León is a city full of hidden treasures, landscaped squares, parks and fountains. A city of kings, medieval cities and legends, Gaudí chose it as the site of two buildings that are now part of his memorable legacy
León: a city of history and heritage
León treasures two jewels of Gaudian architecture, the only three buildings built outside Catalonia, the Botines House Museum and the Episcopal Palace of Astorga..
“León and Gaudí” highlights the value of both buildings and enhances Gaudí’s link with the city of the Kings, where his works have contributed to the culture, heritage, art and tourism of the city.
Casa Botines Museum
At the end of the 19th century Antonio Gaudí decided to accept a commission from two merchants from León to build a textile warehouse in the city, which would later become Casa Botines, a unique work that cities all over the world would dream of. This residential building was revolutionary and transgressive for its time, where Gaudí experimented with new structural, symbolic and decorative solutions. A unique building that would become Casa Botines, a unique work that cities all over the world would dream of. This residential building was revolutionary and transgressive for its time, where Gaudí experimented with new structural, symbolic and decorative solutions.
Casa Botines Museum, León
After Simón Fernández and Mariano Andrés commissioned a building that would allow them to expand the business by means of a commercial space with spacious warehouses in which to store abundant merchandise and large dwellings that would allow bourgeois families to live in rented accommodation, Gaudí decided to design a seven-storey building inspired by the constructions of the Barcelona and Parisian bourgeoisie.
Museo Casa Botines
This was how Gaudí created the first tenement house of his entire career, in which he was able to put his modern and daring ideas into practice. The conclusions he would draw from its construction would serve the Catalan architect to endow his later buildings (the Casa Batlló and the Casa Milà, especially) with curious structural novelties that would shape his personal and distinctive touch. In them he combines decoration, symbolism and the utmost respect for functionality and comfort.
The Casa Botines Museum, currently owned by the Fundación Obra Social de Castilla y León (FUNDOS), is open to the public and musealised, and has more than 200 works of art by artists such as Francisco de Goya, Joaquín Sorolla, Salvador Dalí and Eduardo Chillida. Its permanent exhibition is dedicated to the history of the building, the figure of Antonio Gaudí and the Fundos collection. It covers three complete floors of the building, with a surface area of more than 1500 m2;
Episcopal Palace of Astorga
The history of the construction of the Episcopal Palace begins when in 1886 Don Juan Bautista Grau y Vallespinós, a native of Reus, took possession of the diocese of Astorga, residing in the old episcopal palace, and on 23 December of that same year the primitive palace went up in flames.As the post of diocesan architect for the construction of the new palace was vacant, Bishop Grau proposed his fellow countryman Antonio Gaudí y Cornet to take charge of the works from 1889 to 1893, Gaudí decided to abandon the construction as he did not get along with the construction board at that time, so the architect D. Ricardo García Guereta was commissioned to finish the work.
Episcopal Palace of Astorga
This is a neo-Gothic style building built with granite from El Bierzo, with the features of a castle, temple and stately mansion, surrounded by a moat. It has four façades flanked by four towers. The main and rear facades, with their pointed windows, give the building the character of a Gothic temple.
It is a building with a Greek cross plan inscribed in a square. Its gabled roof is made of slate and is bordered by a granite balustrade. The chimneys, probably designed by Gaudí, should form, together with the three angels designed by him to finish off the roof, an attractive ensemble that has never been admired, since the architect who was commissioned to finish the work did not carry it out..
Episcopal Palace of Astorga
Both Casa Botines and the Episcopal Palace of Astorga are listed as assets of cultural interest.
Images provided by Turismo de León.
Information: leon.com, palaciodegaudi.es, palaciodegaudi.es
