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L’Eixample Dreta – Architectural Treasure-Chest |
The L’Eixample district will forever be linked to two great names in Catalan architecture; Ildefons Cerda and Antoni Gaudi. For the former, the district is his crowning achievement, for the latter L’Eixample (the extension) is the site of his crowning achievement: La Sagrada Familia. The genesis of L’Eixample is one of the more interesting stories in urban planning history as it was put in the hands of one architect, Cerda when the city decided to expand beyond the confinements of the old Roman Walls in1854. Even though Cerda’s original plan was, to some extent, undermined by commercial interests the extension completely changed the city by stretching the outer limits unto former villages and linking these with the Old City through a Manhattan like grid with large avenues and open spaces. Avenues, like Diagonal and Pg.Sant Joan are virtually “littered” with palatial buildings that are testaments to the prosperous Barcelona of the 19th century.
Cutting though the L’Eixample is Passeig de Grácia - the city’s principal shopping street, which is the place to experience modernisme masterpieces like Gaudí’s Casa Batlló and Casa Milá. The district is divided into two halves with the right (Dreta) the more fashionable and boasting the highest density of buildings by the master architects of the modernisme era in the city - Included among these, of course, Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia - one of the world’s most emblematic structures and the symbol of Barcelona. L'Eixample is a cultural focal point in Barcelona, and in addition to the works of the modernisme era there is a fare share of interesting cultural institutions present including 20th century ones: L'Auditori de Barcelona, an impressive concert-hall and a cultural centre. The other institution is a testament to Barcelona's ambitions as a theatre centre: the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya. These days L’Eixample is the commercial hub of Barcelona with not only the presence of the main financial institutions, but also the major shopping arcades and fashion boutiques, quality restaurants, art-galleries, museums, furniture stores and a nightlife characterized more by designer bars and larger clubs / discos than what is the case in the Old City.
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