Exploring Sant Joan Despi.
Next day, I woke up early because of the time difference. I would have had a very early start, but discovered the nearest supermarket didn't open until 9am, so I had a bit of hanging around to do before I could go out and get us breakfast. The supermarket was a Mercadono. I actually enjoy wandering around well stocked supermarkets. This was a nice one with lots of beautiful fresh vegetables, a charcuterie section, a fish section and a bakery. I bought rolls, ham, cheese and tomatoes. We had a very nice breakfast in our room.
My plans for the day were to explore Sant Joan Despi itself, rather than travelling into Barcelona.
Sant Joan Despi is a town on the outskirts of Barcelona. Its name means Saint John of the Pine Trees. It's famous for its beautiful Art Nouveau and Modernist Architecture. The most famous architect here was Josep Maria Jujol.
Jujol was born in 1879 in Tarragona. Later his family moved to Barcelona where he met the most famous Catalan architect of all, Antoni Gaudi. Jujol worked with Gaudi on several of his most famous projects.
Later still Jujol became the official architect of Sant Joan Despi and designed several beautiful Art Nouveau buildings here.
I began my explorations by walking through Parc de la Fontsanta, which apparently means Park of the Fountain. This is a large green space with play areas for children and a skate park. It's not a stunning park, but it's a fairly pleasant place for a stroll or sitting in the sun. There were some beautiful flowers here.
Looking across the park.
Skatepark.
Russian sage.
Bougainvillea.
Plumbago.
At the end of the park, I crossed the road to The Lidl, which was housed in a rather attractive wavy building. Then I crossed again and headed towards the rail line. I passed some beautiful palm trees and an interesting sculpture in front of a heritage building called Cal Tusquets.
The Lidl.
Sculpture in front of Cal Tusquets.
I passed under the rail line, then went to the right. This took me to the Sant Joan Despi Train Station. Next to this is one of Jujol's most famous buildings, as well as two Modernist buildings designed by Ignasi Mas i Morell.
The building designed by Jujol here is called The Torre de la Creu, which means Tower of the Cross. It was the first building Jujol designed in Sant Joan Despi. It was commissioned by Jujol’s aunt, Josefa Romeu, who wanted a summer house here and gave her nephew complete creative freedom on this project. Jujol began work on this building in 1913.
The structure of Torre de la Creu is based on five intersecting cylinders, crowned by several egg shaped domes. Jujol designed it as two separate homes, but later in 1966, Lluís Bonet Garí, another disciple of Gaudí, converted the building into a single home. It is only possible to go inside Torre de la Crue on occasional guided tours. I could only admire it from the outside.
Torre de la Crue.
Torre de la Crue.
Torre de la Crue.
Torre de la Crue.
Right next to Torre de la Crue there are two connected villas designed by Ignasi Mas i Morell. One is called Villa Elena and the other is Villa José. Morello was born in Barcelona in 1881. He designed buildings in Spain, especially in San Pol de Mar and in Havana, Cuba. These buildings are largely rectangular with towers on the roof and colourful decorations on the wall.
Villa Elena.
Villa Elena.
Villa José.
Window, Villa José.
Villa Elena and Villa José
Villa Elena and Villa José.
Next to these buildings there is a pleasant little park with a miniature train and a monument to Josep Anselm Clavé, a Spanish composer and politician.
Train with Torre de la Crue and Villa Elena.
Josep Anselm Clavé.
Josep Anselm Clavé.
I had a quick look in the station to try and work out how to get into Barcelona the next day.
The Station.
I noticed the building next to Villa José was pretty, too. I had a look around this area and photographed a few more houses that I liked the look of.
Casa Trinitat Greuzer.
Casa Gamisans.
Building in Sant Joan Despi.
Villa Christina.
Building in Sant Joan Despi.
Casa Modest Tàpies.
Can Maluquer, a farmhouse now used as a community centre.
Then I set off to find another famous Jujol building - The Can Negre.
This building was a seventeenth century farmhouse that had been inherited by a lawyer called Pere Negre. He was fascinated when he saw The Torre de la Crue and commissioned Jujol to renovate his farmhouse so that it could become his family's summer residence.
For once I actually timed something right. The Can Negre was open when I arrived and after paying €3 I was given an audio guide and was allowed to wander around inside.
Can Negre nowadays is a centre dedicated to Jujol. It is possible to book a tour here to see the buildings Jujol designed in Sant Joan Despi, including The Torre de la Crue.
