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Plaça d'Espanya (Barcelona)
Encyclopedia
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
's most important squares, built on the occasion of the 1929 International Exhibition, held at the foot of Montjuïc
Montjuïc
Montjuïc is a hill located in Barcelona, Catalonia.-Etymology:Montjuïc is translated as 'Jew Hill' in medieval Catalan, or is perhaps related to the Latin phrase Mons Jovicus . The name is found in several locations in the Catalan Countries: the Catalan cities of Girona and Barcelona both have a...
, in the Sants-Montjuïc
Sants-Montjuïc
Sants-Montjuïc is one of the ten districts Barcelona has been split in since 1984, numbered District 3. Comprising very different areas of the city, it covers the southern part of Barcelona, joining the two former districts II and VII , as well as the different areas comprised in the Zona Franca...
district.
Features
One of the city's biggest squares, it is the junction of several major thoroughfares: Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, Avinguda del Paral·lelAvinguda del Paral·lel
Avinguda del Paral·lel is one of the main streets of the city of Barcelona, dividing Ciutat Vella, Eixample and Sants-Montjuïc districts. It receives this name because it is parallel to the Equator...
, Carrer de la Creu Coberta and Carrer de Tarragona, and leads to the Palau Nacional through Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina, which houses one of Catalonia's finest museums, the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC)
Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya
The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya , abbreviated as MNAC, is a museum of Catalan visual art located in Barcelona, Catalonia. It is housed in the Palau Nacional, built for the 1929 World's Fair...
. It was designed by Josep Amargós. The fountain at the centre of the square was designed by Josep Maria Jujol
Josep Maria Jujol
Josep Maria Jujol Gibert was a Catalan architect.Jujol's wide field of activity ranged from furniture designs and painting, to architecture. He worked with Antoni Gaudí on many of his most famous works.-Biography:...
, a collaborator of Antoni Gaudí
Antoni Gaudí
Antoni Gaudí i Cornet was a Spanish Catalan architect and figurehead of Catalan Modernism. Gaudí's works reflect his highly individual and distinctive style and are largely concentrated in the Catalan capital of Barcelona, notably his magnum opus, the Sagrada Família.Much of Gaudí's work was...
, while Miquel Blay designed the statues. The buildings were designed by Nicolau Maria Rubió i Tudurí.
- Venetian Towers - they are 47 m (154 ft) tall and lead the way to the MNAC via Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina, an avenue commonly used to host trade fairs.
- Fira de BarcelonaFira de BarcelonaFira de Barcelona is a trade fair ground and organizer that was officially constituted in 1932 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is publicly owned company with autonomous management, organizing more than 80 trade shows, bringing together 40,000 companies and receiving three and a half million...
- Parc de Joan Miró - previously known as Parc de l'Escorxador (Abbatoir Park), it is nowadays named after the CatalanCatalan peopleThe Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...
painter Joan MiróJoan MiróJoan Miró i Ferrà was a Spanish Catalan painter, sculptor, and ceramicist born in Barcelona.Earning international acclaim, his work has been interpreted as Surrealism, a sandbox for the subconscious mind, a re-creation of the childlike, and a manifestation of Catalan pride...
, whose 22-metre-tall statue Dona i OcellDona i OcellWoman and Bird is a 22-metre high sculpture by Joan Miró located in the Parc Joan Miró on the road Carrer de Tarragona in Barcelona. The sculpture was covered in tiles by the artist's collaborator Joan Gardy Artigas...
(Woman and Bird) can be seen in one of its corners. - Arenas de Barcelona, a bullringBullringA bullring is an arena where bullfighting is performed. Bullrings are often associated with Spain, but they can also be found in neighboring countries and the New World...
- It was built in 1900 in the Moorish Revival style and has been converted into a shopping center.
History
The square was built on a site that had been previously used for public hangings, until the creation of the now demolished CiutadellaCiutadella
Ciutadella de Menorca or simply Ciutadella is a town and a municipality in the western end of Minorca, one of the Balearic Islands . The name means "citadel". It is one of the two main cities in the island, along with Maó.-History:...
fortress in 1715, where the gallows were moved. It was designed in 1915 and built in 1929 so that it could be ready to host the 1929 Universal Exposition. In 1928, the dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera
Miguel Primo de Rivera
Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquis of Estella, 22nd Count of Sobremonte, Knight of Calatrava was a Spanish dictator, aristocrat, and a military official who was appointed Prime Minister by the King and who for seven years was a dictator, ending the turno system of alternating...
, who led the Spanish government
Spanish Government
Spain is a constitutional monarchy whose government is defined by the Constitution of Spain. This was approved by a general referendum of the people of Spain in 1978...
at the time, ordered the pulling down of the four Ionic
Ionic order
The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
columns known as Les quatre columnes
The Four Columns
The Four Columns are four Ionic columns originally created by Josep Puig i Cadafalch in Barcelona, Catalonia. They were erected in 1919, where the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc now stands....
