Modernism in the heart of the Eixample
2012
The Expansion District off the beaten path
Gaudí has become the star of the modernist period in Barcelona, he outshined anyone else. But who where his contemporaries? How else evolved modernism in town? Where there other renowned architects in Barcelona in those times? In this tour you’ll get the whole picture of what was going on in Barcelona in the early XXth century.
Our tours are private tours for your party only. No strangers joining your tours.
Get to skip the lines in all museums and sites. Don’t even buy tickets in advance.
In 4 hours we can cover:
4 Cats café
Palau de la Música Catalana (outside), by Domènech i Montaner
Casa Calvet, by Gaudí
Plaça Catalunya
Casa Pons, by Enric Sagnier
Rambla Catalunya
Block of Disagreement and Casa Batlló (outside)
Editorial Montaner i Simon / Tàpies Found (outside)
Casa Milà / Pedrera (outside and backside)
Modernist apartment inside a trendy design store (inside)
Palau Robert (gardens)
Casa Fuster, by Domènech i Montaner
Casa Comalat, by Salvador Valeri (outside)
Palau Baró de Quadres, by Puig i Cadafalch (inside)
Casa de les Punxes, by Puig i Cadafalch (outside)
Modernist shops (inside)
Modernist alleys off the beaten path
A Gothic Cloister rebuilt in the heart of the Eixample
A modernist food market
Tour duration: 4 hours.
Transportation: 100% walking tour.
Tour is available Mon-Sat.
Extended versions of this tour: An excellent way to make this tour last a little bit longer is visiting the delightful Museum of Modernism (1h aprox.). You can also opt by extending the tour to include other sites away from the city center such as the Hospital de St. Pau or the Casaramona factory (now Caixaforum art center) 
Note that transportation will be needed in this case.
Modernism, neoclassicism, eclecticism, noucentisme… They are names of architectural trends that can be found in the Eixample district and that were developed during the first decades of the construction of the Expansion of Barcelona, coexisting in a vibrant way.
Your tour will start at the Café dels Quatre Gats, where intellectuals and artists used to meet to share the freshest news arrived from Paris and stimulate the city’s cultural life.
Next we’ll walk to the gorgeous Palau de la Música Catalana, an impressive concert hall built for the working class choirs. Note that it will be seen only from outside: if you wish to go inside tickets must be booked in advance (online or at their box offices) and you will be joining other visitors during the visit.
After that, we’ll see Casa Calvet, the first apartment building by Antoni Gaudí. His style wasn’t fully developed yet and many people will go past it without even noticing! The street level holds now a classy Catalan food restaurant.
In Plaça Catalunya, we’ll learn about the demolition of the medieval walls in 1854, and how Ildefons Cerdà became our city planner. From there we’ll take Rambla Catalunya, the second most elegant street in town, to continue learning about the philosophy and the urban concept of the Eixample, before reaching Passeig de Gràcia: the city’s main street.
In the Block of Disagreement we’ll meet the 3 top architects of the time: Domènech i Muntaner, Puig i Cadafalch and, of course, Antoni Gaudí. We’ll learn their personal characteristics and see how even sometimes the clients got to add their personal touch to their own buildings.
The rest of the itinerary gets off the beaten path to show you other aspects of the live and the architecture of the time: interiors of buildings and shops, works by other architects, alleys, cloisters, markets… Places full of history that have become part of the locals’ daily life.
Our Tours are for your party only.
