eixample 1864

The uniqueness of this beautiful historical building lies in the fact that it is the only building in El Eixample that is decorated with paintings. It was designated a Historical Monument and is the most important of its kind in Barcelona. The property developer Josep Cerdà built this house between 1863 and 1864. The front is perfectly conserved and covers a surface area of 1200 m².

A team of 12 specialist restorers took part in the delicate restoration work. Detailed historical, technical and iconographic studies of the paintings were carried out before the work on the facade. The entire project was carried out under the supervision of the technicians from the City Hall of Barcelona and Generalitat de Catalunya.

The author of the paintings was the Italian artist Raffaelo Beltramini, who specialised in decorative painting and scenography in Barcelona in the second half of the 19th century. He mainly used the fresco technique in this work, although he also combined other methods.

The facade includes allegorical figures in bright colours which, after the restoration work, can again be admired in their original state. They are figures that symbolise nature, the arts, the sciences and cardinal virtues such as temperance, hope and prudence.

The paintings are distributed harmoniously under a hierarchical criterion in relation to the importance given to each floor during the period. Only the ground floor has no decoration. 

On the first floor, the figures are brightly coloured and greatly ornamental to highlight the noble character of the main floor. These figures are situated on rectangular rosettes marked by a thin column and they have various decorative motifs at the top.

On the second floor, the figures are painted with a combination of different tones of green. They are not framed and include ribbons and other types of ornaments.

The decoration of the upper windows imitates doors with semicircular arches and archivolts, with circles painted in green.

A frieze of closed arches culminates this unique facade at the top of the building.

Its location and features will let you enjoy the busiest area of the city. At the same time, you can enjoy deserved moments of peace and quiet and relaxation.

The metro station that has a direct connection to the airport of Barcelona is located only 200 m from the hotel.