MSGC Fitness Travel

Barcelona’s architecture is world renowned due in part to the work of local architect, Antoni Gaudi, who gave his distinctive “Modernista” touch to numerous buildings in the city. Gaudi’s work is observable all over Catalonia’s capital, and widely admired by architects from all over the world, owing to its individuality, influences from nature and spirituality.

Perhaps one of Gaudi’s best-known works is the incomplete Sagrada Família, which is an imposing Roman Catholic Church in Eixample, and also the site of Gaudi’s burial crypt. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site (along with six others in the architect’s repertoire) and consecrated in by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010.

Tourists can visit the church museum to learn about the church and Gaudi, who it is said was profoundly religious, and climb the tall towers for a spectacular view of Barcelona. A famous vignette involves a carving of a donkey which decorates the main portal: it’s thought that Gaudi was presented with the finest donkeys in the city to use as models but instead selected an old, haggard beast that belonged to an old woman selling sand.

Gaudi is admired for his use of colour in mosaic patterns, shaped stonework and twisted iron sculptures. Sites of interest include his former home in Park Guell, and two buildings on Passeig de Gracia, the ‘skull and bone’ home or Casa Batlló, and La Pedrera or The Quarry. Get flights to Barcelona to explore Catalonia’s unique and colourful architecture.

Posted in the MSGC Travel Fitness Blog

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