The Royal Palace of Pedralbes (Spanish : Palacio Real de Pedralbes; Catalan : Palau Reial de Pedralbes) is a building placed in the middle of an ample garden in the district of Les Corts, in Barcelona. From 1919 until 1931 and since 1975 it has been the official residence for the Spanish royal family when they visit the city, although they currently prefer the Palace of Albéniz. It also houses the Ceramic Museum, the Textile and Clothing Museum and the Decorative Arts Museum, both part of the Disseny Hub Barcelona [1] and is the permanent seat of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM).
The palace has its origins in the old Masia (mas or farmer's house) de Can Feliu, from the 17th century. [2] The corresponding land was acquired by the count Eusebi Güell in 1872 that at that time it was already known by the name of Torre Güell, along with the neighbouring Can Cuiàs de la Riera. Together they formed the Finca Güell, an extensive parcel of land (30,000 m2). The Can Feliu building was remodeled by the architect Joan Martorell i Montells, who built a Caribbean-style small palace, together with a Gothic Revival-style chapel and surrounded by magnificent gardens. Later the building remodeling was given to Antoni Gaudí in 1887, together with the construction of a surrounding perimeter wall and the side entry pavilions. Gaudí also partially designed the gardens surrounding the palace, placing two fountains and a pergola and planted many Mediterranean plants like palm trees, cypress trees, magnolias, pine trees and eucalyptus. The Font d'Hércules (Hercules fountain) still exists today on site, restored in 1983; [3] it has a bust of Hercules on top of a pillar with Catalonia's shield and a spout in the shape of a Chinese dragon.
Eusebi Güell gave the house and garden to the royal family, as a thank you for his noble title of Count given to him, in 1918. The house was then remodeled to become a royal palace. The work was done from 1919 to 1924 by the architects Eusebi Bona and Francesc Nebot. [4] The palace is formed by a central building four stories high, with a chapel on the back side and two three stories high side wings that form a curve with the front facade towards the front. The outside facade is done in the Noucentisme movement style with Tuscan order columns forming two porches, with round arches and medallions and jars on the top. The interior of the building is of many styles both in decoration as in furniture, going from Louis XIV style to contemporary styles. The gardens were designed by Nicolau Maria Rubió i Tudurí, from a design that included, in a geometrically decorative area, many of the trees already present, a pond with many decorative elements, Gaudi's fountain, bamboo benches, three lighted fountains by Carles Buïgas, the same designer of the Magic Fountain in Montjuïc and many statues such is the one of Queen Isabella II with her son Alfonso XII on the front of the palace, a work of Agapit Vallmitjana. [4] [5]
On 8 June 1926, the Baron of Viver, Mayor of Barcelona, ceded the Palace of Pedralbes and its grounds to the Royal Patrimonio Nacional, and the King of Spain and his family made use of it. [6] In 1929, the royal family housed to the Royal Palace of Pedralbes on the occasion of the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition. The king used it for the last time in January and May 1930, during his last visits to the city.
With the second Spanish Republic's proclamation in 1931, it became property of the city government, which decided to make it a decorative arts museum, inaugurated in 1932. During Francisco Franco's regime it was used as a residence for Franco during his visits to the city. [4] In 1990 the Museu de Ceramica was placed at the palace.
The Palau de Pedralbes and by extension the Royal Chambers which include Alfonso XIII's bedroom, and Victoria Eugenia's waiting room and chamber, were constructed between 1919 and 1924. The architects Eusebi Bona and Francesc de Paula Nebot were commissioned to build this home for the King and his family during their brief and sporadic visits to Barcelona.
Alfons XIII's chamber, and the waiting room and chamber of Victòria Eugènia, were added to the itinerary of the Museu de les Arts Decoratives exhibit after the fall of the monarchy, when the royal residence first opened its doors in 1932. The public was now able to view the three chambers which had been left in their original conditions in regards to wall murals and furniture, by the former occupants who had been sent into exile.
Despite all of the political changes that the building has passed through, (monarchy, republic, civil war, dictatorship, monarchy) that could have led to changes in the construction of the Palau de Pedralbes, the royal chambers have been preserved almost completely in their original state. The spaces, decorated by King Alfons XIII and his wife Queen Victòria Eugènia in their own personal styles and using their own financial resources, still carry the stamp of their former occupants.
During the 1920s, the winds of modernity arrived in Barcelona with Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion at the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition. The King visited the exhibit and was honoured with a personal tour by the architect himself. Despite these new influences, the decoration of the royal chambers, which was harmonious with some very interesting furnishings, was conceived using clear historical parameters under the direction of a conservative aristocrat anchored in the past. [7]
Park Güell is a privatized park system composed of gardens and architectural elements located on Carmel Hill, in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Carmel Hill belongs to the mountain range of Collserola – the Parc del Carmel is located on the northern face. Park Güell is located in La Salut, a neighborhood in the Gràcia district of Barcelona. With urbanization in mind, Eusebi Güell assigned the design of the park to Antoni Gaudí, a renowned architect and the face of Catalan modernism.
The Palau Güell is a mansion designed by the architect Antoni Gaudí for the industrial tycoon Eusebi Güell, and was built between 1886 and 1888. It is situated on the Carrer Nou de la Rambla, in the El Raval neighborhood of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Works of Antoni Gaudí".