The audio guide began in front of the building where I could see a balcony designed to look like a carriage and various sgraffito inscriptions on the front of the building.
Can Negre.
Can Negre.
Outside on the grounds.
Bird sculpture outside Can Negre.
Inside on the ground floor there were some art galleries.
Ticket office.
Galleries downstairs.
Galleries downstairs.
Galleries downstairs.
Then there was a room displaying a beautiful triptych with closing doors to protect it. This room also had a depiction of The Annunciation, some ornate pinnacles from another Art Nouveau building and a model of the Can Negre.
Triptych.
Pinnacles.
The Annunciation.
Model of Can Negre.
Upstairs there were several rooms, some of which were used as activity rooms.
Doorway.
Decoration on the first floor.
Ornate heads on the first floor.
The main thing to see here though was an extremely ornate family chapel in Baroque style.
Altar.
Detail of Altar.
Decorations.
Roses.
Roses.
Ceiling.
Ornate head.
There were a couple of rooms that were being used as workshops. One room was known as the bird room and had walls decorated with pictures of different kinds of birds.
Bird room.
Bird Room.
Bird room.
On this floor it was also possible to sit inside the balcony that was shaped like a carriage.
Entrance to the balcony.
On the balcony.
Balcony window.
View from the balcony.
Then I went upstairs to the top level of the house. The stairway itself was extremely ornate.
Ceiling of the stairway.
Stairway.
Doorways.
The topmost level of the house was lined with wooden rafters. It seemed to be being used as an artists' studio and there were many artworks lying around.
Upper level.
Upper level.
Upper level.
Upper level.
Art in the upper level.
Art in the upper level.
Art in the upper level.
Art in the upper level.
I then went to visit three nearby buildings designed by Jujol.
One was the Jujol Tower. It was difficult to get a good view of this from the street. This building dates back to 1932. It was used by Jujol himself while he was overseeing his works being completed in Sant Joan Despi.
Jujol Tower.
Jujol Tower.
Just across the road from Jujol Tower is Serra-Xaus House, which dates back to 1921. This building was once a summer residence for the construction entrepreneur Pere Xaus Olivé.
Casa Serra-Xaus.
Casa Serra-Xaus.
Next to the Serra-Xaus Tower is The Rovira House. This dates back to 1926 and has a facade dedicated to Saint Anthony the Abbot. The front of the building has sgraffito depicting the countryside and fruit.
The Rovira House.
There was another Jujol house called Casa Engràcia Viñas on the other side of the road and some beautiful flowers and trees.
Casa Engràcia Viñas.
Blue potato bush.
Blue potato bush.
Southern magnolia tree.
I didn't realise it at the time but I should also have looked for the door of the workshop of the locksmith Josep Oliver. Apparently Oliver and Jujol sometimes worked together. The door depicts a peacock and a snake.
I was about to head home at this point, but then I heard a church bell ringing, so I went further on to take a look.
I found the Sant Joan Baptist Church which dates back to 1943. This was also designed by Jujol. Unfortunately it was closed and I couldn't look inside.
Church.
Church.
House next to the church.
Just past the church there was a market, but it had largely finished for the day and most stalls were packing up. Nonetheless I took a couple of photos of the remaining stalls.
Market.
Market stall.
Market stall.
Market stall.
Market stall.
Pumpkins.
The chapel of Saint Mary of the Good Journey.
Then I headed back home. When I got there I took Peter downstairs to the pool. We knew this hotel had an outdoor swimming pool, but we expected it to be closed as it's only meant to be open in summer. We were really pleased when we were told it was still open, as the weather had been nice. However, when we tried to go in, we realised it was absolutely freezing. I did manage to swim, though not for long. Peter went in about up to his waist, then decided he could stand no more. It was pleasant sitting by the pool, as it was sunny and there was music playing.
The swimming pool.
The swimming pool.
Peter by the pool.
Peter trying to get in the pool.
Peter trying to get in the pool.
Me by the pool.
Me in the pool.
That evening we ate in the hotel again. Peter wanted to try the meatballs and I wanted a Catalan flatbread. Unfortunately, we were told they had neither. We asked:"What do you have?" They said: "Pizza." So we ended up having that again, but this time we had the ham and cheese one. We also had more of the local Aguila beer. It was very good.
The bar.
Peter in the restaurant.
IHam and cheese pizza.
I took a few photos of the hotel lobby before we left.
The lobby.
The lobby.
The lobby.
The lobby.
This featured blog entry was written by irenevt from the blog A Trip To Spain..
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