A Walk Through Gràcia

Yesterday we joined one of our language school’s weekly walking tours of Barcelona. This week we explored the neighborhood of Gràcia. The first impression was wow, look at all the amazing architecture! There is a lot of the Modernisma style of architecture in this neighborhood - think flowing, curvy forms based on nature, lots of twisty, densely complex wrought iron, and buildings patterned like tasty-looking fancy birthday cakes.

It is very common here to see buildings covered with patterns and images in a slight bas-relief. The patterns usually incorporate plants, sometimes animals, or may just be a repeating geometric pattern. A lot of effort is put in to maintaining and restoring these bas-relief decorative patterns, so clearly the people of Barcelona have a great appreciation for them. It is easy to see why!