Barcelona is the cradle of modernism and, therefore, of avant-garde. Walking through its streets is to delight in the refined taste of an art that transformed the city from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th, with Antoni Gaudí as the main exponent.
On this route through 10 charming passages with a modernist air, we discover numerous corners that hide true treasures of modernist architecture, along with other movements such as Noucentisme or Eclecticism, which contributed to the urban modernization of the city.
In this photographic report by Martí Hervera in La Vanguardia's Readers' Photos we propose an itinerary through a dozen charming corridors that are the living manifestation of the different currents of modernism in Barcelona.
Listed as a Cultural Asset of Local Interest, it was designed by architect Francesc Daniel Molina on behalf of the owner of the property, Ramon de Bacardí, whose name the street is named after. It connects number 42 of the Rambla with Plaça Reial and stands on the site where the Convent dels Caputxins was formerly located, which was demolished in 1836. It is completely covered and is exclusively for pedestrians.
It connects Passeig de Gràcia with Rambla de Catalunya. Over time it has become a small culinary El Dorado, as it houses in just a few meters several establishments rooted in the Catalan capital, such as Tragaluz, El Japonés or Petit Committee. Also found on this fascinating street are institutions such as the Barcelona Tourist Office and the emblematic Santa Eulàlia fashion house.
At number 75, Calle Major de Sarrià, you will find this floral crossing that connects with Rúa del Clos de Sant Francesc. Delimited by an arch and followed by a narrow section covered with a wooden beam ceiling, it is a vestige of the Noucentista expression of the Sarrià neighborhood.
Nearby is the birthplace of Josep Vicenç Foix i Mas, one of the most influential avant-garde artists of the last century. And, a few meters away, at 57 Calle Mayor, is the famous Foix pastry shop, founded in 1866.
Located in the Barrio Gótico, in the block between the streets of Ferran, Avinyó, Baixada de Sant Miquel and l'Ensenyança, it is one of the most well-known streets in Barcelona. At number 4 on calle nació the famous painter Joan Miró. A vestige of more conventional eclecticism, the ensemble is registered as a Cultural Property of Local Interest.
With a typical London style, the Passatge Permanyer was inaugurated in 1865, whose name comes from Francesc Permanyer i Tuyet, who was mayor of Barcelona in 1856. Conceived within an eclectic style, it incorporates elements of classical type and others of Arab architecture. Path that connects Pau Claris and Roger de Llúria streets, is protected as a Cultural Asset of Local Interest.
With its houses in the typical Catalan architectural style of the 18th and 19th centuries, and with elements of modernism, the Passatge Foret links Maresme Street and Rambla de Prim.
Built in 1925, the Passatge Tubella connects Evarist Arnús i Novell streets in the Les Corts district of the Catalan capital. The houses, with a ground floor and gardens in the front, have an English style. In 1924, the owner of the site, Joan Tubella, sold his land to workers who worked in factories surrounding the area. Hence the walk was named after him.
In the center of Barcelona's Eixample, located between the blocks of Calle Rocafort, Tamarit, Entença and Avinguda de Mistral, you will find this urban delight, whose only point of access is via the stairs of building 29 on Calle Rocafort.
The passage consists of a group of ground floor houses and a small individual terrace, with a large common interior patio. It was possibly built to serve as a home for the workers of the 1929 International Exhibition, which was held in Barcelona.
It begins on Anselm Clavé Street and ends at Joaquim Xirau Square in the Gothic Quarter. The most peculiar section of the path runs under three arches, and in one of them there is a spelling mistake in the street sign: instead of the Peace Passage with a j, it appears with a g. This is surely due to a French influence.
Its construction dates back to the second half of the 19th century, as part of a process of urban modernization in that area of Barcelona. It takes its shape from a complex of ground-floor and four-story homes. Under the arches you can see polychrome ceilings that give personality to the space. It is a Cultural Asset of Local Interest.
From a hidden and degraded corner to an oasis of elegance and peace in the middle of the bustle of Barcelona, the Passatge Sert is one of the most unknown architectural jewels of the city. It links Trafalgar and Sant Pere Més Alt streets, on the border of Eixample with Ciutat Vella. Its origins date back to 1753. The Sert family was the one who ordered the original property to be demolished and converted into a factory house with an interior corridor, the current passage, where the painter Josep Maria Sert was born in 1874. On the façade there is a commemorative plaque in his name.
