The Poble Espanyol (literally, ''Spanish town'') is an open-air architectural museum in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, approximately 400 metres away from the Fountains of Montjuïc. Built 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 ...

, the museum consists of 117 full-scale buildings replicated from different places in the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

, joined 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.

History

The museum was built for the

as an exhibit of the architecture and townscapes found in different places of the Iberian Peninsula, mostly from Spain. The idea was promoted by the Catalan architect

Puig i Cadafalch Josep Puig i Cadafalch (; Mataró, 17 October 1867 – Barcelona, 21 December 1956) was a Catalan '' Modernista'' architect who designed many significant buildings in Barcelona, and a politician who had a significant role in the development of ...

and the project was realized by architects and , art critic and painter

Miquel Utrillo Miquel Utrillo i Morlius (16 February 1862, Barcelona - 20 January 1934, Sitges) was a Catalan art critic, scenographer, painter, and engineer. Biography He was born to the lawyer, Miquel Utrillo i Riu, originally from Tremp, a liberal republ ...

and painter . The four professionals visited over 600,000 sites to collect examples as an attempt to synthesize characteristics that might be attributed to the Iberian Peninsula. 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.

References

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External links

Poble Espanyol Official Site

El Poble Espanyol de Barcelona
(German) {{Authority control Museums in Barcelona Sants-Montjuïc Open-air museums in Spain Historic house museums in Spain Shopping districts and streets in Catalonia World's fair architecture in Barcelona 1929 Barcelona International Exposition