Col·legi de les Teresianes
A Modernista school designed by Antoni Gaudí
This imposing building decorated with pinnacles that lend it the appearance of an impregnable castle is actually a school built by Gaudí. The Sarrià-Sant Gervasi district is home to the Col·legi de les Teresianes, a work in which Gaudí complied with the aesthetic rigour required by the Teresian religious order while also managing to add his own personal touch.
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Why visit Col·legi de les Teresianes?
The Col·legi de les Teresianes is a project that Enric d’Ossó, the founder of the Society of Saint Teresa of Jesus religious order, had originally commissioned Joan Baptista Pons i Trabal to undertake, but thanks to the renown that he had acquired both as an architect and a devout Christian, the work was finally commissioned to Gaudí in 1888.
The order wanted to construct an educational centre in Sant Gervasi de Cassoles, which was then a town to the north of Barcelona, whose building would reflect the austerity of the order’s vow of poverty. Gaudí respected Pons i Trabal’s rectangular floor plan and built a sober building with inexpensive materials like brick and undressed stone. Despite these restrictions, Gaudí was able to leave his mark on the structure of the building, which receives light on all its floors through the combination of two skylights with parabolic arch corridors. The facade features a composition of merlons crowned by the saint’s biretta, a religious symbol that is completed with Gaudí’s characteristic four-armed crosses to finish the pinnacles of the corners of the buildings. Moreover, at the corners of the facade there are ceramic crests with various symbols of the Teresian order: Mount Carmel crowned by the cross, the heart of the Virgin Mary crowned by thorns and the arrow-pierced heart of Saint Teresa.
How do you get to Col·legi de les Teresianes?
If you hop off at the Sarrià stop on the Blue Route of Barcelona Bus Turístic, you can stroll through this district to the Col·legi de les Teresianes, located on Carrer de Ganduxer.
For the most curious of you
- Did you know? The architect originally commissioned to undertake the project, Joan Baptista Pons i Trabal participated in the remodelling of Plaça de Catalunya and was also the architect of a singular Modernista building on Carrer de Balmes.
- Local’s tip: Unfortunately, the school cannot be visited because it is still an educational centre, but if you are in the area, you can look at the top over the walls that surround it.
