3rd Trip to Colònia Güell, Santa Coloma de Cervelló - 5th Task

ECC students at the entrance of the crypt.

In Santa Coloma de Cervelló, there is a surprisingly well-preserved old industrial textile colony with one of the most beautiful buildings designed by Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926), i.e. the crypt.

Eusebi Güell (1846-1918) was a visionary Catalan businessman who not only admired Gaudí's works, but also was Gaudí's best client and friend. He envisioned an industrial textile colony with houses for its workers, schools, shops, facilities, a doctor's surgery, and of course, a church, and asked Gaudí to design it. Gaudí started building the church in 1908 and gave up the project in 1918 when Mr. Güell died and his descendants decided not to invest more money on the church.

UNESCO declared The Crypt in Colònia Güell a world heritage site in 2005, and the crypt is considered to be "Gaudí's lab" because he used there the innovative building techniques he would be using later when designing the Sagrada Familia Temple in Barcelona.

Students in ECC visited the Colònia Güell on 6th April 2016. We had a guided tour around the colony and could take pictures of this 120-year-old modernist venue.

Would students be able to catch Gaudís' essence in the crypt? Of course they did! See the selection of photographs for the Exhibition of History Icons and you will judge it by yourself.

For the moment, click here to see some photos of the visit.