According to comprehensive news from Worldway: Spain is a capital of art, radiating with golden hall-level treasures, attracting countless art lovers. Among them, the artworks of Barcelona, Girona, and Madrid are particularly outstanding.
Barcelona, the City of Gaudí
Madrid, the Paintings of Picasso
Barcelona, the City of Gaudí
Without Gaudí, Barcelona would merely be an ordinary port city on the Mediterranean coast, with beaches filled with sunbathers who have stopped thinking. Thanks to Gaudí, the "Dream Builder," people remember Barcelona.
Gaudí is a Spanish "Catalan Modernist" architect and one of the representative figures of the Art Nouveau movement. Among his many representative buildings, the Sagrada Família is considered his lifelong masterpiece. Construction of this church began in 1882 and is still unfinished today; nevertheless, this does not affect its status as a World Heritage Site. Someone once asked, "Why is the construction of this church taking so long?" Gaudí replied, "My client is not in a hurry." Today, whether entering the church from the Nativity facade or the Passion facade, it is a visual feast. The Nativity facade was designed and constructed by Gaudí himself, located on the eastern side of the church, bathed in sunlight every morning. It is said that Gaudí studied human bones to ensure that the poses and movements of the statues were identical to those of real people. The lifelike sculptures on the doors, with their intricate details, are breathtaking. At the same time, they contrast with the sculptures on the Passion facade, which remained blank due to a sudden car accident before Gaudí's death. In 1990, Josep M. Subirachs completed the "Passion facade" with a large sculpture characterized by simple lines, depicting the Last Supper of Jesus and the twelve apostles. The soldier in the scene of Jesus' arrival was inspired by the sculptures on the roof of Casa Milà.
The entire internal structure of the church has no straight lines or flat surfaces. In Gaudí's view, "Straight lines belong to humans, while curves belong to God." The interior of the church is inspired by caves, mountains, flowers, and animals, filled with spirals, cones, hyperbolas, and parabolas. The use of these natural elements is closely related to Gaudí's childhood experiences; as a sickly child, he lost the opportunity to receive education with other children his age in school, but he had more chances to connect with nature in jungles and gardens. The internal columns of the church are inspired by the branches of towering trees. The 18 external towers are adorned with various fruits, representing Jesus and his twelve disciples, four evangelists, and the Virgin Mary, while the tallest tower symbolizes Jesus himself. Each of the four hollow towers has a cross surrounded by a spherical floral crown at its peak, which not only has a certain meaning in terms of the number of towers but also elevates the church's commemorative significance through Gaudí's metaphors and decorations. If the church were to be completed according to Gaudí's original vision, a square would need to be reserved in front of the Glory facade to erect a rainbow bridge, which might involve the demolition of a large area of buildings. "Perhaps the value of this building lies in its perpetual incompleteness," locals lament.
If the Sagrada Família is Gaudí's tribute to God, then Park Güell is his gift to humanity. In the early 20th century, banker Eusebi Güell originally intended to create a high-end residential area here, constructing 60 houses. However, due to its distance from the city center, only two were sold, and the unfinished buildings became today's architectural park. The park is filled with naturalistic techniques, resembling a fairy tale kingdom. The entrance's colonnade and archway, along with the stone and colorful mosaic decorations, especially the serpentine bench decorated with broken tiles, the ceiling of the Hall of a Hundred Columns, and the colorful lizard on the main staircase, are all notable features. Entering the park, visitors pass through a central axis with a pool and fountain, leading to a hall supported by 69 ceramic columns, originally designed as the central market or traditional commercial street of the residential area. The hall's roof is a square or open-air theater, which Gaudí referred to as a Greek theater. This seemingly highly decorative theater also serves as the drainage system for the entire rooftop square, where rainwater seeps into the soil and is filtered through layers of sand and stone, draining into an underground sedimentation tank with a capacity of 1,200 square meters.
