Eixample

Like a small diagonal that breaks with the perfect grid layout of the Eixample, the Avinguda Gaudí stretches proudly from the Sagrada Família towards the Hospital de Sant Pau. A semi-pedestrianised street that connects two magnificent landmarks, one by Gaudí and the other by Domènech i Montaner.

Building work on the new Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau began in 1909, and led to the construction of a new street that would connect the hospital with the church of the Sagrada Família. This is how the Avinguda Gaudí came into being. With Gaudí’s church at one end and Doménech i Muntaner’s modernista complex at the other, this is a bustling semi-pedestrianised street. In spite of the busy cross-streets, this artery features all the elements that give it the appearance of a boulevard: restricted vehicular access, bollards on either side, pavement cafés and a whole host of shops which delight lovers of typical neighbourhood shops.

This is a lively street which showcases a series of modernista streetlamps that lend it an elegant touch and unique style. They were designed by Pere Falqués and placed along the Avinguda Gaudí in 1985, after being stored for many years in a warehouse. They originally stood at the crossroads between the Passeig de Gràcia and the Avinguda Diagonal but were removed from this site in 1957 because they were a hindrance to traffic.