a weekend walk in barcelona31, exploring montjuic2

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The Montjuïc is a hill located near the center of Barcelona. It features a large number of attractions including the Spanish Village, the Magic Fountain and MNAC, one of the city's most important museums.Today the Montjuïc is a mostly recreational area with a large number of sights and attractions, most of them originating from two major events that took place here: the 1929 International Exhibition and the 1992 Olympics

Plaça de Espanya, at the foothills of Montjuic, is one of Barcelona's most emblematic sites and a logical starting point if exploring the area by foot

From the rotund Plaza extends Avingunda de la Reina Maria Cristina, leading to the slopes of Montjuic. This avenue is flanked by a beautiful series of fountains, its largest and first being la Font Magica. Nightly music and light shows during the summer bring these fountains to life, a free spectacle no seasonal visitor should miss

The Four Columns ("Les Quatre Columnes" in Catalan) are four Ionic columns originally created by Josep Puig i Cadafalch. They were erected in 1919, where the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc now stands.They symbolized the four stripes of the Catalan senyera, and they were intended to become one of the main icons of Catalanism

The Four Columns were demolished in 1928 during Primo de Rivera's dictatorship. A replica of the columns was erected in 2010 very close to the original site and following Puig i Cadafalch's original plans

Palau Nacional (National Palace), originally built as the central pavilion for the International Exhibition. The majestic building in neo-Baroque style is home to the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC). Its collection includes Roman, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque art as well as 19th and 20th century works of art

At the center of a plaza in front of the Palau Nacional is the Font Màgica or Magic Fountain, an impressive fountain built for the same exhibition that was held here in 1929. From here, you have a great view of the palace, especially at night when both the building and the fountain are illuminated

The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

has astounding collections covering

everything from Romanesque

frescoes saved from

deteriorating Pyrenean

churches to works by

masters such as Velasquez and Rubens

right up to the 20th century

and the Catalan

modernists and impressionists

This oval hall, measuring 1.600 m2, with a maximum capacity for 1.200 people, is an ideal venue for the opening and closing ceremonies of congresses and the holding of receptions of all kinds, plus cultural and business events, such as the Festa Literària de Santa Llúcia

Juventud, Josep Llimona, 1913

Desconsol,Josep Llimona,

1907

Before ascending Montjuic, you might want to take a detour to Caixa Forum, a cultural center with its own contemporary art collection.

The CaixaForum inhabits a modernist building called the Casaramona Factory, designed by modernist architect Josep Puig i Cadafelch as a textile warehouse for his patron, Casimir Casaramona i Puifcercós in 1911. It was later purchased by the bank La Caixa and restored to its former glory for the 1992 Olympic Games.

CaixaForum Barcelona is an art gallery sponsored by Barcelona bank "la Caixa", and opened in 2002 in a former factory. CaixaForum is located in the Montjuïc area, on Avinguda de Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia. The museum houses art exhibits and is free to the public

The building, crowned by two towers which were used for storing water, was built in the traditional Catalan style with an exposed brick facade

The power of this work of architecture as a whole lies in the beauty of the shapes achieved using brick as a raw material, in the inclusion of iron in certain elements, in the carefully judged use of stone and ceramics and in the abundance of light which floods in thanks to the height of its ceilings and its huge windows

The building was originally commissioned as a textile factory by Casimir Casaramona i Puigcercós, and built by the famous Catalan architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch. Called the "Casaramona factory", it was completed in 1912, and the same year won the City Council's award for best industrial building

It closed in 1918, but reopened as a warehouse in 1929. In 1940 the building was used by the Spanish National Police Force, and it was used as such until "la Caixa" bought it in 1963. It was opened as a museum in February 2002The building was restored prior to its opening, and a new entrance was built, designed by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, in a process that included firing 100,000 bricks to match the original ones.

