Small Group Sagrada Familia with Historian

Barcelona was one of Europe’s foremost capitals of Art Nouveau, or as it’s referred to in Catalonia, Modernista architecture. The city contains hundreds of amazing edifices; it would take weeks to discover them all. This in-depth seminar studies two exceptional sites to delve deeper into the architectural movement that changed the face of the city: the famous Sagrada Familia Basilica and the Hospital de Sant Pau, the largest Art Nouveau site in the world.

Our expert-led walk begins with the expansive Hospital de Sant Pau. In 1901 the cramped Hospital de la Santa Creu in the Medieval Raval district was to have a new home in the new Eixample district thanks to the generous benefactor Pau Gil, who gave the hospital its new name and an ambitious design by one of the era's top architects, Lluís Domènech i Montaner. Finished in 1930 and covering nine square city blocks, it was an active hospital until 2009. After five years of intense renovations, the complex has just reopened to the public. It now houses cultural and academic institutions such as the United Nations and the Casa Asia. This special visit to this lesser-known masterpiece will add valuable insight into the Modernista movement, architect Montaner, and overall Barcelona urban planning.

A short ten-minute walk away is Antoni Gaudi's la Sagrada Familia. Still incomplete today, more than eighty years after Gaudi's death, this building stands as one of the single most important works of architecture in Europe—a stunning example of Gaudi's genius (or madness) and the power of his work in Barcelona. Our exploration of the basilica's ornate exterior and impressive interior will illustrate the symbolism, aesthetics, and design of the church and how it connected with the Modernista movement as a whole. We may also look at specific details, such as the use of found materials or how the structure fit into the imagined landscape of its creator.