Modernisme, also known as Catalan modernism and Catalan art nouveau, is the historiographic denomination given to an art and literature movement associated with the search of a new entitlement of Catalan culture, one of the most predominant cultures within Spain. Nowadays, it is considered a movement based on the cultural revindication of a Catalan identity. Its main form of expression was Modernista architecture, but it also encompassed many other arts, such as painting and sculpture, and especially the design and the decorative arts, which were particularly important, especially in their role as support to architecture. Modernisme was also a literary movement.
Eusebi Güell i Bacigalupi, 1st Count of Güell was a Catalan entrepreneur who profited greatly from the industrial revolution in Catalonia in the late 19th century. He married Luisa Isabel Lopez y Bru, daughter of Antonio López y López, 1st Marquis of Comillas and notorious slave trader, in 1871, and the couple had ten children. One of Güell's daughters, Isabel Güell i López, became a noted composer.
Joan Martorell i Montells was a Catalan architect and designer. He was an uncle of the architect Bernardí Martorell i Puig.
Palau Reial is a station in the Barcelona Metro and Trambaix networks, in the Les Corts district of Barcelona. It is served by metro line L3 and tram lines T1, T2 and T3. The station draws its name from the nearby minor royal palace in Pedralbes built for Alfonso XIII in 1924, part of which nowadays hosts a Museum of Decorative Arts.
The Artigas Gardens are a park in La Pobla de Lillet, Barcelona. Built between 1905 and 1906, they were designed by the Modernista architect Antoni Gaudí. As with many others of his works, Gaudí filled the gardens with arches and Catholic symbols. By the end of 1971, the gardens were practically abandoned. In 1992, they were restored under the supervision of the Reial Càtedra Gaudí. The current sculptures are the work of Ramon Millet i Domènech.
The 1929 Barcelona International Exposition (also 1929 Barcelona Universal Exposition, or Expo 1929, officially in Spanish: Exposición Internacional de Barcelona 1929 was the second World Fair to be held in Barcelona, the first one being in 1888. It took place from 20 May 1929 to 15 January 1930 in Barcelona, Spain. It was held on Montjuïc, the hill overlooking the harbor, southwest of the city center, and covered an area of 118 hectares at an estimated cost of 130 million pesetas. Twenty European nations participated in the fair, including Germany, Britain, Belgium, Denmark, France, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Romania and Switzerland. In addition, private organizations from the United States and Japan participated. Hispanic American countries as well as Brazil, Portugal and the United States were represented in the Ibero-American section in Sevilla.
Bodegas Güell, in Catalan Celler Güell, is an architectural complex comprising a winery and associated buildings located in Garraf, in the municipality of Sitges (Barcelona), designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí.
Antoni Gaudí i Cornet was a Spanish architect and designer from Catalonia, known as the greatest exponent of Catalan Modernism. Gaudí's works have a highly individualized, sui generis style. Most are located in Barcelona, including his main work, the church of the Sagrada Família.
Güell or Guell may refer to:
The so-called Pavellons Güell, or Güell Pavilions, is a complex of buildings in the neighborhood of Pedralbes, Barcelona, by the Catalan Modernist architect Antoni Gaudí, built between 1884 and 1887.
The Gaudí House Museum, located within the Park Güell in Barcelona, is a historic home museum that houses a collection of furniture and objects designed by the Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí. It was the residence of Antoni Gaudí for almost 20 years, from 1906 till the end of 1925. On 28 September 1963 it opened as a historic home museum.
The Museu de les Arts Decoratives, in English Decorative Arts Museum, is a museum opened on 1932 and located in the Palau Reial de Pedralbes in Barcelona. Created in 1932, this historic museum contains a rich and diverse collection of European decorative arts, from the Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution. In 1995, the museum extended its boundaries with the incorporation of design, thus converting it into the first and only statewide museum concerned with the preservation and exhibition of Spanish industrial design. The collections of the Museu de les Arts Decoratives were created from an important resource of industrial design and decorative art objects, that included salvers, carriages, furniture, wallpaper, clocks, tapestries and glasswork.
The Museu Tèxtil i d'Indumentària, in English Textile and Clothing Museum, is a museum opened on 1982 and located in the Palau Reial de Pedralbes in Barcelona. The museum possesses countless objects and pieces of major artistic and historical value that make up their collections of garments, fabrics and jewellery. Regarding their collection of clothes, the museum allows you to take a journey through the history of textiles, from the 16th century right up to the modern day. The museum's collections include Coptic, Hispano-Arab, Gothic and Renaissance fabrics, as well as embroidery, a section on lacework and a collection of prints. Also worth mentioning is the jewelry collection, comprising approximately five hundred pieces that were made and produced in Spain.
The Gabinet de les Arts Gràfiques, in English Graphic Arts Cabinet, is a museum opened in 1942 and located in the Palau Reial de Pedralbes in Barcelona. Together with Museu de les Arts Decoratives and the Museu Tèxtil i d'Indumentària is part of the Disseny Hub Barcelona.
Alex Clapés was a Catalan modernisme artist. He was one of the less known painters in the late 19th century and early 20th century in Catalonia, Spain. He was born in Vilassar de Dalt on September 10, 1850. He died in Barcelona in 1920. He is most known for performing some commissions for the Güell family, thanks to his friend and colleague, Antoni Gaudí.
Public art in Barcelona is a designated group of monuments and outdoor sculptures in the city. The artworks in city's architecture and network of museums, parks, and gardens, put an artistic stamp on the Catalan capital. Public art in the city developed in the 19th century, although the first municipal commission was the 1673 monument to Saint Eulalia in Pedró Square.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Barcelona:
Agapit Vallmitjana i Barbany was a Spanish sculptor, in the Realist style. His brother Venanci was also a sculptor, with whom he usually collaborated.