The ‘Columbus Monument’, or the ‘Monument a Colom’ in Catalan, or the ‘Mirador de
Colón’ in Spanish, is a monument to Christopher Columbus (Christopher Colón in Spanish) in Barcelona. This 60m (197 ft) tall monument was constructed in Barcelona for the Exposición Universal de Barcelona (1888). It was placed in Barcelona as a reminder that it was where Columbus first reported back to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand after his first trip to new found continent.

The idea to build a big monument came from Antoni Fages i Ferrer, who thought it would be cool if the entire thing was built by Catalans. For sixteen years no one liked his idea, until finally, in 1872, it was accepted by the mayor of Barcelona, Francesc Rius i Taulet, and after nine years, the city finally began plans for the construction, in 1881. For the design of the monument, a big contest exclusively for Spaniards was held and the design submitted by Gaietà Buigas i Monravà (a Catalan) was chosen. All of the funding was from Spanish sources, and most of it was privately raised. Also, the entire construction, labor and materials, was done by Catalans, just as the original person who had the idea wanted it to be. The construction began in 1882 and finished six years later in 1888.

This monument has a statue of Columbus on the top. This statue, 7.2m tall (24 ft), was sculpted from bronze by Rafael Atché. Columbus was meant to be pointing towards the New World, while holding a

scroll in the other hand, but when it was placed on top of a big column to make the monument, he was placed in a different way. He is said to be either pointing out to the sea where he landed to report to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, or it could be pointing further out towards his home town, Genoa.

There are many other smaller statues representing people related to Columbus, and there are stairs at the base, with four sort of ‘indents’ or entrances, each one flanked by two lions, some standing, others in some sort of crouching/sitting position. There is supposed to be a lift inside the monument which can take up into a viewing platform

just underneath Christopher Columbus, but when I went to see this monument, I didn’t see any open entrances that would lead to a lift. And the column seems pretty thin for an elevator.

Reference:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Monument,_Barcelona,

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Park Güell is in Barcelona, Spain. At first, the plot of land belonged to Count Eusebi Güell, who decided to make an urban park residential area. Güell hired Antoni Gaudí to design the park and the houses were assigned to someone else. Gaudi planned and constructed the park from 1900 until 1914. At first a plan of sixty lots for houses was planned, but Gaudi’s architecture was not appreciated at the time and only two houses were built, one where the Count lived and the other originally a showroom. The showroom was then converted to a house and put on sale, and on the suggestion of Count Güell, Gaudi bought it with his savings and he moved in with his family and father. His house is now a museum on Gaudi’s life. The entrance to the park is free, but the museum demands an entry fee. After the housing estate idea went down the drain, the Barcelona City Council bought the park and converted it to a public park in 1922.

Antoni Gaudi used a technic called trencadis. This is using irregular pieces of broken ceramics, glass, and sometimes bottles, to make a pattern or design. He also used different other unusual techniques using opportunities, such as for the creation of the long serpentine bench on the platform. To make the curves in this bench, Gaudi used the naked posterior of one of his workmen. The workman would sit onto the wet clay, and the curves would be created. In February 2007, a group of adults publicly vandalised the famous ceramic lizard guarding the park entrance. Using a metre long piece of metal, they managed to severely damage the lizard’s head and torso. The group of ‘punks’ were arrested and their intentions have never been known. The lizard was restored back to normal, and a security guard was posted near it to prevent further vandalism.

Unlike most of the pictures available on wikipedia and tourist sites, the park was packed when I visited it. And that was in the middle of February, on a cold cloudy day. Imagine the amount of people in summer on a hot, sunny day. It was hard to get a picture of the world famous lizard. And even the one we managed to get has the elbow of some stranger in it. In certain areas, where there is nothing to see I must add, there was practically no one. In the more famous parts of the park, however, where most of the people went, there were a number of artists playing and performing in hope of a few bucks, some homeless people who settled in the crevices in the walls of the park, and there were also people setting up shop on the floor, selling necklaces and gadgets. But it was still a very interesting and culturally nurturing visit, and it is one of Barcelona’s main tourist attractions, and I couldn’t leave with seeing it.

One thing I enjoyed in the park, were the green parrots hanging around the palm trees. I learned that they are called Monk Parakeets. They are originally from South America, and were probably imported into the park to add to the already overflowing rush of colours. Or they may have escaped from captivity. Since then, they have spread and can be seen everywhere where there is a bunch of palm trees in Barcelona. They have become almost as abundant as pigeons.

Reference: [wiki] [monica's travel blog] [barcelona, spain] [typicallyspanish] Photos all from my voyage, except the vandalised lizard.

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Sagrada Família is a church in Barcelona. It is the world’s most famous unfinished church. It is still being built, and the completion is estimated to be near 2026. The Spiritual Association of the Devotees of St Joseph first promoted the construction of a church dedicated to the holy family in 1874. After receiving generous donations, the Spiritual Association of the Devotees of St Joseph decided to buy a plot of land (surface area of 12,800 m²) for their church project in 1881. The project first went to architect Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lozano. He and his promoters disagreed on many things and he finally resigned. The project was then passed down to Antoni Gaudí. The construction stayed with the original plans, a neo-Gothic style architecture. Things went by steadily due to constant donations, and when Gaudí received a very big anonymous donation, he decided to change the plans a little. First, he changed the size. The newer plans were now huge, and with more themes and statues and towers. Construction continued until Gaudí’s death on the 10 June 1926 (run over by a tram). The church was then passed down from architect to architect, each one continuing Gaudí’s ideas. During the Spanish Civil War, some of the church and the workshop, which had all the plans and papers, were destroyed. After the civil war was over, construction restarted and the church rose again slowly. Ever since then the church has continued to expand and progress. It is known as an expiatory church, meaning it was founded solely on donations. Once certain parts of the church opened for public viewing, and a Gaudí museum was set up inside, entry fees were installed to continue the regular income for the construction of the church. It has become Barcelona’s landmark and finished miniatures of it are sold everywhere in Barcelona. The church is meant to represent the human life of Jesus and the sayings of the gospels. The facades tell each part of Jesus’ life and the ‘soon-to-be’ 18 towers represent Jesus, the Virgin, the 4 Evangelists, and the 12 apostles.

Reference: http://www.sagradafamilia.cat/sf-eng/index.php, http://www.roughguides.com/website/shop/products/Barcelona-DIRECTIONS.aspx

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