Culture Explorer Profile picture
May 3, 2024 18 tweets 6 min read Read on X
Let us uncover Barcelona's daring spirit through its architectural masterpieces, each a testament to the city's blend of history, art, and innovation.

Are there others we should add to this list of 15?
🧵⤵️ Temple of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Barcelona, Spain Credit: r/ArchitecturePorn @legwelkar on Reddit
1. Sagrada Família is a monumental Roman Catholic basilica famously designed by Antoni Gaudí, whose construction began in 1882 and remains incomplete. It's set to be completed by 2026, the centenary of Gaudí's death. Gaudí famously remarked about the prolonged construction, "My client is not in a hurry," referring to the divine.Credit: @othingstodo_com
2. Casa Batlló is a vibrant, imaginative building renovated by Gaudí, representing the apex of Modernisme. The facade is rumored to depict the legend of Saint George slaying the dragon, with the roof designed to mimic the dragon's back. Credit: ChristianSchd • CC BY-SA 3.0
3. La Pedrera (Casa Milà) is another Gaudí masterpiece, notable for its wavy stone facade and innovative wrought iron balconies. Its construction was controversial due to its bold design, and it initially faced criticism for its unconventional appearance. Credit: Thomas Ledl • CC BY-SA 4.0
4. Park Güell is a public park featuring gardens and architectural elements designed by Gaudí on Carmel Hill. Originally intended as a housing project, it was converted into a park after the project failed commercially. Credit: 📸 dazeydreamz
5. Palau de la Música Catalana, designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner, is a concert hall renowned for its stained glass and detailed mosaics. It stands out as the only concert hall in Europe illuminated entirely by natural light during the day. Credit: @Pili20569002 on X
6. Barcelona Cathedral, officially the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia, is a Gothic cathedral known for its elaborate facade. It houses a cloister with 13 white geese, representing the age of Saint Eulalia at her martyrdom. Credit:  r/ArchitecturePorn @Lma0-Zedong On Reddit
7. Santa María del Mar is an imposing church built in the Catalan Gothic style, famously constructed by the local shipbuilders and merchants within 55 years, a remarkably short period for its time. Image
8. Hospital de Sant Pau, a former hospital now serving as a museum, was designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner and is one of the largest Art Nouveau sites worldwide. It functioned as a hospital until 2009 and transitioned to a cultural site thereafter. Credit: Photo By Thomas Ledl - Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
9. Torre Glòries, formerly known as Torre Agbar, is a 38-story skyscraper known for its night-time illuminations that change colors for different occasions. It marks the gateway to Barcelona’s technological district. Credit: By Diliff - Own work, CC BY 2.5
10. Palau Güell is a mansion designed by Gaudí for the industrialist Eusebi Güell, featuring a unique central hall with a parabolic dome optimized for natural light, intended for high-society events. Ceiling in one of the rooms in his Palau Guell Credit: @timritchie
11. Museu Nacional Credit: 📸Museu Nacional
12. Arc de Triomf was built as the main access gate for the 1888 Barcelona World Fair, with friezes that depict Barcelona welcoming nations, showcasing a rich modernisme style. Credit: By Selbymay - Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
13. Casa Vicens was Gaudí's first significant project, a summer house that combines Catalan and Moorish styles and displays his early use of tiles and ironwork. Credit: By Canaan - Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
14. La Rambla is a famous street in central Barcelona, known for its vibrant atmosphere and cultural significance. It is a mosaic of shorter streets, each with its unique character. Credit: BCN-Travel
15. Magic Fountain of Montjuïc, built for the 1929 International Exhibition, is famed for its spectacular displays involving water, light, and music, often synchronized to various musical themes. By Avda - Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
If you enjoyed this thread, please share the initial post from the link below and follow us if you're not already doing so.

Additionally, you might want to subscribe to our weekly newsletter, sent every Friday - just click the website link in our profile to sign up.
This picture is credited to: @hikingview

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Culture Explorer

Culture Explorer Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @CultureExploreX

Sep 27
Civilizations don’t just fall.

They paint their decline on the walls before they vanish.

Art has always mirrored collapse in real time. Here’s the story... 🧵 In 1742 the great Venetian artist Giovanni Antonio Canal (1697-1768), better known as Canaletto, painted a series of five views of Rome's greatest monuments.
Rome left warnings in paint and stone.

Pompeii’s graffiti mocked leaders, cursed neighbors, and scrawled crude jokes.

“I’m amazed, wall, you haven’t collapsed under the weight of so many scribbles.”