The last must-see Gaudí building in Barcelona is Casa Batlló, a soft, wave-shaped apartment that fulfills everyone's interpretation of dreams. Casa Batlló itself is a story. A beautiful princess was trapped in a castle by a dragon, and the Catalan hero Saint George fought the dragon to rescue her, killing it with his sword. The dragon's blood turned into a bright red rose, which Saint George presented to the princess. Gaudí drew inspiration from this, so every design of this house has a special meaning. The cross-shaped chimney represents the hero, the scale-like roof arches represent the dragon's back, and the house's facade is adorned with colorful tiles, resembling the dragon's scaly body, while the glass inlays and uniquely designed balconies resemble masks... Of course, some say they resemble skulls, which resonates with the bone-shaped supports in the hall inside the house. The colorful mosaic glass under the sunlight dazzles the eyes... Gaudí turned this legend into a real building on García Street.
Girona, the Theater of Dalí
In the 1960s, Dalí had already gained considerable fame in the United States, yet his hometown Girona had no works from him. When his hometown asked if he could send a piece, Dalí replied, "I will not give you a piece; I will give you a museum." Thus, the Dalí Theatre-Museum was born.
As its name suggests, this building was once a theater built in 1849. During the Spanish Civil War in 1939, the building was burned down, leaving only the base of a Neoclassical building. It was later transformed into a theater museum by lawyer-architect Ramón Guardiola Rovina, with Dalí participating in the architectural project and all the details, guiding the design and construction of the magnificent latex dome.
Rather than a theater or museum, people prefer to describe it as a "playground" filled with Dalí's personal style, interaction, and humor. The work "Rainy Cadillac" in the courtyard is an installation made from a Cadillac car that Dalí once rode and a statue of the Spanish Pizza Queen created by Dalí. When visitors drop coins into the car's slot, a gentle rain will automatically fall from the car. Since its opening, the Cadillac has been replaced nearly ten times, but this piece still stands in the center of the museum, attracting countless visitors and becoming a symbolic icon of the museum.
In the museum's hall, a mounted camera has been abandoned in a corner. In the era before mobile phones, visitors had to insert coins to see the paintings on the opposite wall through the lens, while today, anyone can use their phone's camera to see how a profile of Gala transforms into a portrait of Lincoln, endlessly fascinating.
Every atmosphere and space in the museum is a work of art, with paintings, sculptures, furniture, decorations, and all other artworks carefully curated for display. Many of the walls and ceilings in the halls are covered with large murals, some original and others enlarged versions of the originals. In the basement of the building, there is a crypt, a small room where the tomb is located. This burial site is not exaggerated; in fact, when most visitors step into the museum hall, they are stepping on top of his tomb. After visiting the Dalí Theatre-Museum, if you want to understand him better, do not miss the old town of Girona. The Catalan landscape has influenced many of this artist's creations, and perhaps you can find echoes within it.
Madrid, the Paintings of Picasso
During a walking tour of the city of Madrid, we finally stop at the Museo Reina Sofía. To understand a city's history, characteristics, personality, and culture, museums are absolutely essential places to visit, and the Reina Sofía Museum is one of the largest museums in the world, truly reflecting the achievements of modern Spanish art.
If time is limited, many visitors will head straight for the museum's treasure, "Guernica." Since its inception, "Guernica" has traveled for nearly 20 years, moving between many cities on both sides of the Atlantic. In the exhibition hall, people stop in front of the massive painting, listening to the background of the artwork narrated by the audio guide, while many important historical materials are displayed in the surrounding showcases.
Two hours in the museum pass quickly, while we constantly think about the culinary landmarks we have seen along the way. Yes, we passed by the Guinness World Record-certified oldest restaurant in the world—Sobrino de Botín. Established in 1758, this Spanish restaurant holds the Guinness record for the oldest restaurant in the world, and it can be found in novels about Madrid, such as Ernest Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises" and Frederick Forsyth's "The Cobra." If you're lucky, you might sit in the seat of the old man himself. This restaurant, specializing in traditional Spanish cuisine, still uses the wood-fired oven from its opening day, and the decor has been preserved from the time of its establishment. The roast suckling pig and roast lamb are excellent, and the menu can be taken home as a souvenir.
Another place that we still reminisce about is the Madrid Market, which offers countless street food experiences. Here, travelers can spend a few euros to enjoy fresh oysters, red shrimp, and various flavored olives. What makes it even more delightful is the relaxed dining atmosphere of the market, where you can chat with travelers from around the world about the flavors of the snacks. Who says that in Spain, food is not art?
Edited by Worldway
