1772-1778
Presented by Alexander Engle
The Palau de Virreina, or "Palace of the Viceroy’s Wife" is a French Baroque/ Rococo palace located on La Rambla in Barcelona. The residence was designed by local architect Joseph Ribes for Manuel de Amat y Juniet, a distinguished figure on the Spanish political scene who was among other things, a Viceroy of Peru. The Palace was completed in 1778 and occupied by the Viceroy and his wife until his death, only a short time later in 1782.
The Palace stays in the Amat family until the year 1944 when it is bought by the Barcelona City Council. Through the years the Palau de la Virreina has housed numerous functions including the Museum of Decorative Arts, the Cambo Art Collection, the Postal Museum, and the Numismatic Office.
Today the palace is home to the City Council Department of Culture and features two seperate gallery spaces; the Espai 2 which exhibits contemporary mixed media exhibits and installations and the Espai Xavier Miserachs, which features photography exhibits.
The Església de Santa Maria del Pi is a 14th-century Gothic church that stands at the heart of three little plazas in Barcelona. Santa Maria del Pi is in the Placa Sant Josep Oriol, this is considered one of the prettiest of the three squares in the area. It is filled with an artists’ market on the weekend and the outdoor tables of the Bar del Pi the rest of the time. The church is named for the pine tree (pi in Catalan) that once stood nearby. According to traditions undocumented, but accepted by some historians, there used to be a small Paleochristian church stood on this site in 413 A. C. What is certainly a historical fact is that in 987 A. C. There was a small Romanesque church here, "outside the wall of Barcelona", consecrated to Santa Maria del Pi. Its pure Gothic style is evident in the single nave, almost devoid of ornaments. The interior is plain but features some beautiful stained glass windows. The middle of the main façade boasts a large rose window of 10 m. in diameter, very much in keeping with the church’s Gothic style. In 1940, the rose window was entirely rebuilt after being destroyed by fire during the Spanish civil war during the year of 1936. The Belfry (type of medieval siege tower or bell tower).This is one of the most characteristic features of the Pi church and of Barcelona.
The Church of Saint Mary of the Sea is located in Placa de Santa Maria. The site location was just outside of the 1st-4th century Roman walls. At that time it was on the water’s edge. Santa Maria del Mar was build for and by the major seafarers with the money that they accrued from their oversea ventures. On July 18, 1936, nearly all of Barcelona’s churches were set on fire as retaliation against the alliance of army, church, and oligarchy. This rebellion let Spain into a civil war, as well as, left Santa Maria del Mar in its present state after burning for 11 days. The interior was stripped of its ornate side chapels, organ, and choir stalls. It was then restored at the end of the Spanish Civil War by a group of Bauhaus-trained architects, whom understood the original design. The church is not obnoxiously overdone, and with the help of the fire, the current state of the interior is fairly simple and clean. The symmetry found in the details of the construction includes the medieval numerological symbol of the Virgin Mary, the number 8. For instance, 16 octagonal pillars, rib vaulting arches at a height of 16 meters, and the keystones at the apex of the arches are 32 meters from the floor. The exterior details include a dominant, strong, yet sober shell.
The Palau Reial was the royal residence in Barcelona. Inside you will find the Salo del Tinell banquet hall which is an example of Catalan Gothic architecture. Initially the complex was the palace of the earls situated on the Roman wall. The cathedral and its associated buildings aside are the most concentrated batch of historic monuments in the Barri Gothic. The square was once the courtyard of the rambling palace of the counts of Barcelona, and across the courtyard, stairs climb to the great 14th century Salo del Tinell, the palaces main hall. It was on the steps leading from the Salo del Tinell into the plaza del Rei that Ferdinand and Isabella stood to receive Christopher Columbus on his return from his famous voyage of 1492. Columbus would advance in procession with the monarchs to the palace where he presented the Queen with booty from the new world including exotic birds and sweet potatoes. The hall itself is a great example of secular Gothic architecture with interior arches spanning 17m. At one time the Spanish inquisition met here taking full advantage of the popular belief that the walls would move if a lie was spoken. Now a days it hosts temporary exhibitions while concerts are held outside in the square.
Since the early times of the foundation of Barcino, an urban inhabited nucleus was formed. There was a vast, crop-oriented plain called El Camp, in the Montjuic side of the outskirts of the city. The history and documentation about the Monastery of Sant Pau del Camp is very limited and extremely confusing. It was founded between the years 897 to 911 by the Earl Guifr’e Borrell according to his gravestone found in January 1596, which at the moment is attached to the wall in the left arm of the church underneath the transept. There have been no written documents about the monastery since its foundation until the moment of being looted by the Al-Mansur’s troops, which was suffered in the year 985. The monastery remained as a simple church, which didn’t shelter any community until its second foundation. The old church was completely restored towards the XIII century with a type of construction based on a Romantic nave, with transepts, three apses and a dome. Worked stone was used in the noble and outstanding parts of it including the main front as well as the highest part of the façade. This type of work can also be found in the blocked arches over the eaves overhang that surround it in the walls and apses of the frontage as well as in the interior part of the nave.
