Themed routes

When Domènech i Montaner was completing the Castell dels Tres Dragons, which was the restaurant for the 1888 Universal Exhibition, he unveiled the essence of an architectural style defined by a blend of classic, historicist and traditional shapes with the colour and decorative symbolism of the buildings.

Only a humanist like Domènech i Montaner, who was also a historian, teacher, politician and architect, could epitomise the culmination of the modernista style in Catalonia, based on a modern architecture which reflected the Catalan national identity. Indeed, his commitment to the political and cultural Catalan movement, marked the life and work of this Barcelona-born architect. He is considered the master and founder of the modernista style and developed an innovative language based on the integration of all the arts.

This means that Domènech i Montaner’s private residences – such as the Casa Lleó Morera, the Casa Fuster and the Palau Montaner – and his most widely acclaimed public buildings, – including the Palau de la Música and the wonderful Hospital de Sant Pau complex, which have both been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites – skilfully combine the refined modernista aesthetic with its sinuous curves, plant motifs, with increasingly light and rational formal, functional and modern structures.