L’Arc de Triomf de Barcelona
Since Roman times triumphal arches have been built across Europe and beyond to commemorate military achievements and other significant events. They were a symbol of national pride, victory and power. As such, on a first encounter, one might assume that L’arc de Triomf de Barcelona has the same meaning, dating probably from the Roman period when the city itself was known under the name of Barcino. But this specific monument is not a military rather a civil one and it was built as the main access gate to the World Expo of 1888 held in Parc de la Ciutadella (erected for the same occasion).
L’Arc de Triomf was designed by the Catalan architect Josep Vilaseca in the Classical and New Moorish style, in vogue at the time, and built of red bricks rather than the customary marble. It is decorated, among many other motifs, with 49 friezes illustrating the provinces of Spain topped by the Coat of Arms of Barcelona.
The architecture was a remarkable feature of the fair with a number of important structures constructed for the event. Not all of them survived the passage of time though. As an example, one of the greatest attractions was La Font Màgica (The Magic Fountain), the precursor of Font Màgica de Montjuïc known to us. The jets of water with colored lights must have been an impressive sight for the visitors of those times. Gran Hotel Internacional was built in record time as a temporary facility for the guests only to be demolished a year later. The central and the largest edifice of the exhibition, Palau de la lndustria, occupied the space of what was to become in 1892 Zoo de Barcelona.
A few buildings survived until today. Among these Parc de la Ciutadella with some edifices and its Cascade Fountain, Cristopher Columbus’s (Cristóbal Colón) statue from Barcelona’s harbor and L’Arc de Triomf.
The World Fair of 1888, although smaller than the one held in Paris one year later, symbolizes the beginning of a modern Barcelona with the triumphal arch that still stands today being the doorway to a new social and cultural cycle in the history that was to come.
Coordinates: 41.391042, 2.180644