La Boqueria

 Public market in Barcelona

The first mention of Boqueria market in Barcelona dates from 1217. The tables were installed near the old city gate to sell meat. In the beginning market had no official status. In 1835 it was decided to build official structure. It was officially opened in 1840.

La Boqueria has an entrance from La Rambla and it's one of the most exciting attractions for tourists, especially, food lovers. Being one of 10 best street markets in the world, La Boqueria includes a variety of fruit, vegetables, fresh seafood and sweet in lots of market stalls.

There is an exiting atmosphere in La Boqueria caused by colourful and flavorful stalls, kind and helpful sellers and surprised visitors enjoying pleasant shopping.

I've never been in as big market as La Boqueria and I don't think we have something like this in Lithuania, so it was really impressing.

Liudmila Timofejeva

Arc de Triomf, Barcelona

1.   Arc de Triomf, Barcelona

2.   Arch.

3.   1888. Architect Josep Vilaseca i Casanovas.

4.   The arch is built in reddish brickwork in the Neo-Mudéjar style. The front frieze contains the stone sculpture Barcelona rep les nacions (Catalan for "Barcelona welcomes the nations") by Josep Reynés. The opposite frieze contains a stone carving entitled Recompense, a work from Josep Llimona's the earliest period.

5.   It was built for the Exposición Universal de Barcelona (1888), as its main access gate.

6.   Before visiting Barcelona, I hadn’t know anything about this building. Arc de Triomf was built for the Universal exposition, but not for the military victory.

 7. Amazing building.  It is as beautiful, as the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.  The walkway goes from the arch to the beautiful park of de la Ciutadella.

                                            Saulius Brazauskas

The Font màgica de Montjuic seen by Alessandro

2    Fountain

     Built in 1929 by Carles Buigas, was constructed on the monument called :”the four columns” by Josep Puig I Cadafalch.

     It’s a very famous tourist attraction, formed by waterfalls, ponds and light columns.

     The fountain is one of most romantic place in Barcelona were couple meet to celebrate their anniversary.

     It’s an exclusive and original fountain, typical of this city.

Very funny ,amusing and exciting attraction because of the many light and water games with music background

Alessandro Amici

La Pedrera - Casa Mila

1. La Pedrera, known also by name Casa Mila.

2. An apartment house in Eixample.

3. Built 1906-1912 and designed by Antoni Gaudi to industrialist Pere Mila` and his wife
    Roser Segimon.

4. The style is modernism.

5. It was built as an apartmet house , two block of flats with separate entrances, arranged around two large
    interlinked patios. A very innovative construction.

6. Now the house is a museum including the very special roof-terasse (foto), Museum of Gaudis architecture,
    The Pedrera Apartment and an exhibition hall. The roof-terasse is very special with its stairwells,  
    ventilation towers and chimneys, some are covered with ceramic fragments.

7. Unique, amazing, very special and beautiful.



      Anna-Maija Lyyra

La Sagrada Familia

1.La  Sagrada Familia

2. Temple

3. Its building started in 1882 and it will continue probably until 2026. It's one of the wonderful constructions by Antoni Gaudì, that had an important role for the realization of the temple, until his death in 1926.

4. The exterior of the building shows the Catholic Church; the most important bell tower (170 metres high) is in fact dedicated to Jesus Christ. The modernism is combined with religious architecture, different elements that join to create an unique construction.

5. Religious place with a museum inside, to show the construction works of the temple. The edifice is also a place of prayer and meditation.

6. The first important new thing that we note when we just see it, is the magnitude of the building.    I don't think that in Italy there's a church as big as Sagrada Familia and for this reason it is  spectacular.

7. When I just saw the church I started to dizzy and feel too tiny, because of its grandiosity.

                     Giorgia Giovannetti

Museu d'Història, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat

1- Museu d'Història, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona

2- Museum

3- Opened in 1972. The original building is from XVI century

4- The outside is typical renaissance. Inside it has renovated

5- Cultural and conference place

6- The outside is very nice because of the presence of typical medieval and Renaissance elements in contrast with  the more modern look of the city. But in Italy there are a lot of buildings like this so for me it hasn't been so new.

7- We  attended a conference about Local Agenda 21. It was very interesting  because we  understood what a quite big town is doing about this important topic, and now we can compare the actions dealing with Agenda 21 in our cities with the actions made or planned in L'Hospitalet.

                                 Vincenzo Bovino

                                           

Parc Güell

1. Parc Güell, Carrer d'Olot, Barcelona

2. Public park

3. Realised during the years 1900-1914 by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudì. It should have been a garden-city.

4. Gaudì tried to maintain the natural slope of the terrain relief, creating an original work by the sinuous profile. To build the construction, the artist employed recovery colorful ceramics and glass   pieces, used as mosaic tiles. At the top of the main steps, with the fountain shaped salamander,  there's the hypostyle hall. 

5. Parc Guell can be a meeting point for people that want to relax or spend some time. There's a terrace whence you have a fantastic view of the park and the city. Within there was Gaudì's house, that was changed in a museum.

6. I think that the building is wonderful for its colours and beauty. It appears in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, so we can understand the splendor of this construction.

7. I remained fascinated by that building. While I was on the terrace I could see most part of Barcelona, so I felt loose and carefree. You should go there to relax and reflect.

