Via Laietana, Barcelona
Encyclopedia
Via Laietana (ˈbi.ə ɫəjəˈtanə) is the name of a major thoroughfare in Barcelona
, Catalonia
, Spain
in the Ciutat Vella
district.
/El Born and Sant Pere
on one, and Barri Gòtic
opposite. Besides being always overcrowded with both locals and tourists attracted by its Modernista
Art Nouveau
, Art Déco
and Noucentista
neo-classical architecture, in addition to its nearness to the Ramblas and the quiet pedestrian streets of Barri Gòtic, Via Laietana hosts the headquarters of a number of banks (notably Caixa Catalunya
) and institutions.
It can be seen as an extension of Carrer de Pau Claris in Eixample
. Via Laietana was named after the Laietanii, an Iberian
people who inhabited the region around Barcelona
, Maresme
, Vallès
and Baix Llobregat
.
with the waterfront, amid much controversy. The demolition of a large number of houses and the removal of the streets in the area was required to do so. As some of the traditional guild
s of the city, some dating back to the Middle Ages, were located there, they had to be relocated in different parts of Barri Gòtic, notably Plaça de Sant Felip Neri. The first section to be built was named Carrer de Bilbao, which nowadays is a separate, shorter street that stems from the larger Via Laietana. The avenue was finished in 1926. Francesc Cambó
, a prominent politician of the time, built his personal residence in the avenue. During the years of the Spanish Civil War
(1936-1939) it was renamed Via Durruti.
. A number of these buildings are being converted into hotels.
stations that were finally dismantled and abandoned because of different reasons. Correos was closed because of major changes in the metro line that crossed the area, and Banco was never opened.
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
in the Ciutat Vella
Ciutat Vella
Ciutat Vella is a district of Barcelona, numbered District 1. The name means "old city" in Catalan and refers to the oldest neighborhoods in the city of Barcelona, Spain. Ciutat Vella is nestled between the Mediterranean Sea and the neighborhood called l'Eixample...
district.
Overview
This avenue runs from Plaça Urquinaona to Plaça d'Antonio López, by the seafront, and separates the neighbourhoods of the old city it has on each side: La RiberaLa Ribera
La Ribera is one of the areas of the quarter of Sant Pere, Santa Caterina i la Ribera of Ciutat Vella of Barcelona.Many of the buildings date from late Medieval times. It was a well-to-do quarter during 13th-15th centuries, when it really was by the sea shore, and the area that today is named...
/El Born and Sant Pere
Sant Pere
Sant Pere is a village in Andorra, located in the parish of Canillo....
on one, and Barri Gòtic
Barri Gòtic
The Gothic Quarter is the centre of the old city of Barcelona. It stretches from La Rambla to Via Laietana, and from the Mediterranean seafront to Ronda de Sant Pere....
opposite. Besides being always overcrowded with both locals and tourists attracted by its Modernista
Modernisme
Modernisme was a cultural movement associated with the search for Catalan national identity. It is often understood as an equivalent to a number of fin-de-siècle art movements, such as Art Nouveau, Jugendstil, Secessionism, and Liberty style, and was active from roughly 1888 to 1911 Modernisme ...
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
, Art Déco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
and Noucentista
Noucentisme
Noucentisme was a Catalan cultural movement of the early 20th century that originated largely as a reaction against Modernisme, both in art and ideology, and was, simultaneously, a perception of art almost opposite to that of avantgardists...
neo-classical architecture, in addition to its nearness to the Ramblas and the quiet pedestrian streets of Barri Gòtic, Via Laietana hosts the headquarters of a number of banks (notably Caixa Catalunya
Caixa Catalunya
Caixa Catalunya, the trading name of Caixa d'Estalvis de Catalunya, was a Catalan savings bank headquartered in Barcelona, Catalonia. It was owned by the Barcelona Provincial Government . It was the fifth largest savings bank in Spain, and the second largest banking institution in Catalonia, after...
) and institutions.
It can be seen as an extension of Carrer de Pau Claris in Eixample
Eixample
The Eixample is a district of Barcelona between the old city and what were once surrounding small towns , constructed in the 19th and early 20th centuries....
. Via Laietana was named after the Laietanii, an Iberian
Iberians
The Iberians were a set of peoples that Greek and Roman sources identified with that name in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula at least from the 6th century BC...
people who inhabited the region around Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Maresme
Maresme
Maresme is a comarca located along the Catalan Mediterranean coast in Spain, between the comarques of Barcelonès and Selva , and also bordering with Vallès Oriental ....
, Vallès
Vallès
El Vallès is a historical county in Catalonia, Spain, located in the center of the Catalan Pre-coastal range. It is nowadays represented by two separate administrative divisions which are part of the Barcelona Province, named comarques...
and Baix Llobregat
Baix Llobregat
Baix Llobregat is a comarca on the coast of Catalonia, Spain. Its capital is Sant Feliu de Llobregat.-Municipalities:Populations are from 2002.* Abrera - pop. 9,166* Begues - pop. 5,023* Castelldefels - pop. 52,405...
.
History
The construction of Via Laietana was first projected in 1879 and started in 1907, with the aim of communicating EixampleEixample
The Eixample is a district of Barcelona between the old city and what were once surrounding small towns , constructed in the 19th and early 20th centuries....
with the waterfront, amid much controversy. The demolition of a large number of houses and the removal of the streets in the area was required to do so. As some of the traditional guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
s of the city, some dating back to the Middle Ages, were located there, they had to be relocated in different parts of Barri Gòtic, notably Plaça de Sant Felip Neri. The first section to be built was named Carrer de Bilbao, which nowadays is a separate, shorter street that stems from the larger Via Laietana. The avenue was finished in 1926. Francesc Cambó
Francesc Cambó
Francesc Cambó i Batlle was a conservative Catalan politician, founder and leader of the autonomist party Lliga Regionalista. He was minister in several Spanish governments...
