Barcelona 100 Souvenirs by Barcelona City Council

We’ve all strolled down the Rambla, touched the Canaletes Fountain, visited Parc Güell and other sites in the city known in every guide book. And yet, even the most famous of these have stories few of us know about. Fancy discovering them?

One of these is “Barcelona 100 Souvenirs“, published by Barcelona City Council. It pays tribue to the our city’s souvenirs and icons, through a route that puts the emphasis on curiosities. For example, did you know that the tradition of celebrating Barça’s titles at the Canaletes Fountain dates back to the 1930′s? As radios were not yet commonly used in those days, a newspaper would announce the results on a board next to the fountain.

You will also discover that Gaudí, the master of wrought iron technique, made the “Margallons“, iron gates decorated with palmetto-leaf designs, at the Casa Vicens, in the heart of Gràcia, part of which was moved to the entrance gate at Parc Güell; or that the origin of the current City Hall building goes back to the “Saló de Cent“, a 14th-century Gothic structure where the city’s hundred representatives would meet.

Open Days at Sagrada Familia

This January, Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia in Barcelona will open its doors to society each Saturday. As a result of the high demand for visits since the church was consecrated by Pope Benedict XVI, and willing to to thank neighbourhood residents for their efforts during the Pope’s visit, with all the restrictions it involved.

Staying at Hotel Europark Sagrada Familia Penthouse ensures you a great view of the basilica from the terrace.

Sagrada Família will open at 9am to allow access to as many interested people as possible, and remain open until 6pm.

We would like to share with you this wonderful video made by Ajuntament de Barcelona:

Stained Glass Exhibition of La Sagrada Familia (Barcelona)

Until 30 September, the Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) shows a temporary exhibition dedicated to the windows of the Temple, designed by the famous artist Joan Vila-Grau.

In 1999 the painter Joan Vila-Grau received a commission to design and make the stained glass for the great window on the Western facade.

After several months engaged in studying the church of La Sagrada Família and especially the concept and function of the stained glass in the different works by this great architect, Vila-Grau undertook the project and the making of the Resurrection window, which was installed in mid 2001.
The Construction Board of La Sagrada Família then commissioned him to design and make all the stained glass for the church, a task on which he has been working since.

Vila-Grau’s purpose is to develop an authentic, total and suggestive symphony of colour and light to create, in his personal style, the atmosphere that pervades the whole church and make the wish expressed in Gaudí’s words come true: «The church of La Sagrada Família will be luminous…, it will be the church of harmonious light.»

The exhibition includes also the entry to visit the Temple.
More information on the website: www.sagradafamilia.cat

Barcelona Modernista Fair and Street Trade Festival

Once again the neighbourhood spring festival in the “Dreta” or right side of Eixample will be offering visitors a journey to the end of the 19th and start of the 20th century, when Barcelona was at the height of its prosperity and Modernisme its avant-garde movement.

From 28 to 30 May, from Aragó street to Avinguda Diagonal, Girona street will be holding the sixth Modernista Fair, Modernista Market and Street Trade Festival.

Children’s games, shows, workshops, a large marquee containing vintage cars, exhibitions, a talk, silent movies, puppet shows and a mini-train, in a period atmosphere with lots of surprises, will be taking place over several days in this stretch of Ildefons Cerdà’s expansion district, the Eixample.

Then, throughout the weekend, you will be able to visit some eighty stands of every kind, ranging from craft products and food prepared according to natural processes, children’s workshops for handkerchief printing and preparing badges with Modernista motifs, demonstrations of old buildings and lots more, all designed to recreate a highly representative historical era in our country.

Last year, the Hotel Europark located Aragó street with Girona street (Gaudí Modernist route), and was visited by a group of friends of Terrassa by reason of the Barcelona Modernista Fair, dressed up for the occasion. This year, they will repeat!

All Barcelona Museums with one single ticket

Imagine a city where you can see one of the most impressive Romanesque art collections and historical paintings that describe the Mediterranean countries during Middle Ages,  and then, just walking ten minutes you are on a modern building featuring an exceptionally comprehensive collection of works by Joan Miró. But don’t stop there. Continue dreaming about a gothic palace where nobles and knights have been replaced by Pablo Picasso works, a city where buildings seem a quarry or even a dragon…

 Now open your eyes. Welcome to Barcelona !!!

U232 Hotel invites you to discover it on an Art Weekend package, which includes:

• 2 nights stay at our U232 Hotel in Barcelona (on a single, double, triple or family room)
• Breakfast in the exclusive U232 buffet restaurant
• Welcome drink in the U232 bar (1 per person)
• 1 Art Ticket per person that entitle you to visit:
  • Museu Picasso: Picasso lived key years in Barcelona – those of his apprenticeship as an artist. He established and maintained strong links to the city throughout his life and it was here where he wanted his museum to be.
  • Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya: MNAC has the best known display of Romanesque frescoes in the whole of Europe, unique both for the quantity and for the quality of the works on show.
  • Fundació Joan Miró: The Foundation holds an exceptionally comprehensive collection of works by Joan Miró.
  • Centre Cultural Caixa Catalunya  – La Pedrera by Antoni Gaudí: Visit the most famous building bythe most famous architect in Barcelona.
  • Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona: One of the largests collections of Contemporary Art in Europe, in a building by Richard Meier.
  • Fundació Antoni Tàpies
  • Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona

Book now your Art Weekend in Barcelona and discover all the museums of the city !!!

Modernisme (Art Noveau) in Barcelona

Barcelona’s Eixample neighborhood, an extension of the city planned by engineer Ildefons Cerdà and begun in 1860, is undoubtedly one of the most unique urban spaces in the world.

Modernisme, also known in English as Catalan modernism, was the Catalan equivalent to a number of fin-de-siècle art movements, such as Symbolism, Decadence and Art Nouveau or Jugendstil, from roughly 1888 to 1911. The modernisme movement was centred on the city of Barcelona, and its best-known exponent were the architects Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner, both with works listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites buildings.

NN Hotels, always offering you the best of Barcelona, has recently added a new section to its webpage www.nnhotels.com featuring a Route through the impressive Art Noveau buildings of the city, with detailed information on each of them. Barcelona, Gaudí, Art Noveau and Núñez i Navarro Hotels. Can you imagine a better cultural visit ?

www.nnhotels.com