You know what? The pavement of Portuguese origin…

By: Ferran Garcés 

Two people standing in two different cities. In the first photograph, we see a famous poet, Fernando Pessoa, in his hometown of Lisbon. In the second photo, we see a maqui, the name given to armed groups that continued operating in Spanish territory after the Civil War to oppose the Franco regime. A legendary maqui: Francesc Sabaté Llopart, better known as “El Quico.” Every Barcelonian will recognize the place where he is standing—it’s the Arc de Triomf. 

What do these two images have in common? The ground beneath the feet of their protagonists. A type of ground that, for a time, Lisbon and Barcelona shared. Sadly, that is no longer the case. However, Torre Bellesguard, a work by Gaudí that never ceases to amaze us, has preserved its original pavement. 

A new city, a new ground 

Around 1907, when Gaudí was finishing Bellesguard, Barcelona was starting to pave the streets of the Eixample district—a project that would serve as a model for the rest of the city. Initially, two methods were considered. On the one hand, hydraulic cement tiles. Some of these have become icons of Barcelona, such as the so-called “flower tile” and the “Gaudí tile.” Others, however, have been forgotten. This is the case with the tiles used in the foyers of Gaudí’s house in Park Güell and Torre Bellesguard. Late last year, two articles were published discussing this overlooked tile (see: El panot de Bellesguard, part I and El panot de Bellesguard, part II). 

On the other hand, the second method was the ground walked upon by Fernando Pessoa and “El Quico”—a pavement where stones form a kind of mosaic. The same type of pavement that, exceptionally, has been preserved in Torre Bellesguard. 

The Portuguese pavement 

The method of the “calçada portuguesa,” “mosaic pavement,” or “Portuguese stones,” was invented in Lisbon around the 1840s. According to recent studies by specialist Danae Esparza, Barcelona was the first city in the world to experiment with this system outside the borders of Portugal. To be precise, the test took place in 1895 on the Passeig de Lluís Companys—then called Saló de Sant Joan—at the height of the Arc de Triomf. At the time, this location was synonymous with modernity, as the area had recently been designed as the main entrance to the 1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition. 

In the photo, we can see that the experiment was adapted to Barcelonian tastes by adding the city’s coat of arms in some sections of the pavement. 

Unfortunately, this original pavement was destroyed in 1975. Today, few people remember it. However, at Torre Bellesguard, built between 1900 and 1909, the Portuguese pavement has been preserved. Specifically, it can be found around the central garden bench and on the sidewalk of the main entrance. 

Along with the aforementioned tile, this stone mosaic is an example of the extraordinary state of preservation of the property. Moreover, it is a testament to Gaudí’s talent for combining, in a single work of neo-Gothic appearance, the nostalgia of Catalonia’s medieval past with the latest trends of his time. 

Notes 

(1) Esparza, Danae (1982), Barcelona a ras de suelo, Barcelona, Universidad de Barcelona, chap. 8, pp. 243–256 

(2) Ibíd., pp. 88–94 

To learn more about the Portuguese pavement, we recommend the following articles, which offer an updated perspective on the subject: 

Giménez, Rafael (12/11/2018), “Los últimos calceteiros,” El gran otro website 

Martín Aparicio, Galo (10/01/2020), “Calzadas de Lisboa: un tesoro en piedra,” Revista Binter website