Montjuïc, from the 1929 Expo to the 1992 Olympics: a self-guided walk
By Alleytale
The 1929 Expo and the 1992 Olympics
Montjuïc was a showground twice: the 1929 Exposition left its towers, fountain, pavilion and palace, and the 1992 Olympics gave the old stadium a new life and added a communications tower, with a poets' garden named in 1970 and Joan Miró's foundation, opened in 1975, falling between the two events.
The stops
Plaça d'Espanya was designed in 1915 and built in 1929 so that it would be ready for that year's International Exposition, held at the foot of Montjuïc. The fountain at its centre is the work of Josep Maria Jujol, a collaborator of Antoni Gaudí, with statues by Miquel Blay. Before the square existed the site had served for public hangings, until the gallows moved to the Ciutadella fortress in 1715.
Photo: Enric — CC BY-SA 4.0 These two towers, 47 metres tall, stand on either side of Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina to mark the entrance to the exhibition district. Ramon Reventós designed them on the model of the campanile of St Mark's Basilica in Venice, and they were built between 1927 and 1929. They were made of cheap materials because they were expected to come down after the exposition, and after restoration they opened to the public for two days in October 2014, the first time since 1929.
Photo: Didier Descouens — CC BY-SA 4.0 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich designed this as the German Pavilion for the 1929 International Exposition, a simple structure of marble, onyx and travertine under a roof that seems to float. It was meant to be temporary and was torn down in early 1930, not even a year after it was completed. A group of Catalan architects rebuilt it between 1983 and 1986 from historical drawings and rediscovered footings.
Photo: Ashley Pomeroy at English Wikipedia — CC BY 3.0 Carles Buïgas designed this fountain for the 1929 exposition, and many called his plan too ambitious; its first show took place on 19 May 1929, the day before the Exposition opened. The site had held the Four Columns, which stood for the Catalanist movement, until they were demolished in 1928 on the orders of Miguel Primo de Rivera, and they were rebuilt a few metres away, the new ones inaugurated in 2011. The fountain was badly damaged in the Spanish Civil War and did not run again until 1955, and it was restored with the Palau Nacional before the 1992 Olympics.
Photo: Enric — CC BY-SA 4.0 The Palau Nacional was the main site of the 1929 International Exhibition, designed by Eugenio Cendoya and Enric Catà under the supervision of Pere Domènech i Roura. Its Great Hall, the Oval Room, hosted the opening ceremony, presided over by Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie, and the central dome recalls St Paul's in London and St Peter's in the Vatican. Since 1934 it has been home to the National Art Museum of Catalonia, which was given room between 1996 and 2004 to show its whole collection of more than 5,000 works.
Photo: Didier Descouens — CC BY-SA 4.0 Santiago Calatrava designed this white tower, 136 metres tall, and it was built from 1989 to 1992 for Telefónica to transmit television coverage of the 1992 Olympic Games. It is meant to represent an athlete holding the Olympic flame, and its base is covered in trencadís, the broken-tile mosaic technique Gaudí used. Because of its orientation it also works as a giant sundial, using Europe Square to show the hour.
Photo: Thomas Ledl — CC BY-SA 4.0 Pere Domènech i Roura designed the stadium for the 1929 Expo, and it opened on 20 May 1929 with Spain's first official rugby international, against Italy, and a friendly in which the Catalan side beat Bolton Wanderers 4-0. For the 1992 Olympics it was gutted and rebuilt with the architect Vittorio Gregotti, who kept parts of the original façades, and it hosted the opening and closing ceremonies and all the athletics. In 2001 it was named for Lluís Companys, president of the Generalitat of Catalonia, who was executed at nearby Montjuïc Castle in 1940 by the Franco regime.
Photo: Enric — CC BY-SA 4.0 These gardens began as part of the 1929 International Exposition, laid out to a design by Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier around the Royal Pavilion, a palace in a style inspired by 18th-century French architecture. The pavilion, later called the Palauet Albéniz, served as the residence of the Spanish royal family during their visits to Barcelona. In 1970 the gardens were dedicated to the Catalan poet Joan Maragall, one of several gardens on Montjuïc named for poets.
Photo: Jorge Franganillo — CC BY 4.0 Joan Miró had the idea for this foundation in 1968 and set it up with his friend Joan Prats, wanting a place that would encourage younger artists to experiment with contemporary art. The architect Josep Lluís Sert, also a close friend of Miró, designed it with courtyards and terraces, and it opened on Montjuïc on 10 June 1975. Among the works is Alexander Calder's Mercury Fountain, kept behind glass because mercury is poisonous.
Photo: Canaan — CC BY-SA 4.0 The foundation stone of this fortress at the top of Montjuïc was laid in 1640, and it saw its first battle in January 1641, during the Catalan Revolt. The present structure took shape after the old fort was demolished in 1751, and major works between 1779 and 1799 equipped it with 120 cannons. In 1940 Lluís Companys, president of the Generalitat of Catalonia during the Civil War, was executed here on the orders of the Spanish State, and in 2007 the castle passed to Barcelona City Council, whose plans include a memory space and an interpretation centre for the mountain.
Photo: C messier — CC BY-SA 4.0
Hear the full story as you walk, or create your own walk, in the Alleytale app.