Gaudi Crypt: Church Of Colonia Guell; Or, I Owe My Soul To The Company Store

Gaudi's great patron over the years was Eusebi Guell, a Barcelona industrialist, who had enlightened ideas about architecture and many other things. Among Guell's many projects was the Colonia Guell, an industrial estate, sort of on the English model, in the suburbs of the city. A whole manufacturing village so the workers could be and stay near their beloved mill, factories, etc. (We toured the place reciting and humming as much as we could remember of Tennessee Ernie Ford's 1955 #1 hit, Sixteen Tons). Guell asked Gaudi to design a church for the residents, and the Gaudi Crypt, so-called, is the result. Funding ran out, eventually, and Gaudi abandoned the project (he had other church projects) after completing the crypt. The main floor was never undertaken. All this from roughly 1890 to 1909. In any case, the Crypt stands by itself today as a parish church and as another architectural monument. We visited it on April 20th, en route from Barcelona to Tarragona.

The village is inhabited and actually fairly prosperous-looking;
a very lively elementary school is near by the visitor center; above,
in the visitor center, another helpful model, of the Colonia Guell

These are the things you see in exhibits on historic mills

Real people lived and worked here; busts of Eusebi and his
father on left

The TI office

Private home a block away; very Modernist

Approaching the church (crypt)

The church, best exterior view

Main entry

Above the doors

Porch, columns, vaulting, tiles...

Interior...only Gaudi could have dreamed this up

Varieties of columns, materials, effects, angles (nothing at
exactly 90 degrees, one assumes)

View abaft

He designed the furniture, too; of course

Stained-glass window opening mechanism

Angles, palm-tree columns

Above the chancel, as it were

Now outside, walking up to what would have
been the main part of the building, the nave,
etc.

The floor of the main church; now merely the roof of the
crypt

Neighboring Modernista, privately owned

Up close detail; God, these people have taste

What would have been the entrance to the church

Unclear whether Gaudi intended the tower to
be permanent

Building materials: brick, basalt, iron slag

Alas, our Gaudi set is not complete, but it's getting close; Casa
Vicens is scheduled to open next fall, and perhaps we'll see it
all then (we saw the exterior only in 2013)

[Reserved For Barcelona Out-Takes, Thoughts]

I can't believe I'm already a week behind...

Camping Barcelona

This was our second long stay at Camping Barcelona, on the coast, between Mataro and Sant Andreu de Llevanes. Barcelona is the draw, of course, but if you're in a motorhome, or otherwise camping, this place is perfect. Clean, scenic, all the amenities, nice staff. With our various discounts, it cost us 16 euros a night, including electricity and, most importantly, the free shuttle into Barcelona and back.

Looking toward Mataro, 2k away; I walked the trail along here
every other day or so

Clothing optional beach, except right in town

Looking the other way, toward Sant Andreu, 1k away;
beautifully clear Mediterranean

There are always sailboats to watch

And every now and then an old pill-box washes up (Franco Art Deco)

At a class on making sangria; with a couple from near Lille; mixing fruit with
wine, what an abomination, they must have been thinking...

Seriously; we're never buying Don Simon again; well, until we run out of
Cointreau and brandy

Boarding the 9AM shuttle (two big buses) to Barcelona (there
is also the municipal bus and also the train from Mataro)

Final Barcelona Scenes

For lunch that day, between the Liceu and the Maritime Museum, we went back to Boqueria for a walking lunch on sticks...olives, fruit, shrimp, steak, nuts (no sticks), and then carried on back to the Maritime Museum, over and up the Paral-lel deciding not to climb to Parc Montjuic, and then just walking through whatever barrios (Turkey-town, one of them) we encountered, and back to Plaza Catalunya. While I was visiting El Corte Ingles' gourmet department, one more time, Vicki made the most important food discovery of our visit to Barcelona.

Just in case you ever need a map of the Boqueria

"Welcome to the Fish Department"

Expensif boeuf

Corny dogs, but with french fries substituted for corn

Back at the Maritime, 400th anniversary marker for The Naval

Chris Colon monument (colonoscopy?)

One stage of the cable car ride across the city

Montjuic

Returning from Montjuic

We are fast approaching a world cuisine; here
is part of it

Alas, the beautiful Sant Antoni market was closed for reno...
we'll catch it next time

Art Deco specimen

But mostly Art Nuvo

Cutting through the courtyard of the Biblioteca Catalunya

We wandered into this building with fairly incredible old
tiles but the guard said private property but let me snap just
one

Resting at a cafe back at the Boqueria, sipping a carajillo, and
watching a barnacle attempting to escape...

The discovery: we were in or near Barcelona 16 days and never
thought to see whether there was an Amorino...Vicki finally
found it, at the top of the Rambla (we usually cross over to that
side further down...)

Best ice cream in the world. Period. One more reason to return
to Barcelona (or Paris, or Madrid, or Florence, or even San
Francisco)