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'La Casa de la Ciutat‘ is the building that houses the offices of the City of Barcelona. It has more than 6 centuries of history and architectural presence ranging from the Gothic to Neoclassical. Government offices and meeting rooms coexist with historic artwork in the form of sculptures, tapestries and paintings.

City Hall, also known as the Casa de la Ciutat, stands on one side of the Plaça Sant Jaume, right in the middle of Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter and in front of the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya. The neoclassical façade conceals Gothic gems such as the historic Great Hall, or Saló de Cent, designed by Pere Llobet and built in the 14th century

Courtyard and Staircase of Honour

Courtyard and Staircase of Honour

Saló de Cròniques, or Hall of Chronicles

Saló de Cròniques, or Hall of Chronicles

Sala del Bon Govern

Saló de la Reina Regent (Queen Regent's Room, where Full City Council Meetings are held),

Portrait of the Queen Regent, Maria Cristina, and her son Alphonso XIII (Francesc Masriera. 1887), and a bust of King Juan Carlos I

The Saló de la Reina Regent is next to the Saló de Cent, (the Room of One Hundred). Francesc Daniel Molina was commissioned to design it in 1860. It is currently the council chamber. Shaped in the form of a semi-circle, it is covered by a semi-dome with a lantern made from stained glass.

The Saló de la Reina Regentconsists of semicircular plant with form of chamber and a vault of average cupola with paintings of the artist Claudius Lorenzale and the crystal skylight of Pere Falqués.

Cupola of The Saló de la Reina Regent

The galleries have red marble Ionic columns, whose bases are decorated with floral gilt motifs

Clock with symbols of progress in Saló de la Reina Regent, (where Full City Council Meetings are held),

The chamber is distributed in two levels, for the regidores with fifty seats of honor and another one for the public and press that wants to attend the plenary sessions. The furniture was renewed in 1891 by the architect Pere Falqués in alfonsino style.

Ionian columns of red marble and the base gilded with floral motifs

Presiding over the room of semicircular plant, is a painting by Francesc Masriera, the Queen Maria Cristina with her son, the prince Alfonso XIII, future king of Spain, placed upon the presidential table, realized in 1888 on the occasion of the visit that she did during the Universal Exhibition in Barcelona

Barcelona coat of arms

The mayor's table is surrounded by fifty wooden seats divided into two blocks with two galleries, one for the public and other for the press. The room is decorated with two bronze candelabra, a portrait of the Queen Regent, Maria Cristina, and her son Alphonso XIII, as a child (Francesc Masriera. 1887), a bust of King Juan Carlos and, in the vaulted niches, two marble statues of St George and St Eulalia, both by Josep Viladomat

Santa Eulalia by

Josep Viladomat

Portrait of the Queen

Regent, Maria

Cristina, and her

son Alphonso

XIII, (Francesc Masriera.

1887), and a bust of

King Juan Carlos I

Saló de la Reina Regent (Queen Regent's Room, dome paintings by Claudius Lorenzale (1816 – 1889)

Angel of light &

knowledge ceiling

painting detail in Queen

Regent's room

Angel of virtue ceiling

painting detail in Queen

Regent's room

Angel of industry ceiling

painting detail in Queen

Regent's room

Portrait of the Queen

Regent, Maria

Cristina, and her

son Alphonso

XIII, (Francesc Masriera.

1887), and a bust of

King Juan Carlos I

In the side that it gives to the place of San Miguel it is the most modern part; they are constructions added for the administrative service of the citizens, Novíssim (Latest) of the year 1958 being inaugurated in 1970, a building of fifteen glass plants by the architects Llorenç García-Barbón and Enric Giralt i Ortet decorated with panels in aluminum representing the coats of arms of Barcelona by artist Josep Maria Subirachs. A frise framing the ground floor, by the same sculptor. The architect Manuel Brullet Tenas in 1994 was in charge to realize new reforms of improvement in the connection between the three buildings and the demolition of the four last plants of Novíssim for his better harmony among them and the surroundings where they are located.

1969: Facades of the new building of the City council of Barcelona - Josep Maria Subirachs

The frieze framing the ground floor by artist Josep Maria Subirachs

The frieze framing the ground floor by artist Josep Maria Subirachs

Josep Maria Subirachs i Sitjar, is a Catalan sculptor and painter of the late 20th century. His best known work is probably the Passion Facade of the basilica of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona

Antoni Llena La obra Preferiría no fer-ho (I would prefer not to), en Patio central del edificio Nou Antoni Llena, Plaça Sant Miquel, Monument als Castellers

Antoni Llena, Plaça Sant Miquel, Monument als Castellers

Traditional human towers called castell

Traditionally, the castellers perform their tower building during the main parts of larger festivals. Usually, three colles come together and build their human edifices. Nowadays, the towers are also often built outside of the festivals – the actual season goes from June to November

Homenatge als castellers by Antoni Llena

The building of castells is a rather rural tradition, which also explains why the first club in the city, the Castellers de Barcelona, was founded quite late in 1969. The founding members of the coll are mostly former citizens of Villafranca, not far away from Barcelona. There were some earlier groups, but they remained unsuccessful and no longer exist.The Castellers de Barcelona kept on refining their technique and the towers became higher and higher.

While in the 1970s, 7-level castells were built, the already have 10 levels today. This level of difficulty has only been achieved by 10 of the colles of the casteller association. The "Coordinadora the Colles Castelleres de Catalunya" comprises 60 colles.

The castells have their origins in a traditional folklore dance in the city of Valls. The steps of the dance were accompanied with the flute, as it is still played today during the tower building. At the end of the dance a small human tower was built. This probably has encouraged the ambitions of the dancers: the towers started becoming a phenomenon of their own, and rivalling groups started building higher and higher towers. It is assumed, that the castellers were officially separated from the traditional dance by the end of the 19th century.

The human castles, or ‘castells’, were presented as one of the most genuine and unique cultural practices of Europe, an excellent example of Catalonia’s “strength, balance, values and wisdom”.

A bunch of strong, big castellars make up the pinya (base) and support their teammates as they create level upon level with progressively fewer (and lighter) people. Once a level is complete, the people who make up the next one climb up the backs of the others and take their place. Then the top person, called an enxaneta (rider) climbs all the way to the very top and, supported by only two people, raises a hand with four fingers up to symbolize the Catalan flag. The enxaneta and the very top levels are often made up of children to lighten the load on the bottom levels. Then the castell disassembles itself from the top down by each level climbing back to the ground. Only when everyone is safely back on the ground is the castell considered a success.

The Catalan Human Castles known as "Castells" have today been included by UNESCO in the list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

The tradition dates back to end of the 18th century in Catalonia in Spain. The towers are built by "castellers" who belong to groups called "colles" and intricate techniques are used to complete the highest and most complex castle. There are three parts to a castell and each varies in width and height. Some reach eight storeys high and even 10 storeys has been achieved. A young child normally climbs the whole tower and salutes the crowds from the top. The feat requires strength, teamwork, concentration and discipline. The motto of the castellers is strength, balance, courage and wisdom.

Text & pictures: InternetCopyrights of the photos belong to each photographer

Presentation: Sanda Foişoreanuwww.slideshare.net/michaelasanda

Sound: Vestida de nit - Sílvia Perez Cruz i Càstor Pérez