Casa Vicens

Here, you are in the Gracia neighborhood. A district that, in 1883, at the time of Casa Vicens’ construction, was an independent town. This is Gaudí’s first major work. The building is constructed in the architect’s personal interpretation of Islamic and Oriental art – sort of his own Mudéjar style. Its design reminds us that, at that time, the fashion in Europe was historicism: an architectural movement that drew inspiration from the past to revive styles thought to be outdated. The Sacré-Cœur in Paris is a good example. Casa Vicens was Gaudí’s first commission when he was barely 30 years old. The Vicens family had inherited a plot of land and wanted to use it to build a summer residence. Gaudí was inspired by Indian and Persian palaces, and by Hispano-Moorish art like the Alhambra. The architect gave free rein to his emerging talent and offered us a very striking, very colorful result, filled with tributes to nature and literally breaking with everything that had been done until then. Completely renovated, it has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2005.