Barcelona City Council’s Municipal Institute of Urban Landscape has today, 7 June 2023, commenced the second phase of restoration work at the Güell Pavilions site of the former Güell estate, which was designed by Antoni Gaudí. This phase will include the restoration of the guard’s house building, of which several studies and analyses have been carried out in order to return it as much as possible to its original appearance, eliminating alterations made over the years.
The first phase, completed in 2018, consisted of restoring the wall in Avinguda Pedralbes that had been badly damaged by the passage of time, as well as the installation of a reception booth for visitors in an area of the garden that does not block the view of the heritage buildings.
The third phase will begin after completion of this second phase, and it will involve restoring the stables and the horse-trainer’s building. Work in this last phase will also be carried out on the remainder of the perimeter wall, the dragon gate and the restoration of the garden, thereby fully restoring the site.
The Güell Pavilions marked one of the entrances to the Güell estate, which occupied a large plot of land that nowadays would extend further down Avinguda Diagonal and also include the present-day royal gardens of Pedralbes. Eusebi Güell, Gaudí’s patron, commissioned a new entrance to his estate with stables. Gaudí’s design took its inspiration from the poem entitled “L’Atlàntida” by Jacint Verdaguer, who was a friend of the Güells, in which, apart from a great deal of symbolism, Gaudí tried out techniques that he would later use in other works. The spectacular dragon gate, visible from Avinguda Pedralbes, stands out from the rest of the complex.
Despite the restoration works, the space will remain to the public open on weekdays from 10 am to 4 pm, except on 25 and 26 December and 1 and 6 January, with guided tours daily at 10 am, 11 am and 3 pm in English included in the price of admission.
Get the Guidebook of Barcelona Modernisme Route
The Barcelona Modernisme Route is an itinerary through the Barcelona of Gaudí, Domènech i Montaner and Puig i Cadafalch, who, together with other architects, made Barcelona the great capital of Catalan Art Nouveau. With this route you can discover impressive palaces, amazing houses, the temple that is symbol of the city and an immense hospital, as well as more popular and everyday works such as pharmacies, shops, shops, lanterns or banks. Modernisme works that show that Art Nouveau took root in Barcelona and even today is still a living art, a lived art.
The Guidebook of Barcelona Modernisme Route can be acquired in our centers of Modernisme.