The museum, which opened in spring 2002, has almost three acres of exhibition space, a media library, auditorium, classrooms and a restaurant. Visitors descend by escalator to the basement lobby, adorned by a Sol LeWitt mural, then rise again to the exhibition spaces on the ground floor, within the crenelated brickwork

Miquel Barceló (2009) Great elephant standing

(Gran elegant dret)

Caixa Forum Exhibition

Goya. Luces y sombras

16/03/2012 -24/06/2012

La maja vestida, de Goya. Museo del Prado

Goya. Luces y sombras16/03/2012 - 24/06/2012Goya. Lights and shadows, This exhibition presents a selection of Goya's works.

Over 10,000 visitors in two days

El pelele, de Goya Museo del Prado

Goya. Luces y sombras16/03/2012 - 24/06/2012

La gallina ciega, de Goya Museo del Prado

Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos Museo del

Prado

Autorretrato (1815)

Museo del Prado

Francisco Goya (1746-1828), La maja vestida, Museo del Prado

Francisco Goya (1746-1828), Saint John the Baptist as a Child in the Desert, ca.1810, Prado Museum, Madrid

María Josefa de Borbón y Sajonia, infanta de España, 180072x59 cmPrado Museum, Madrid

Francisco de Paula Antonio de Borbón y Borbón-Parma, infante de España, 180074x60cmPrado Museum, Madrid

Infante Don Francisco De Paula Antonio (1794-1865) Museo del Prado

Vuelo de brujas

Museo del Prado

El quitasolMuseo del Prado

Jose Villegas y Cordero (1844-1921)

William Merritt Chase (1849 - 1916) The Kimono 1895Thyssen Bornemisza Museum, Spain

Girl in Heavy Storm, photographed by Kusakabe Kimbei, ca. 1885

Francisco Masriera Y Manovens (1842 - 1902)Young Woman Smoking 1894

Even further west, at about a 5 minute walk from here, is - Poble

Espanyol ("Spanish

Village"), one of the area's many vestiges from the

1929 World Exhibition. Poble

Espanyol represents styles

and buildings from all over Spain in an

eclectic artificial rendering.

Poble EspanyolAnother

remainder of the 1929 Exhibition

is the Poble Espanyol (Spanish village), a

collection of houses in

different Spanish architectural styles. The village was

originally slated for demolition

after the end of the Exhibition, but due to its

popularity it was kept intact. The Poble Espanyol

is still a very popular tourist

attraction.

Poble EspanyolJosep Puig i Cadafalch had the idea for the museum: a town in which the architecture, style, and culture of various locations from around Spain were preserved in a single place. The aim was to produce an "ideal model" Spanish village, a synthesis of monumental Spain. The architects that designed the town were Francesc Folguera and Ramon Reventós. In total, the town was built in 13 months, and although it was only needed for 6, for the exhibition, it was not demolished and was kept open as a museum

The Montjuïc Telefónica

Communications Tower, designed

by Santiago Calatrava,

completed in 1992.

Dante, obra del italiano Cesare

Zocchi

La Bellesa, de Josep Llimona -

Ornamental fountain in Piazza

Dante

La Bellesa, de Josep Llimona -

Font ornamental a la Plaça de Dante

La Bellesa, de Josep Llimona -

Ornamental fountain in

Piazza Dante

Plaça de Dante

Plaça de Dante

Montjuïc is a true museum in the open air where more of a hundred of sculptures from different ages coexist, by different authors and of different styles and subjects, both made of metal, and stone, Furthermore, there are examples of visual poetry (at Joan Brossa Garden) or mosaics (at Mirador de l’Alcalde, by Tharrats).The International Exposition (1929) was the first major boost to urbanize the hill, which is why many of the sculptures at Montjuïc are from that date and by prestigious Catalan artists: Josep Llimona (Sant Jordi, El forjador, La bellesa), Pau Gargallo (Els genets, Pomona), Josep Viladomat (La noia de la trena, La puntaire), Josep Clarà (Fertilitat, Serenitat).

Plaça de Dante

Plaça de Dante

Text and pictures: InternetCopyrights of the photos belong to each photographer

Presentation: Sanda Foişoreanuwww.slideshare.net/michaelasanda

Sound: Cant de l'enyor (Canto de añoranza) - Maria del Mar Bonet, Marina Rossell & Lluís Llach