, built ten years before by Puig i Cadafalch, that symbolised the four bars of the Catalan flag as part of his banning of all Catalan symbols. The square has been in public use since then.
Transport
Plaça Espanya is also a major transport hub that serves most parts of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona.Metro
- Espanya (L1Barcelona Metro line 1— Line 1, shortened to L1 and known as "Hospital de Bellvitge - Fondo", coloured red and often simply called Línia vermella , is the second oldest metro line in Barcelona, after L3. It is operated by Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona . It appeared as a means to join the rail stations the city...
, L3Barcelona Metro line 3— Line 3, currently known as Zona Universitària - Trinitat Nova, coloured green and often simply referred to as Línia verda , is a metro line in Barcelona operated by TMB, and therefore part of the fare-integrated ATM transport network of the urban region...
, L8Barcelona Metro line 8— Line 8, coloured pink and operated by FGC, is part of the Barcelona Metro network, and therefore of the larger ATM fare-integrated transport system...
)
Bus
- Line 7 Diagonal Mar - Maria Cristina
- Line 9 Pl. Catalunya - Pg. Zona Franca
- Line 13 Mercat de St. Antoni - Can Clos
- Line 23 Pl. Espanya - Parc Logístic
- Line 27 Pl. Espanya - Roquetes
- Line 30 Pl. Espanya - Sarrià
- Line 34 Sarrià - Virrei Amat
- Line 36 Paral·lel - -Can Drago
- Line 37 Hospital Cínic - Zona Franca
- Line 43 Les Corts - Sant Adrià
- Line 46 Pl. Espanya - Aeroport
- Line 50 Montjuïc - Trinitat Nova
- Line 56 Collblanc - Besòs / Verneda
- Line 57 Barcelona (Pg. Marítim) - Cornellà (Estació busos)
- Line 61 Poble Sec - Parc de Montjuïc
- Line 68 Poble Sec - Parc de Montjuïc
- Line 79 Pl. Espanya - Av. Carrilet (M)
- Line 80 Barcelona (Pl. Espanya) - Gavà (Av. Joan Carles II)
- Line 81 Barcelona (Pl. Espanya) - Gavà (Av. Joan Carles II)
- Line 91 Rambles - Bordeta
- Line 153 Barcelona - Cornellà
- Line 157 Pg. Marítm - Sant Joan Despí
- Line 193 Pl. Espanya - C. Montjuïc
Night bus
- Line N0 Pl. Portal de la Pau - Pl. Portal de la Pau
- Line N1 Zona Franca (Mercabarna) - Pl. Catalunya - Roquetes (Aiguablava)
- Line N2 Hospitalet (Av. Carrilet) - Badalona (Via Augusta)
- Line N14 Barcelona (Rda. Universitat) - Castelldefels (Centre Vila)
- Line N15 Barcelona (Pl. Portal de la Pau) - Sant Joan Despí (Rbla. Josep Maria Jujol)
- Line N16 Barcelona (Rda. Universitat) - Castelldefels (Bellamar)
- Line N17 Pl. Catalunya - Aeroport
Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de CatalunyaFerrocarrils de la Generalitat de CatalunyaFerrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya , or FGC, is a railway company which operates several unconnected lines in Catalonia, Spain....
Metro del Baix Llobregat
- R5 Manresa-Baixador
- R6 Igualada
- S33 Can Ros
- S4 Olesa de Montserrat
- L8 Molí Nou
- S8 Martorell-Enllaç
Metro del Valles
Metro del Vallès
Línia Barcelona-Vallès or Metro del Vallès is the collective name under which several rail lines operated by the Catalan rail company Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya are known. They serve several areas of Vallès and the metropolitan area of Barcelona, and their common terminus is the...
- L6 Reina Elisenda
- L7 Av. Tibidabo
- S5 Sant Cugat - Rubí
- S55 Universitat Autonoma
- S1 Terrassa
- S2 Sabadell
RENFE
RENFE
Renfe Operadora is the state-owned company which operates freight and passenger trains on the 1668-mm "Iberian gauge" and 1435-mm "European gauge" networks of the Spanish national railway infrastructure company ADIF .- History :The name RENFE is derived from that of the former Spanish National...
Barcelona
- C1 Molins de Rei/L'Hospitalet/Mataró/Blanes/Maçanet
- C2 nord Aeroport/Gran. Cenre/ Sant Celoni
- C2 sud B.Est França/Vilanova G/Sant Viçens Calders
- C2 passant Castelldefels/Granollers Centre
- C3 L'hospitalet/La Garriga/Vic/Puigcerda
- C4 Sant Viçencs Calders/Vilafranca/Terrassa/Manresa
- C7 L'Hospitalet/Cerdanyola Universitat/Martorell
Metro (subway) Barcelona city
- L1 Hosp. Bellvitge - Fondo
- L2 Paral·lel - Pep Ventura
- L3 Zona Universitaria - Trinitat Nova
- L4 La Pau - Trinitat Nova
- L5 Cornella Centre - HOrta
- L11 Trinitat Nova - Can Cuiàs