A visit to Poble Espanyol (Spanish Village), an interesting and different place
Rosa
Hi all! The good weather is coming and Barcelona is one of the best places to be! You can go to the beach, you can visit the parks, you can have a drink outside in a nice “terraza” or you can enjoy just walking by, shopping or having an ice-cream admiring one of the Gaudí’s houses… but you can also go to Poble Espanyol in Plaza España and for a few Euros have a drink, admire the beautiful buildings and even buy some crafts, paintings or even a pair of earrings or a colourful candle!
This “village” with a surface of 49,000 m2 was built in 1929 for the Barcelona International Exhibition as the pavilion dedicated to art. It is one of the few monuments built for an International Exhibition that can still be visited. It is a real model of a Spanish village containing all the main characteristics of our arquitecture in the 117 buildings all reproduced to scale.
I was there once and I was really impressed. In only a couple of hours you can travel from Andalucía to Cataluña, from Madrid to Galicia or from Castilla la Mancha to Valencia. Each street or square represents a part of Spain and it is so well done and designed that it really looks authentic and real, it is like being there!
In 1997 Poble Espanyol recovered its original craft tradition and concern for creativity and therefore opening with this idea some workshops. This founded the open-air museum that today it is formed by around 40 craft shops where not only you can buy but also watch directly how the work is done and experience it “live”.
I do really, really recommend a visit there. It is a very nice place!
Rosa
