Poble Espanyol

The Poble Espanyol (literally, Spanish town) is an open-air architectural museum in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, approximately 400 metres away from the Fountains of Montjuïc. Built for the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition, the museum consists of 117 full-scale buildings replicated from different places in the Iberian Peninsula, joined together forming a small town recreating urban atmospheres of disparate places in Spain. It also contains a theater, restaurants, artisan workshops and a museum of contemporary art.

Poble Espanyol
Gate of Avila replica
Established1929 (1929)
LocationAvda. Francesc Ferrer i Guardia, 13, Barcelona, Spain
Coordinates41.3687°N 2.1483°E / 41.3687; 2.1483
TypeArchitectural Museum
DirectorAnton Vidal
Architect
  • Francesc Folguera - architect
  • Ramon Reventós - architect
  • Miquel Utrillo - art critic
  • Xavier Nogués - painter
Websitewww.poble-espanyol.com

History

The museum was built for the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition as an exhibit of the architecture and townscapes found in different places in Spain. The idea was promoted by the Catalan architect Puig Cadafalch and the project was realized by architects Francesc Folguera and Ramon Reventós, art critic Miquel Utrillo and painter Xavier Nogués. The four professionals visited over 600,000 sites in Spain to collect examples as an attempt to synthesize characteristics that might be attributed to the Iberian Peninsula.[1] In reality, though, this sort of patched-up ensemble is proof of the wide variety, and therefore the utmost impossibility, to fulfill its claim to be a ‘Spanish’ Town, because there is not a unified style or solid common treats shared among the different cultures that form Spain.

Description

Areas

The Poble Espanyol has replicas of 117 buildings representing fifteen regions of Spain − the regions of La Rioja and the Canary Islands are not represented. The first is not present because it was not a separate region of Spain when the museum was designed and built. The Canary Islands are not represented because the four designers could not travel to them for economic reasons.

Monuments and buildings

Replicated buildings include:

Building replica City/Town Region
Calle Cuna Arcos de la Frontera, Cádiz Province  Andalusia
Torre de Utebo Utebo, Zaragoza Province  Aragon
Cangues d'Onís Cangas de Onís  Asturias
Casa Son Berga Palma, Majorca  Balearic Islands
Caserío Casa Arteche Erandio, Biscay  Basque Country
Casa Barreda Santillana del Mar  Cantabria
El Mirador Sigüenza, Guadalajara Province  Castilla-La Mancha
Puerta de San Vicente Ávila  Castilla y León
Palacio de los Golfines de Abajo Cáceres  Extremadura
Paço de los Fefinhas Cambados, Pontevedra Province  Galicia
Navalcarnero Navalcarnero  Madrid
Casa de los Celdrán Murcia  Murcia
Las Arcadas Sangüesa  Navarre
La Jana Castellón de la Plana  Valencian Community
Monestir Romànic de Sant Miquel Various spots  Catalonia

Other exhibits and attractions

Although Poble Espanyol was planned to be demolished when the International Exhibition was over, it was preserved because of its great success. The recreated village still contains the streets, squares and facades of different areas of Spain. The village hosts many different events including gastronomic festivals, concerts in summer, rock concerts, flamenco shows, private events such as weddings, and children's activities.

Poble Espanyol houses more than 30 artisans who have it as their workshop, making blown glass, leather, ceramics, jewelry, masks, baskets, and Spanish guitars. They create handmade items which are sold to the visitors.

The Poble Espanyol also contains rides, stores with gourmet products, and restaurants or bars with cuisine from different regions of Spain.

Museum Fran Daurel

The Museum Fran Daurel is situated within Poble Espanyol. It is a private collection open to the public featuring over 295 works of mainly modern and contemporary Catalan artists or related to Catalonia, including Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, Antoni Tàpies, Miquel Barceló, Josep Guinovart and Frederic Amat. The museum holds paintings, sculptures, tapestries, drawings and ceramics, and a sculpture garden, with 41 large sculptures. The works by Picasso include ceramics from the 1950s and 1960s, where he used both traditional techniques and his own methods.

Theater

Poble Espanyol has a theater that regularly organizes entertainment for children: theater, dance, music, clowns or puppets. The Barcelona School of Theatre also performs at this theater.

Tablao de Carmen

The Tablao de Carmen was opened in 1988 as an homage to the dancer Carmen Amaya. The venue is located in the heart of Poble Espanyol, in the same place, where she danced for the King of Spain Alfonso XIII during the opening of the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition. Nowadays the Tablao de Carmen is a popular flamenco theatre-restaurant, offering its visitors one of the best flamenco shows in Barcelona, accompanied by a delicious tapas menu. Tablao de Carmen displays some of the photo legacy of Carmen Amaya. On special occasions visitors can hear the guitar of her husband Juan Antonio Agüero (by Santos Hernández 1930), which is a part of the patrimony of the founder family of Tablao de Carmen.[2]

Activities for children

In addition to shows that take place every week in the theatre, Poble Espanyol has other activities for children: workshops (every Sunday morning), TOT Puppet Festival (March), living nativity scenes during Christmas, and family shows throughout the year (such as Carnivals, Santa Eulàlia, Fiesta Mayor, and Festival La Mercè).

References
  1. Documenting Spain: Artists, Exhibition Culture, and the Modern Nation, 1929Ð1939. Penn State Press. pp. 35–. ISBN 0-271-04720-8.
  2. Tablao de Carmen Flamenco Barcelona
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