My front yard: Arc De Triomf

Hi everyone, today my post is going to be a little bit more informative in a sense that I will be talking about a monument only a few minutes walking from my apartment. Arc de Triomf or Arco de Triunfo in Spanish. Let me first start with a picture so everyone has an image of how it looks.

Let us maybe first start off with what an Arc De Triomf actually is. Other Arc de Triomf's (like the name gives away) are built with the purpose of celebrating a country's military victories. This is the case for the very famous Arc de Triomf in Paris and the Wellington Arch in London. For this one in the centre of Barcelona the story is a little bit different. This monument was built to serve as the gateway to the 1888 World Fair and was thus intended to welcome people and not to celebrate victories.

The fact that it is not a military Arc de Triomf but rather a peaceful gateway to a celebration of solidarity is very noticeable for me. I pass this monument every day at least twice and there is always something to do that brings people together. Sometimes there are street artists, sometimes there are singers, sometimes there are sport events and sometimes there are demonstrations. All these events bring people together and that is what the monument was built for, so well done to the people in 1888 who made this happen.

Speaking of the builders: This Arc the Triomf was made by an architect named Josep Vilaseca i Casanovas. He was a local architect form Madrid that could call this monument the showpiece of his career. There are several other buildings in Barcelona that he build but this was his masterpiece.

On the picture above you can see that the Arc is a very central monument with a asymmetric structure. When you walk the other way (down on the picture) there is a 400 metres long car free walking zone where all street artist, young, old, singers, dancers, stand on the side of this square in the hope that they will be able to entertain people enough so that they will leave some small money. I've already seen and heard a lot of amazing talents that are not supposed to be preforming on the street, so if you want to have a creative and inspiring walk in Barcelona, this is the place to go!

Last I've put a video in this post (that I did not make) to give you guys a better impression of the place I pass every time. Fun fact: I go for a run in this walking zone 3 times a week. This could come as a shock for some of the people that know me well so I will repeat to confirm that I indeed go for a run 3 times a week.