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ALL ABOUT BARCELONA

Art - Sports - Unusual Things to See

The citizens of Barcelona are lovers of art. It is a city famous for its artists, its sculptors and its architects. You can see many examples of their work in museums, galleries and parks in the city.

Art
There are about fifty museums in Barcelona. You can visit the Museu d'Art de Catalunya in the Palau Nacional de Montjuïc. It is the most important museum in the world for Romanesque art. There are over five hundred paintings and carvings. The museum also contains some Gothic masterpieces.
The Picasso Museum is in an old Gothic palace. The Museum has examples of Picasso's 'blue period', ‘pink period', 'cubist period' and the series of works - Las Meninas. In the Museu d'Art Modern, you can see paintings by impressionist Catalan artists - Rusiñol, Casas, Nonell, Mir and Utrillo.

The Fundació Miró is high on the Montjuïc mountain, the green area of Barcelona. This modern building was designed by Sert and displays an excellent series of Miró's works from 1914 to 1978.

Sports
The citizens of Barcelona are sport lovers. Everyone -young and old- knows the names of famous Barcelonese sports personalities. Arantxa Sánchez Vicario and Emilio, her brother, are tennis players. Sito Pons, Alex Crivillé and Carles Mas are motorcyclists and Epi plays basketball.
There are over 1000 different sports facilities in Barcelona. There are tennis courts, swimming pools, basketball courts, football grounds, etc. Barcelona is a coastal town. And you can practise water sports - sailing, swimming, surfing and diving.

Camp Nou
is the home of El Barça (Barcelona Football Club). The stadium holds 120,000 spectators. Barcelona has
two teams in the top football league. 
There are sports competitions all year round. The World Cup football competition was held in Barcelona in 1982, the World Cycling Championship in 1984, the World Fencing Championship in 1985, the World Basketball Championship in 1986, the Athletics World Cup in 1989 - and in 1992 the Olympic Games!

Unusual Things to See
Here are some unusual things to see in and around Barcelona.

The Lady with the Umbrella
La Dama de Paraigua
, a symbol of the city,
is a sculpture on a fountain. It is in the Parc de la Cuitadella.

The Dali Museum
The Dali Museum is in Figueres, 138 km north of Barcelona. Salvador Dali (1904-89) was world-famous as an artist, sculptor, film-maker and musician. There are many very unusual works in this museum.

Cava
Catalonia is famous for its cava (sparkling white wine). The biggest wine cellars are 40 km south of Barcelona at Sant Sandurní d'Anoia.

Excavations
Archaeologists are always making discoveries under the streets of Barcelona. Engineers digging foundations for a new building often find the remains of Roman or Medieval buildings. There is a Roman cemetery in one of the squares: Plaça Villa de Madrid.

Pavement Art
There is a mosaic pavement designed by Miró in Les Rambles. It is in Plaça de la Boqueria.

Dancing
The Sardana is an old Catalan dance. The dancers perform this dance every Sunday in front of the Cathedral. You can go and watch this dance, or you can join in with the dancers!

Source: Ramón Ribé, Neus Serra, Núria Vidal (Heinemann)

GLOSSARY

sculptors: escultores
carvings: esculturas
Gothic masterpieces: obras de arte góticas
high on: en lo alto de
displays: exhibe
sports facilities: centros deportivos
courts: canchas (de tenis o básquet)
grounds: canchas (de fútbol)
coastal town: ciudad costera
diving: buceo
holds: tiene capacidad para
all year round: durante todo el año

World Cup: copa mundial
was held: se realizó
unusual: insólitas
film-maker: cineasta
sparkling white wine: vino blanco espumante
archaeologists: los arqueólogos
digging foundations: que cavan los cimientos
remains: restos
Roman cemetery: cementerio romano
mosaic pavement: vereda de mosaicos
perform: bailan, interpretan
join in with: integrarte a

 

BARCELONA TRAVEL GUIDE   PAGE 6/6

 

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