When Vesuvius buried Pompeii, it froze satire in ash. CIL IV 10237. Gladiator Graffiti from the Nucerian Gate, Pompeii, depicting the names “Princeps” and “Hilarius”. Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.
CIL IV 8055. Graffiti depicting Gladiators, Pompeii. Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain
Asellina’s Tavern Election Poster. Picture Credit: Marco Ebreo. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International. Wikimedia Commons
Rufus est (This is Rufus). Caricature from the Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii. Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.
By the 5th century, Roman art had shifted.

Gone were muscular gods and lively battles.
Instead: flat, rigid emperors, empty eyes, Christian symbols replacing myth.

The style mirrored an empire losing vitality. Late Roman mosaics at Villa Romana La Olmeda, Spain, 4th-5th centuries AD By Valdavia - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0
Read 18 tweets
Sep 19
Friday the 13th wasn’t always unlucky.

It became cursed the morning the most powerful knights in the world were dragged from their beds in chains.

This is the story of the Knights Templar — warrior monks who built empires, invented banking, and died in fire. 🧵 Image
Formed in 1119, the Templars began as nine knights sworn to protect Christian pilgrims on the dangerous roads to Jerusalem.

They lived atop the Temple Mount itself. Believed to be the site of Solomon’s Temple. That sacred address gave them instant mystique.
They were no ordinary knights.

Templars took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. They lived like monks but fought like soldiers, a combination that shocked the medieval world. Image
Read 19 tweets
Sep 17
Some restaurants serve food.
These places serve awe and beauty.

Here are 20 of the world’s most breathtaking dining experiences.

Which one would you choose for an Anniversary? 🧵 Kunsthistorisches Museum cafe
1. Le Train Bleu, Paris, France

A Belle Époque palace hidden in Gare de Lyon—frescoes, chandeliers, and royalty in spirit. Le Train Bleu, Paris, France - Travel through time with a meal inside this gilded Belle Époque treasure at Gare de Lyon. More of a restaurant but provides a cafe vibe.  Credit: @WorldScholar_
2. Café New York, Budapest, Hungary (1894)

A café dressed as a palace—dripping gold, frescoes, and overwhelming grandeur.
Read 23 tweets
Sep 13
Why do we stare at faces painted centuries ago?

Because portraits aren’t just about how someone looked. They show us who mattered. What power meant. What beauty was.

Here are 22 portraits that shaped how we see the world — and ourselves. 🧵 Portrait Of Lady Agnew Of Lochnaw by John Singer Sargent at the 	Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh Year (completed): 1892
This isn’t just a pretty girl.

Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring (1665) is quiet, almost plain.

But her gaze follows you. Her lips are parted. She’s thinking something.

We just don’t know what.
Mauritshuis, The Hague, Netherlands Image
Not seductive. Not smiling.
But absolutely unforgettable.

John Singer Sargent’s Madame X (1884) shocked Paris.
He had to repaint the strap to stop the scandal.
She became the most famous woman nobody knew.

Met, NYC Image
Read 23 tweets
Sep 12
In 2004, Navy Cmdr. David Fravor chased a white “Tic Tac” that dropped 50,000 feet in seconds, hovered, and darted off faster than a missile.

Radar and infrared confirmed it.

Physics can't explain it.

What if this sighting and others like it connect to visions in scripture? 🧵
Ezekiel, 6th century BC.

He described “wheels within wheels” of fire, full of eyes, rising and darting across the sky.

Scholars call it prophecy.

Yet the imagery—rotating forms, luminous movement—matches reports from pilots millennia later.

Were they both seeing the same reality?Ezekiel's Vision by Raphael, c. 1518 AD
Fatima, 1917.

Seventy thousand people in a Portuguese field claimed the sun spun, plunged, and threw rainbow colors across the sky.

Eyewitnesses included skeptics and reporters.

Miracle? Mass hallucination?

Or the same luminous disc phenomenon tracked today by pilots and radar?
Read 16 tweets
Sep 11
9/11 didn’t just collapse towers, it collapsed belief.

In Institutions and In purpose.

24 years later, what’s rising in its place isn’t chaos.

It’s something more seductive and far more dangerous. 👇 9/11 Never Forget ...  Credit: Hannah Funderburk
Historians William Strauss and Neil Howe called it The Saeculum — a four-phase cycle of human history:

• The High
• The Awakening
• The Unraveling
• The Crisis

We are now deep inside the last one. The Crisis. The Four Turnings of the Strauss-Howe Generational Theory
Every few generations, society hits a Fourth Turning, a total crisis that tears through its myths and rebuilds from the ashes.

• Revolution
• Civil war
• Depression
• Global war

Each cycle ends the same way: something must be reborn. Image
Read 15 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(