, a prominent politician of the time, built his personal residence in the avenue. During the years of the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
(1936-1939) it was renamed Via Durruti.
Architecture
As an avenue built in the early 20th century, its buildings reflect the aesthetic ideals of the period, and of the different political regimes. The style of some of its buildings has no other referent in Barcelona and has much more in common with the architecture that can be seen in MadridMadrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
. A number of these buildings are being converted into hotels.
Buildings of interest
- Conservatori Superior de Música del LiceuConservatori Superior de Música del LiceuConservatori Superior de Música del Liceu is a music college in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was created in 1837 with the name Liceo Filo-dramático de Montesión....
- Caixa de Pensions Building (1917), by Enric SagnierEnric SagnierEnric Sagnier i Villavecchia was a Catalan architect of Spanish nationality.Although now not as well known as his contemporaries Antoni Gaudí, Lluís Domènech i Montaner and Josep Puig i Cadafalch, he was responsible for a number of landmark buildings, was very prolific, and could turn his hand to...
- Unusual office building built in a trend of the Neo-Gothic style inspired by central EuropeCentral EuropeCentral Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
an churches with a white façade. - Casa Bulbena-Salas (1924-1926) by Joan A. Roig.
- Edifici del Col·legi d'Enginyers Industrials (1922) by Antoni Ferrater.
- Casa Artur Suqué (1927) by Adolf Florensa.
- Caixa Catalunya building (1931) by José Yárnoz Larrosa and Luis Menéndez Pidal Álvarez - It's been the Caixa CatalunyaCaixa CatalunyaCaixa Catalunya, the trading name of Caixa d'Estalvis de Catalunya, was a Catalan savings bank headquartered in Barcelona, Catalonia. It was owned by the Barcelona Provincial Government . It was the fifth largest savings bank in Spain, and the second largest banking institution in Catalonia, after...
headquarters since 1955, but originally hosted Banco de EspañaBanco de EspañaThe Bank of Spain , is the national central bank of Spain. Established in Madrid in 1782 by Charles III, today the bank is a member of the European System of Central Banks.-History:...
. - Casa dels Velers (1758-1763) by Juan Garrido i Bertrán
- Foment del Treball building (1934-1936) by Adolf Florensa - rationalistRationalismIn epistemology and in its modern sense, rationalism is "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification" . In more technical terms, it is a method or a theory "in which the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive"...
building, influenced by the Chicago SchoolChicago school (architecture)Chicago's architecture is famous throughout the world and one style is referred to as the Chicago School. The style is also known as Commercial style. In the history of architecture, the Chicago School was a school of architects active in Chicago at the turn of the 20th century...
. - Edifici de Tabacs (1923) by Francesc Guàrdia Vidal.
- Edifici de Correus (1926-1927 by Josep Goday Casals and Jaume Torres Grau.
Places of interest in the vicinity
- Palau de la Música CatalanaPalau de la Música CatalanaThe Palau de la Música Catalana is a concert hall in Barcelona. Designed in the Catalan modernista style by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, it was built between 1905 and 1908 for the Orfeó Català, a choral society founded in 1891 that was a leading force in the Catalan cultural movement...
- Santa Caterina market
- Cathedral of Santa EulàliaCathedral of Santa EulaliaThe Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia , also known as Barcelona Cathedral, is the Gothic cathedral and seat of the Archbishop of Barcelona, Spain. The cathedral was constructed throughout the 13th to 15th centuries, with the principal work done in the 14th century. The cloister, which...
Two closed metro stations
Via Laietana hosted two metroBarcelona Metro
The Barcelona Metro , part of the public transportation system of Barcelona, Catalonia, is an extensive network of electrified railways that run underground in central Barcelona and above ground into the city's suburbs. Since July 31, 2010, Barcelona Metro system consists of 11 lines with 165...
stations that were finally dismantled and abandoned because of different reasons. Correos was closed because of major changes in the metro line that crossed the area, and Banco was never opened.
Metro
- Jaume I (L4Barcelona Metro line 4— Line 4, currently known as Trinitat Nova – La Pau, usually called "línia groga" , is a line in the Barcelona Metro network operated by TMB, and part of the ATM fare-integrated transport network...
) - Urquinaona (L1Barcelona Metro line 1— Line 1, shortened to L1 and known as "Hospital de Bellvitge - Fondo", coloured red and often simply called Línia vermella , is the second oldest metro line in Barcelona, after L3. It is operated by Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona . It appeared as a means to join the rail stations the city...
, L4Barcelona Metro line 4— Line 4, currently known as Trinitat Nova – La Pau, usually called "línia groga" , is a line in the Barcelona Metro network operated by TMB, and part of the ATM fare-integrated transport network...
)
See also
- History of BarcelonaHistory of BarcelonaThe history of Barcelona stretches back well over 2000 years to its origins as an Iberian village, named Barkeno. Its easily defensible location on the coastal plain between the Collserola ridge and the Mediterranean sea, on the coastal route between central Europe and the rest of the Iberian...
- Carrer de Pau Claris
- Adolf Florensa
- Francesc CambóFrancesc CambóFrancesc Cambó i Batlle was a conservative Catalan politician, founder and leader of the autonomist party Lliga Regionalista. He was minister in several Spanish governments...
, Avinguda de Francesc Cambó - List of streets and squares in Eixample