                                Giorgia Giovannetti

Scanning my Touristic Barcelona

1. Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia, Barcelona
2. Roman Catholic church
3. Cathedral was under construction throughout the 13th to 15th ceturies. It was completed about 1450
4. Gothic style hall church
5. A place for religious ceremonies and a tourist attraction
6. Totally new and very interesting
7. I was impressed about the massive size of the cathedral and the ornaments

Scanning my Touristic Barcelona

1. Torre de Calatrav, located in the Olympic park in Montjuïc
2. Tower and a sightseeing place
3. Construction of the tower began in 1989 and was completed in 1992. The white tower was built for Telefónica to transmit television coverage of the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona
4. It represents an athlete holding the Olympic flame
5. Tourism, sightseeing
6. Very modern and glamorous in its shape
7. Seeing that was breathtaking because the view was so amazingand all the lights were shining on a late and dark evening

Lotta Rolander

Scanning my touristic Barcelona

1. Park Güell, in Muntanya Pelada, Barcelona
2. Antoni Gaudi was the designer and also built the park
3. Built in years 1900 to 1914. In 1923 park became property of the city
4. Gaudi wanted to create a natural environment which fitted to areas flora. Singularity of the park is that almost everything is colorful. Park buildins essential quality is "roundness" and Gaudi have brought a lot of animal figures to his park.
5. Place where tourists visit. Park has also on Güell's shop, two museums and anotherof them is Gaudis home.
6. Place which I have seen in photos, but now I visited there and it was very impressing in many ways
7. Very touching, interesting, beautiful and so different place I have ever visited!

Jenni Niemelä

Scanning my Touristic Barcelona

1. Aeropuerto de Barcelona, Catalonya
2. International airport
3. 1948
4. Modern and functional, designer Ricardo Bofill
5. Tourism, meeting place for travellers, meeting place of different cultures and transactions in stores
6. Modern spacious, bright, polished
7. I felt interest and enthusiast feelings while visiting the place and because the place was so busy I felt a little bit restless too

Lotta Rolander

1. The cloister of  the Cathedral of Saint Eulalia.

2. A cloister with 13 geese, the cloister was built in the 14th Century. 

3. Each goose represents one year in the life of the martyr Santa Eulalia, a young girl tortured to death in the 4th century by the Romans because she was a christian.

4. The style of the cathedral is Gothic, it flourished during the high and late medieval period and evolved from Romanesque architecture. 

5. The place is visited by tourists and churchgoers.

6.The Cathedral is dedicated to the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia, who is the patron of Barcelona. It is said that the number of geese representher age and death. Her remains are said to lie in the crypt of the Cathedral. Another possible explaination is that keeping geese is a tradition that dates back to the Romans who kept geese as security guards, so they have safeguarded the treasure of the Cathedral so far.

7. The sensation received is very strange because we associate the spirituality of the place with the earthly vision of poultry, a symbol of everyday life in the past.

Maria Rosaria Gismondi

Casa Bacardi, Sitges

1

1.      Casa Bacardi, Sitges

 2    .   Museum

3.Built in 1890 by Gaietà Buigas, Casa Bacardi was born as a tribute to Don       Facundo Bacardi Massó, founder of the manufacturer of the most famous rhum in  the world.

4.The Museum is located within the modernist building Mercat Vell.

 5.  The centre is dedicated to the organization of events, but it also has rooms dedicated to the history and production of Bacardi rhum. It also has a terrace where people can taste the cocktails prepared by professional bartenders.

    6.Casa BACARDI shows a very interesting experience on the history and evolution of the Bacardi company, founded in Cuba in 1862.

7.  It 'amazing how a building can represent two completely different realities as an old local market and a museum dedicated to the production of the Cuban rhum.

Andrea Calvitti

Museu CAU FERRAT , SITGES

1- Museu CAU FERRAT , SITGES

2- Museum

3-Built in 1893-94 as residence and studio of the catalan artist Santiago Rusiñol; after his death it became a Museum in 1933.

4- It was the seat of literary competitions during theFestes Modernist (Art Nouveau festivals) between 1892 and 1899. Inside you discover a great amount of paintings, by Santiago Rusiñol himself, Picasso, Ramón Casas, Ignacio Zuloaga; there is also a collection of iron forged piecies and glass pieces.

5- A centre of  catalan art and temporary exhibitions; a temple of Modernism.

6-I was surprised to find two splendid paintings by El Greco :"The tears of Saint Peter" and "Mary Magdalene repentant". Very impressive!!

7- I was fascinated by Santiago Rusiñol’s  personality and talent and also by the variety of artworks he collected, something he regarded as a new religion.

                                                             Patrizia Coppola

Location of our towns

 

Finland PIETARSAARI. 

Lithuania JONAVA. 

Hungary BUDAPEST. 

Italy GROTTAFERRATA. 

Spain L'HOSPITALET

1. Catalunya Square, Barcelona.
2. Large square in central Barcelona.
3. 1888 started, 1902 modified, 1929 Francisco Nebot designed the changes made.
4. Neo-Classical and avantgarde sculptures, fountains.
5. It is the city centre and also the place where the old city and the 19 century-built Eixample meet. The place of anti-government protests and sits. A resting place amidst large flower beds and focks of pigrons.
7. When sitting on a bench you can obsreve the permanent comings and goings, the people, the traffic, the noise of the city. You feel you are part of this all.