after being hit by a streetcar. It is not completed yet and may not be in our lifetime, but could be finished in the first third of the 21st century. The admission fees of the hundreds of people viewing the church help support the continuing building project.

 

 

The Passion Facade

 

Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss.

The numerical cryptogram shows 310 ways of adding the numbers to get 33,

Jesus' age when he was crucified.

Is this Peter denying Christ? Yes!

The interior has porphyry rose columns as well as dark and light gray columns. The columns branch near the top giving a feeling of a forest. Gaudi was strongly influenced by nature.

 

 

Above the altar

 

The Main Altar

 

The Nativity facade

On one side of the Nativity are the Wise Men.

On the other side are the shepherds.

Tortoises/turtles hold up two columns -the column closest to the sea is supported by a sea turtle and the column closest to the mountain side is supported by a land tortoise (looks like the ones we saw in the Galapagos).

After a tapas lunch at a nearby Brasserie, we take a cab to Park Guell (hard g, silent u), a park that originally was going to be a place for luxury homes owned by an industrialist. When the project failed, Gaudi turned the property into a fanciful park. Today it is a mob scene, enjoyed by locals and tourists. Many vendors are there selling cheap jewelry. The view of the city is expansive, all the way to the sea. There is a tiled curvy bench that encircles a very large level area reached by climbing many steps. The ceramic dragon placed as the first flight of stars join has become an icon.

 

 

Looking down on the entrance of the park and the storybook buildings there as well as the view of Barcelona and on to the sea.

This area has become a place for selling trivial items.

Several vendors display their jewelry on umbrellas. You see the park and trees behind the open area.

From the park, we take a cab to the Casa Batllo, a home that Gaudi designed for a client. Again it was a fanciful, art nouveau design, not a straight line anywhere. Tile is used extensively.....tile has to be broken up to apply to a curved surface, so the technique is similar to Byzantine mosaics.

Chimneys are decorative as well as useful.

Beautiful wood with tile surround

Tiled inner courtyard

 

Back of the house from the back courtyard

Back courtyard

I especially like these flower pots designed by Gaudi

The main room is spectacular with its wavy shell-like ceiling, glass window wall with front balcony and great view of the Passage de Gracia and beautiful blue, lavender and green shades in the stained glass inserts. The entire house has a feel of being in the ocean!

There is a room on each side of the main room. It can all be opened into one large room which was sometimes used as a chapel.

There is a charming fireplace in the office. It has a double seat on one side for a young couple and a single seat on the left for the chaperone or duena.

Another beautiful detail in the office, the mirrors reflect the light. There is a small sky light in the corner of this room opposite this cabinet.

The exterior faces the beautiful wide double boulevard, Passage de Gracia

This photo shows the adjoining buildings. The one on the left is by another architect and is somewhat discordant with the Batllo house.

We walk two blocks back to our hotel and enjoy a local Catalan dish of butifarro sausage and fresh green pasta.

 

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