Guell Palace

On the Carrer Nou de la Rambla, in the El Raval neighbourhood, stands the Palau Guell, one of Gaudi's earliest buildings. The street is so narrow that I could not get a photograph of the whole building.

The Palau Guell, reminiscent of a Venetian palace,  was built between 1886 and 1888. It was Gaudi's first major work for his patron Eusebi Guell.  The home is centred around the main room for entertaining high society guests. Guests entered the home in horse-drawn carriages through the front iron gates. Animals then would be taken down a ramp and kept in the livery stable in the basement, while the guests went up the stairs to the receiving room.

The two large oval gates feature a parabolic arch with intricate patterns of forged ironwork resembling seaweed and in some parts a horsewhip.

Between the two entrance gates there is also the Catalan coat of arms and a helmet with a winged dragon.

We entered through one of the arched doors (I took this photo looking back)

and took the route the horses would have taken

noted the tiled ceiling

and started descending on the ramp

There are two ramps leading to the basement, one for horses and one for the servants - I am not sure which one we were on

Through a window we could see the small inner courtyard that provides additional light and ventilation to the building - all of Gaudi's houses that I have visited have courtyards like this

Through these double arches

and we entered the most amazing space

The mushroom-shaped columns with the pyramic trunks are breath-taking - we just gazed in wonder.

This space was used for the servants and the horses

and the whole space is huge - we walked around for ages, marvelling...

The second ramp, but access was restricted

We climbed the staircase

In the centre of this main floor is a 17 metre high salon decorated with murals. The roof of the salon forms a parabolic dome. The salon was used for social occasions and religious services were also held here.

The dome has small holes near the top where lanterns were hung at night from the outside to give the appearance of a starlit sky.

The ornate walls and ceilings of this room disguised small viewing windows high on the walls where the owners of the home could view their guests from the upper floor and get a 'sneak peak'  before greeting them.

Everything is so grand

The windows are amazing,

similar, but each set different

some stained glass too

The corridors as sumptuous as the rooms

Paintings adorn the walls, this is Hercules Searching for the Hisperides by Aleix Capes, 1890

The dining room

Carved ceilings, similar, but like the windows, each one is different

I think this might be a chapel just off the main room

the organ just outside the huge golden doors

We took the stairs to the next level

detail of the banisters

looking up

had a look at some futniture

more stunning windows

the toilet

We then took the stairs to the attic that housed the rooms for the domestic staff and rooms such as the kitchen and pantry.

Another stunning space

more gorgeous windows

the last flight of stairs to the roofspace

As in all of the Gaudi houses I have seen, the chimneys are a remarkable feature, faced in vividly coloured ceramic tiles

there are 20 of them

and they are all different.

They also serve to ventilate the house

The tall spire in the form of a lantern tower, which is the external termination of the dome within, is also faced with ceramic tiles and topped with an iron weather vane.

detail

Climbing further up

Through the chimneys, good views of the city.

Eventually we tore ourselves away, retraced our steps, through the magnificent iron gate

and we left this amazing house.