Gaudí Casa Vicens tickets and guided visit with optional Park Güell tour
This guided tour will take you to discover Casa Vicens, the first house of Antoni Gaudí, a house with an unusual oriental and Mudejar aroma, covered with spectacular green and white tiles. The building is the prelude to Gaudí’s body of work and hints at the future of Art Nouveau (Modernisme) in Catalonia.
Casa Vicens was built as a summer house between 1883 and 1885; it was designed by the 31-year-old Gaudí for Manel Vicens i Montaner (1836-1895), a broker-dealer. It is Gaudí’s first building in Barcelona where he was able to display his enormous talent.
In Casa Vicens, Gaudí recreated the figurative worlds that were fashionable at the time, but in a highly personal way. The house is built following Catalan construction traditions, which the architect interpreted in unexpected ways, while he also incorporated his own decorative and symbolic elements. As a whole, it heralds and displays the creative freedom that would become the hallmark of his entire life’s work.
In addition to being one of the starting points of Gaudí’s career, the architect created an innovative, original work in Casa Vicens which is different from anything that had been built in Catalonia before. Casa Vicens thus became one of the first examples of the aesthetic renewal of art and architecture that was taking place all around Europe in the late 19th century.
It is the eighth building in Barcelona listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the last to be opened to the public.
The visit ends at Casa Vicens. Located in the quiet neighborhood of Gracia which is well connected with public transport.
- Make the best of your day - Optional Park Güell tour
You will not find any park like this one in the world! Antoni Gaudi was commissioned to build this architectural wonder by Count Güell, who wanted him to plan an elegant residential area. Today it is a public park and it belongs to the city heritage. It has been declared UNESCO’s World Heritage Site and is just another wonder that awaits you on your visit to Barcelona.
During the visit you will enter Park Güell through the big staircase dominated by the dragon, decorated with mosaic of ceramic tiles, the Catalan style known as “trencadís”. This dragon is one of the most characteristic images of Barcelona. The park is arranged around a large central square bordered by a snaky bench covered by the trencadís mosaic style. Below the square, the roof is supported by 86 Doric columns shaped like trees, with paths between them, and viaducts on sloping columns: Gaudí's work, like no other, unites nature and architecture. The visit ends in Park Güell.
