ARCHIVO DE LA CORONA DE ARAGON

ARC DE TRIOMF--- BARCELONA

Location: Catalonia, Barcelona

Got all the pictures from our trip to Barcelona, we went to Catalonia to see this beautiful structure.

Facts:

The Arc de Triomf is an archway structure in Barcelona, Catalonia. It was built for the Exposición Universal de Barcelona (1888), as its main access gate by architect Josep Vilaseca i Casanovas.

The arch is built in reddish brickwork in the Moorish Revival style. The front frieze contains the stone sculpture "Barcelona rep les nacions" ( Catalan for "Barcelona welcomes the nations") by Josep Reynés. The opposite frieze contains a stone carving named "Recompense", a work from the earliest period of Josep Llimona.The arch is located between Passeig de Lluís Companys and Passeig de Sant Joan, at the end of a wide promenade connecting with the Park of the Ciutadella.

Photo Gallery:

CASA MILA--- BARCELONA SPAIN

CASA MILA PHOTOS:Passeig de Gràcia

FACTS:

Casa Mila better kwon as La Pedrera meaning the 'The Quarry'), is a building designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí and built during the years 1905–1910, being considered officially completed in 1912. It is located at 92, Passeig de Gràcia (passeig is Catalan for promenade) in the Eixample district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

It was built for the married couple, Rosario Segimon and Pere Milà. Rosario Segimon was the wealthy widow of José Guardiola, an Indiano, a term applied locally to the Catalans returning from the American colonies with tremendous wealth. Her second husband, Pere Milà, was a developer who was criticized for his flamboyant lifestyle and ridiculed by the contemporary residents of Barcelona, when they joked about his love of money and opulence, wondering if he was not rather more interested in "the widow’s guardiola" (piggy bank), than in "Guardiola’s widow".

Gaudi, a Catholic and a devotee of the Virgin Mary, planned for the Casa Milà to be a spiritual symbol.Overt religious elements include an excerpt from the Rosary prayer on the cornice and planned statues of Mary, specifically Our Lady of the Rosary, and two archangels, St. Michael and St. Gabriel.The design by Gaudi was not followed in some aspects. The local government objected to some aspects of the project, fined the owners for many infractions of building codes, ordered the demolition of aspects exceeding the height standard for the city.The Encyclopedia of Twentieth Century Architecture states that the statuary was indeed Mary the mother of Jesus, also noting Gaudi's devoutness, and notes that the owner decided not to include it after Semana Trágica, an outbreak of anticlericalism in the city. After the decision was made to exclude the statuary of Mary and the archangels, Gaudi contemplated abandoning the project but was persuaded not to by a priest.

Casa Milà was in poor condition in the early 1980s. It had been painted a dreary brown and many of its interior color schemes had been abandoned or allowed to deteriorate, but it has since been restored and many of the original colors revived.

LA BARCELONETA BEACH

On our third day of stay in Barcelona we decided to spent the day lazying around the beach and work on our tan. LOL! not me but my partner is dying to have one hahahaha...

FACTS:

La Barceloneta is a neighborhood in the Ciutat Vella district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The neighborhood was constructed during the 18th century for the residents of the Ribera neighborhood who had been displaced by the construction of the Ciudadela of Barcelona. The neighborhood is roughly triangular, bordered by the Mediterranean Sea, the Muelle de España of Port Vell and the El Born neighborhood. The neighborhood is serviced by its own stop on the Barcelona metro. Torre Sant Sebastià is the terminus of the Port Vell Aerial Tramway opened in 1931 and connecting Barceloneta with Montjuïc across Port Vell.

Barceloneta beach gained status as the best urban beach in the World and total third best beach in the World, according the documentary film "Worlds Best Beaches" produced by Discovery Channel in 2005.

Barceloneta is known for its sandy beach (notable for its appearance in Don Quijote de la Mancha, book 2) and its many restaurants and nightclubs along the boardwalk. Over the past several years the quality of the sand on the beach has become a source of continued controversy. As of February 2008 the World Health Organisation began an inquiry designed to ascertain whether the sand meets WHO beach health and safety guidelines

La Barceloneta Photo Gallery: