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The Venetian Towers (in
Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
: ''Torres Venecianes'') is the popular name for a pair of towers on Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina at its junction with Plaça d'Espanya in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. There is one tower on either side of the street. The towers are 47m high, with a 7.2 metres square cross-section. The bottom section of each is built of
artificial stone Artificial stone is a name for various synthetic stone products produced from the 18th century onward. Uses include statuary, architectural details, fencing and rails, building construction, civil engineering work, and industrial applications su ...
, the main section of red
brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...
, and the top section is a
colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...
d viewing gallery built of artificial stone, and topped by a pyramidal copper roof. They were modelled on the campanile of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice. They were originally envisaged in
Léon Jaussely Léon Jaussely (9 January 1875 – 28 December 1932) was a French architect and urban planner. Born in Toulouse, Jaussely studied at the local fine arts school, then to the École des Beaux-Arts in the ateliers of Honoré Daumet and Pierre Esqu ...
's city expansion plan of 1907, and designed by architect and built in the period 1927 to 1929, as part of the redevelopment of the area for the
1929 Barcelona International Exposition The 1929 Barcelona International Exposition (also 1929 Barcelona Universal Exposition, or Expo 1929, officially in Spanish: ''Exposición Internacional de Barcelona 1929'' was the second World Fair to be held in Barcelona, the first one being i ...
. Reventós was also involved in a number of other projects featured in the exhibition, such as the Greek Theatre ( Teatre Grec), the Spanish Village (
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 ...
), and the buildings of the
Montjuïc Funicular Montjuïc () is a hill in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Etymology Montjuïc translates to "Jewish Mountain" from medieval Latin and Catalan, and remains of a medieval Jewish cemetery have been found there. Some sources suggest that Montju� ...
on the nearby hill of
Montjuïc Montjuïc () is a hill in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Etymology Montjuïc translates to "Jewish Mountain" from medieval Latin and Catalan language, Catalan, and remains of a medieval Jewish cemetery have been found there. Some sources sugge ...
. They serve an ornamental function, to mark the entrance to the exhibition district, now known as
Fira de Barcelona Fira de Barcelona is Barcelona’s trade fair institution. Every year, it organises numerous trade shows and congresses. Information of interest It hosts over 150 trade shows, congresses and corporate events per year with 30,000 exhibitors, both ...
, and the start of the grand avenue leading up to the Palau Nacional on Montjuïc, which houses the
National Art Museum of Catalonia The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (, English: "National Art Museum of Catalonia"), abbreviated as MNAC, is a museum of Catalan visual art located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Situated on Montjuïc hill at the end of Avinguda de la Reina M ...
. Originally, the towers were open to the public, who could climb the internal stairs to the viewing galleries, but they are now normally closed. In later years, the western tower housed equipment for controlling the illumination of the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc, 350m away at the far end of Avinguda Maria Cristina, and the gallery of the eastern tower housed sirens for signalling possible emergencies; the disused equipment was removed during the 2013/14 restoration work. The towers are registered as protected structures by Barcelona city council, with a protection level of B:B, a structure of local interest. Following restoration work, the towers opened to the public for the first time since 1929, for a two-day period during October 2014.


Repairs

The towers had been built using cheap materials, which was typical of the ''
noucentisme Noucentisme in Catalonia (, ''noucentista'' being its adjective) was a Catalan cultural movement of the early 20th century that originated largely as a reaction against Modernisme, both in art and ideology, and was, simultaneously, a perception ...
'' architectural style of the time, and was justified by the expected temporary nature of the towers which were planned to be demolished after the end of the exposition. Subsequent repair and restoration projects have been necessary to maintain and improve the structures. In 1984/85, repair work was carried out on the towers, which included replacing the roofs which were originally of slate. In 2009, a survey detected defects in the stonework in both towers, and resulted in netting being wrapped around the viewing galleries to catch any falling debris. During September 2013, the towers started undergoing extensive restoration work costing €472,000. The work was expected to be completed in January 2014, and it enabled the removal of the netting which had previously been put in place.


References

{{coord, 41.37403, 2.149801, display=title Buildings and structures in Barcelona Towers in Catalonia Twin towers 1929 Barcelona International Exposition Sants-Montjuïc World's fair architecture in Barcelona Towers completed in 1929