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Barcelona in Spain!  

Sagrada Familia Guided Tour

Skip the Line: Sagrada Familia Guided Tour

Skip the lines at one of the world's most visited with booked tickets.

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Casa Batllo Tickets

Skip the Line:
Casa Batlló Tickets

Explore an architectural jewel of the Modernisme movement.

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Barcelona Bike Tour

Barcelona Bike Tour or Segway tour

Discover Barcelona on a bike tour, sightseeing tour with tapas.

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Practical information about Barcelona city.

 

Barcelona Tourist Information Office
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Tourist Information Offices

Whether you come by car, railways or plane, need accomodation, city maps, event information or simply lost your way - one of our tourist offices is always near you. In the Tourist Information Offices you will find this services: tourist information, free brochures about Barcelona, maps, tourist card, tickets, the tourist Bus, guided tours of the Old Town, bicycle hire, etc.

Barcelona City Card
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Barcelona Card

Free transportation around Barcelona city. Travel discounts and free offers in main tourist attractions such as museums, restaurants, shops, leisure, tours, activities, services for the tourism, facilities... Everything is easer with Barcelona Card, the best way to travel, taste and enjoy the city highlights and tourism.

Barcelona weather

Temperature, Climate and Meteorology guide of Barcelona city.

Barcelona weather: day forecast, temperatures, climate and meteorology guide. 6 day weather forecast conditions in Barcelona; including sun, chance of rain (precipitation), low and high temperatures, day and night temperature (hourly), humidity, pressure, wind direction and speed. Get current meteorological conditions (today, tonight) and know your holiday weather.


 

Weather forecast 6 day

Day and hours Forecast in Barcelona:

 

La Rambla de Barcelona
La Rambla de Barcelona

Barcelona's Official languages

Barcelona's official languages are Catalan and Spanish. However, most signs are indicated only in Catalan because it is established by law the official language. Yet, Spanish is also widely used in public transports and other facilities, though announcements in the Metro are made only in Catalan. As in most other countries, any attempt by visitors to use the native language (in this case Catalan, not Spanish) is always appreciated. Most Catalans are bilingual in Catalan and Spanish, and instinctively address foreigners in Spanish. Catalan is a language, not a dialect, and sounds closer to Italian, Portuguese, and French in many ways. Avoid referring to Catalan as a dialect, which will totally offend Catalans.

Barcelona Museum Pass Articket

With Articket BCN you will be able to visit the permanent collections and temporary exhibitions of 6 art centres, over a period of 12 months from the date of the first visit to one of the museums and in any order you like. You can purchase your Articket BCN in the ticket offices at the art centers or here (Skip the line).

Antoni Gaudi, architect

Antoni GaudiAntoni Gaudi (1852 – 1926) was a Spanish Catalan architect, who belonged to the Modernisme (Art Nouveau) movement and was famous for his unique style and highly individualistic designs.

Gaudi was born in the province of Tarragona in southern Catalonia, Spain in 1852. While there is some dispute as to his birthplace – official documents state that he was born in the town of Reus, whereas others claim he was born in Riudoms, a small village 3 miles (5 km) from Reus, – it is certain that he was baptized in Reus a day after his birth. The artist's parents, Francesc Gaudi Serra and Antonia Cornet Bertran, both came from families of metalsmiths.

The youngest of five, Gaudi found he was too lame to play with friends his own age because of rheumatism. (Some believe he only had arthritis in his hands and could, in fact, take walks.) Because he was in considerable pain, he was rarely able to walk on foot and was forced to ride a donkey when he wanted to venture from his home. The fact that he remained close to home allowed him substantial free time to inspect nature and its design. It has been hypothesized that it was this exposure to nature at an early age that began to hone two of his greatest qualities: observation and the analysis of nature.

Gaudi, as an architecture student at the Escola Tecnica Superior d'Arquitectura in Barcelona from 1873 to 1877, achieved only mediocre grades but did well in his "Trial drawings and projects". After five years of work, he was awarded the title of architect in 1878. As he signed Gaudí's title, Elies Rogent declared, "Qui sap si hem donat el diploma a un boig o a un geni: el temps ens ho dirà" ("Who knows if we have given this diploma to a nut or to a genius. Time will tell.").The newly named architect immediately began to plan and design and would remain affiliated with the school his entire life.

