Bellesguard

41.4094444444442.1266666666667Koordinaten: 41 ° 24 ' 34 " N, 2 ° 7' 36" E

Belle Guard - rarely also called Torre de Belle Guard - is a building designed by Antoni Gaudí i Cornet country house in the neighborhood of Sant Gervasi to the Catalan capital of Barcelona. The house is privately owned and is not normally available.

Location

The building is located in the north- west of Barcelona, ​​at the foot of Tibidabo near the junction of Carrer de Belle Guard in the Ronda de Dalt. In the immediate vicinity are the Museu de la Cienca and Cosmocaixa.

Palace of Belle Guard

In place of today's country house, a summer palace of the kings of Aragon, which due to its location, the name Palau de bell Esguard (Palace to the beautiful view ) was already in the Middle Ages was given. For King Martin I of this place had fateful significance since he learned here in July 1409 by the death of his son Martin, and on 17 September the same year in the presence of Pope Benedict XIII. and married by Vincent Ferrer Margarita de Prades. After the king died as early as in May 1410 without a male heir, the palace is forsaken; 1422 the site was sold off by the Crown, who falls Palace.

In the 17th century the terrain is with the ruined palace of the gang of robber Serrallonga as shelter.

Architectural History

The land on which can be found only a few remnants of the Gothic palace at the end of the 19th century, has at this time Juan Bautista Grau y Vallespinós, for the aspiring architect Antoni Gaudí has already built the Episcopal Palace of Astorga. Since the bishop had ordered in his will to sell all his possessions in favor of the foundation of a school, the property was for sale, what Gaudí - knowing the history of the place - this used to engage in the sale negotiations between the executors and the acquirer Maria Molins Sagués that the flour merchant and Gaudí admirer Jaume Figueras widow on. He ultimately received the contract for the construction of a representative country house in the then sparsely populated Sant Gervasi, he had realized from 1900 to 1902. After Gaudí's retreat took Doménec Sugrañes i Grass (1878-1938) completion. In 1983 there was a major restoration of the building. In May 2008, the tower cross had to be temporarily removed, as a result of the construction of a water main in the immediate vicinity of the building was acute danger of collapse.

Style

Built upon an almost square plan buildings ( edge length roughly 15 meters) has oblique lines, which are precisely aligned to the cardinal points. Two additions - the stair tower and the gallery of the salon - underline the huge and closed impression of this free interpretation of the Gothic. The extreme extension of the windows and the conical, elongated spire cause a feeling of size, which makes you forget the basic dimensions of the building. Up to the top of the steeple Cross, the building is about 33 meters high.

The facade is mostly made in the area encountered breaking stones in gray and green tones ( slate), only in the area of the doors and windows came from blended mortar with pebbles rustication used. The building itself consists of plastered brick, which could be waived by the design of the ceiling in the form of tender, arranged in parallel and usually tapered bottoms to the then-common use of stringers.

The building has a basement, a basement, two residential floors and a two-story loft. The basement and the street facing away parts of the basement served as a storage and supply rooms, the basement vault is formed by cylindrical columns of brick. The lower main floor had the living room and the dining room, the floor above it housed the bedrooms. The loft was designed as a wash and dry soil.

The staircase located in the tower is attached with a clear height of 10 meters, the highest room of the house, as the encircling staircase provided access to all floors. In contrast to the gloomy looking, dark exterior and unlike most of the other buildings, which designed Gaudi, the staircase does not use any ornaments and colors, its walls are only covered with plaster and white lime paint, leading to reflection of the incident light from the walls and performs intense shadows.

The slated roof has on the height of the first floor roof over an occupied with battlements round, above the upper loft is a small panoramic terrace.

Special

Like many other buildings, Gaudí designed, even here, the tower is completed by a four-armed cross. This is on a Catalan flag made ​​of glass elements and a crown that is similar to the former royal crown of Aragon.

At the time of construction of the building, since access to the cemetery of Sant Gervasi only the terrain was possible, Gaudí designed a viaduct using the remains of the old palace wall ( 1903-1905 ).

Large parts of the interior reveal a strong influence of the Mudejar in contrast to the largely dominated by the Gothic exterior, which is due to the fact that these largely only after the withdrawal of Gaudí under his successor Doménec Sugrañes i Grass (1878-1938) was realized.