Poble Espanyol de Montjuic is a good example village on a hill suburb of Barcelona city , but it is dissimilar to any other village that you are ever plausible to encounter . The village lies to the south of the city at an elevation of 192 metres and looks directly down at Barcelona city center.

Poble Espanyol de Montjuic was purpose built for Barcelona’s 1929 International Exhibition and represents what was sensed as being the archetypal Spanish town. The village takes its inspiration from the whole of Spain and has a ground area of just under 50,000 square metres and includes 117 different buildings.

The aim of Poble Espanyol de Montjuic was to reveal the characteristics and aesthetics of different building styles from the country’s geographic regions and architectural history. No less than 1,600 separate towns and villages were visited and photo shot during research for the village’s design and all of the many different building styles are blended collectively in what was intended to be a seamless mix of Spanish heritage.

To make things even more interesting (and impressive), the complete model town is built on a scale of one to one, with every house , street and square being full size. In other words you can walk around and, in some cases, into the buildings as if it were a existent living town .

Originally the Poble Espanyol de Montjuic was only intended to live until the end of the exhibition, but because of its success and status as “the blue print” of a perfect Spanish town, it stays to this day.

The project was undertaken by a number of architects including the “modernist” Puig i Cadafalch, Ramon Reventos and Francesc Folguera.

The town sees a beautiful main square or alameda and numerous houses taken from 15 of Spain’s autonomous lands including, Andalusia, Asturias, Castilla i Leon, Galicia, Madrid, Murcia and the Balearic Islands. Most agree that this artificial town is a sight worth seeing and the only opportunity you will ever get to see so many varying style and designs in one location .

Also on and around the hill of Montjuic you will find the Parc de Montjuic, a number of museums and part of Barcelona’s 1992 Olympic Games building complex. This area is a true tourist hub.

The area of Montjuic can be reached from Barcelona by several different means of transport including train and cable car and you can of course walk, if not up to the town , the route back down. You can also take the Barcelona tourist bus and take in the rest of the city.

Admission to the village is by “village pass” at a cost of 30 euros and this gives entry to 2 adults and 2 children. An audio guide (in English) is a further 3 euros.

Enjoy your trip to Barcelona!