Early career

  • 1878–1879: Lampposts for the Plaça Reial at Barcelona;
  • 1878: Showcase for glove manufacturer Comella. Via this work, used at the World's Fair in Paris, Eusebi Güell came to know the architect.
  • 1878–1882: Several designs for the Obrera Mataronense at Mataro. Only a very small part of these plans was built, but it shows Gaudí's first use of parabolic arches, here in a wooden structure.
  • 1883–1885: Casa Vicens;
  • 1883–1885: Villa "El Capricho" at Comillas (Santander);
  • 1884: Finca Guell: Entrance pavillion and stables for the palace at Pedralbes (first completed building for Eusebi Guell);
  • 1884–1891: Completion of the crypt of the Sagrada Família (the crypt had been started by the architect Francisco del Villar in 1882, who had to abandon the project in 1883);
  • 1885–1889: Palau Guell;
  • 1887–1893: Episcopal palace at Astorga;
  • 1889–1894: Colegio Teresiano;
  • 1891–1893: Outer walls of the absis of the Sagrada Família;
  • 1892–1894: Casa de los Botines at Leon.

Artistic style

Gaudi's first works were designed in the style of gothic and traditional Spanish architectural modes, but he soon developed his own distinct sculptural style. French architect Eugene Viollet-le-Duc, who promoted an evolved form of gothic architecture, proved a major influence on Gaudí. But the student surpassed the master architect and contrived highly original designs – irregular and fantastically intricate. Some of his greatest works, most notably La Sagrada Família, have an almost hallucinatory power.

He integrated the catenary arch and hyperboloid structures, nature's organic shapes, and the fluidity of water into his architecture. While designing buildings, he observed the forces of gravity and related catenary principles. Gaudí designed many of his structures upside down by hanging various weights on interconnected strings or chains, using gravity to calculate catenaries for a natural curved arch or vault. Using the trencadís technique, Gaudí often decorated surfaces with broken tiles. The architect's work was categorized as Art Nouveau architecture, a precursor to modern architecture. But his adoption of biomorphic shapes rather than orthogonal lines put him in a category unto himself.

Major works

 

La Rambla de Barcelona
La Rambla de Barcelona

Barcelona Maps to download

Map of Barcelona City, Spain

A detailed street map with monuments, museums, gardens, places of interest, and much more.

Barcelona City Map


Barcelona Metro Map

A map of the metro network within the city of Barcelona, where you can find the routes and further information.

Download PDF version [1300 Kb]

 

Subcategories


Information on all forms of public transport in Barcelona: underground, trains, maps, tickets, taxis, railway station, buses, from airport, tourist bus, etc. A collection of illustrated articles on how to get into and around Barcelona city. The Barcelona Card features unlimited free travel on public transport and free admission and discounts at around 100 visitor attractions. The card is available for purchase for periods of between 2 and 5 days.

 


Barcelona Park Guell Guided Tour with Skip-the-line Entry

This is a website for tourism in Barcelona where choice hotels provides rooms at great rates, make reservations, compare hotels and rates for accommodatios (cheap, luxury, boutique and spa hotels) and find the lowest hotel rates from luxury hotels to budget accommodations. Barcelona-travelGuide has the best deals and discounts for hotel rooms. Hotel accomodations for business travel, leisure travel, family travel, city breaks, luxury travel, holidays, travel and tourism. Barcelona-travelGuide is a tourism guide with articles and information on Barcelona, Spain. Your source for travel news, photos, travel advice for hotels and vacations, hotel rates, travel deals and more discount travel packages,and travel guides including information on popular Barcelona hotels. This site gives you the best travel content online for travel, tourism and vacation planning.

Barcelona Tourist Information: Hotels, Attractions & Travel Guide.

Barcelona tourist guide offers travel information and online booking accommodation in Barcelona, Spain (hotel, resort, hostal, youth hostel, bed and breakfast, holiday inn, backpackers, bb, pensions, guest houses, alberghi, residence, apartment...) together with ideas for a short break, holiday, citiescape or vacation in Spain. Choose a travel destination, cheap lodging, attraction for visitors, tourism itinerary, activity, entertainment, tourism, event, tourist spot, tourist map, restaurant, gastronomy, spain nightlife, tourist office, city tour, golf information and plan a vacations or trip. There are travel information like admission prices and hours of opening for a each tourist attraction. Enjoy the top ten tourist attractions in barcelona (Spain), the walking tours, whats on, photo gallery, details of tourist information centres, tourism activities, tourist attractions, the main sights, accommodations, hotels, hotel reservations, rooms, hostels, hotel discounts, climate information, travel tips, main tourist spots, city maps, tourism ecards, museums and tourist sites, events, festivities, weather, Barcelona photos, things to do, tourist offices, airport information, luxury resorts, highlights, tourists services, restaurants, nature parks information, tourist tips and Barcelona virtual. Find the lowest hotel Rates from luxury hotels to budget accommodations. This travel site has the best deals and discounts for hotel rooms. Get cheap hotel bookings, hotel rates, hotel deals and discount hotel reservations. Enjoy your holidays or city breaks in Spain.