Did you know that Poble Espanyol is the fourth most visited attraction in the Catalan capital, just after the Sagrada Familia, the Aquarium, and F.C.Barcelona’s museum? In this article, ShBarcelona will tell you why you should visit this unique open-air museum.
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History
Photo credit: federag via Visualhunt.com / CC BY-NC-SA
Poble Espanyol was built during Primo de Rivera’s dictatorship, for the 1929’s International Exposition. The museum was conceived as a space that showcased the main characterístics, peculiarities, and architecture used in different regions of Spain. A way to have a small-sized version of Spain inside of Catalonia.
Four modernist artists visited 1600 locations in order to get familiar with each place’s architectural style and traditions before starting the project. It took one year and one month for Poble Espanyol to be built. The initial idea was to have it destroyed after the International Exposition was over but the attraction had such success that it remains up and running until this day.
Related article: Fun in Sants-Montjuïc
What to see and do at the Poble Espanyol
Poble Espanyol is the perfect place to spend a day with your family, partner or friends. Full of rich cultural details, the museum allows visitors to explore different areas of the country through architecture, contemporary art, handicraft, and gastronomy.
Within its 49.000 m2, people will discover 117 constructions, plazas, gardens, and streets, all of them representing a particular region of Spain. Some of the monuments that can be found inside are the Golfines de Abajo Palace, from the region of Extremadura, the Utebo Tower, from Aragón, the Son Berga House, from Mallorca, and the Sant Vicente Doors (the entrance to Poble Espanyol) from the region of Castilla y León.
Photo credit: Fraser Mummery via VisualHunt / CC BY
But there are also other elements inside Poble Espanyol that showcase the culture and diversity of the Spanish country, like restaurants, workshops, and stores, selling food and other items that represent different parts of the country. Depending the time in which the visit is made, there might even be the opportunity to see one of the artisans creating their product.
Poble Espanyol also hosts a number of events through the year, like the Flower Gardens Festival or the famous Biergarten.
Poble Espanyol is located at Avenida Francesc Ferrer i Guadia 13, on the Montjuïc Mountain. You can easily get there by taking the red or green line of the metro, exiting at “Espanya”.
To learn about the price of admission and the opening hours, visit the Poble Espanyol’s official website.
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