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Bohemian Barcelona

A two-and-a-half-hour night-time tour takes in the pubs and venues favoured by the city’s Modernist artists

For a period of more than thirty years, roughly between 1885 and 1920, Barcelona was the epicentre of the Modernist art movement and emblematic venues such as Els Quatre Gats were frequented by illustrious characters the likes of Ramon Casas, Santiago Rusiñol and Picasso himself. Els Quatre Gats belongs alongside a long list of other venues which, despite their lesser notoriety, still form an integral part of Barcelona’s nightlife.

A night-time tour entitled Bohemian Barcelona, which will take place on the Fridays of the 5th and 12th of September, proposes revisiting some of the more unique venues frequented by the bohemian crowd towards the end of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th centuries. The tour is an attempt to acquaint participants with the architectural characteristics of Modernism, a movement that attempted to create unique spaces by integrating the full range of artistic disciplines, while at the same time explain the complex cultural changes that were occurring during the period in question.

The two-and-a-half-hour tour will include pauses in two of these venues during which participants may enjoy a drink while the tour guide offers a series of anecdotes concerning the writers and artists who frequented the premises as well as an insight into the secrets of their bohemian splendour. The majority of the spaces included in the tour do not form part of the usual nocturnal circuits and many are still in use today.

The Bohemian Barcelona tour may be taken on the 5th or the 12th of September beginning at 9.30 pm. Prior reservation is required and the price of the tour, 17 €, includes the two aforementioned drinks and a map. For more information, please consult the tour website.

Publication date: Monday, 25 August 2014
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