Barcelona is one of the most attractive tourist destinations in all of Spain. The second largest city in Spain and the capital of Catalonia, Barcelona is located on the Mediterranean coast. The charming city is famous for its incredible architecture, fabulous cuisine, and thriving nightlife. It is home to world-class restaurants, 5-star Barcelona hotels, fabulous shopping, and a mulititude of historical and cultural sites. Barcelona even boasts nine structures that are part of designated World Heritage Sites.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) maintains a list of sites that are “of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of humanity.” These sites may be structures such as buildings or monuments, natural sites such as lakes, mountains, deserts, or forests, or even entire cities. While Barcelona has only two official “sites” they comprise nine individual buildings.

Two of Barcelona’s structures that together make a World Heritage Site are the works of of Lluís Domènech i Montaner. The Hospital de Sant Pau and the Palau de la Música Catalana were added as one site in 1997. The hospital was built between 1901 and 1930 and features bold decoration and design while still functioning as a hospital to the present day. The Palau de las Musica Catalana is a music hall that was built between 1905 and 1908 to house the Orfeó Català choral society. It is a airy, steel-framed structure with decorations provided by many of the top designers of the time.

Antoni Gaudí was responsible for many of the most famous structures in Barcelona. Three of his structures, the Palau Güell, the Park Güell, and the Casa Milàbecame a World Heritage Site in 1984. In 2005 another four structures, the Sagrada Família, the Casa Vicens, the Crypt in Colonia Güell. and the Casa Batlló, were added to the official Site. La Sagrada Família is Spains’s most visited landmark and remains the only major church that is still under construction. When finished, the structure will include twelve towers representing the Twelve Apostles, each rising over 100 meters tall.

Of Gaudí’s other sites, the Casa Batlló is unique in that it represents the renovation of a pre-existing building that included new concepts in deocration and ornamentation. Casa Mila is an apartment block with a wave-like facade while Güell Palace is a stunning example of Catalan Art Nouveau architecture. The Crypt in Colonia Güell is considered to be one of the most admired works of the architect and foreshadow many of the features in the Sagrada Família.

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