Arcadia Spain

Last Friday, we had a wonderful sunny day in Sitges!

Sitges is one of the most well-known coastal towns of Catalonia, and nowadays it is worldwide famous for its Carnival and its Film Festival. However it has always been an important historical reference because of its impressive architectural, artistic and cultural heritage.

During our little tour, we had the chance to see some of the most stunning Modernist and Neoclassic family houses of the “Americanos” who beautified Sitges during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. One of the most famous Americanos was F. Bacardí, who was born in Sitges but emigrated to Cuba when it was still a Spanish colony. Once he came back, he became popular thanks to his brand of rum.

Along with the Modernist and Neoclassic architecture, we were also able to appreciate the medieval influences that prevailed once in this town. We could observe remarkable Neogothic and Baroque influences in buildings such as Blai Bonaventura’s House and Sant Bartolomé i Santa Tecla Church. In addition, as we were strolling about the oldest streets of Sitges, we recognized the sinuous shapes that remained from the Middle Ages.

Our itinerary went through the old quarter and finished at the awesome views of the seafront, in front of the baroque church. Before finishing, we also had the chance to see the Palau Maricel and Cau Ferrat ─two prestigious artistic and cultural references in Catalonia. It was great to walk around the beautiful streets of Sitges while enjoying the comfortable mild weather that characterizes this town!

We were also lucky to find the artist Àngel Llàcer’s exhibition, currently available in Sitges. We were all so impressed at his work! Afterwards, the students had free time to discover the town by themselves, walk along the seafront and go shopping to the numerous and diverse shops in the town center. We had a nice meal under the sun and came back feeling happy to have seen and learnt about this amazing, precious town!