From Catalonia to Buenos Aires, the history of the second oldest manor house in the world and its restoration

For decades, the

was a refuge for immigrants who came to the country from that region of Spain.

Center for meetings, cultural activities, social club, library, embassy "without papers";

In short, an anchor in the City for the community.

The place where the Catalan language was the norm and the traditions, a message to pass from generation to generation that became a Buenos Aires reference and now

Fortunately for the San Telmo neighborhood, and for heritage in general -it has been a National Historic Monument since 2014-, the work currently covers the façade of the building.

Since last week it has been

settled in Argentina

and this house is the

, along with another that is located in Cuba;

the first migrant community is in France. 

Throughout

the structure of the house was changing.

It came to be made up of four institutions.

And the growth and importance of the community allowed it to expand as well;

from one building to two.

And its façade kept up with the changes: it was originally Italianate in style, until it was decided to renovate it so that it could reflect the architectural style that represents the region, Catalan modernism, whose greatest exponent is the architect Antonio

.

The façade of the Casal, just before it is wrapped in scaffolding.

Photo: Lucia Merle

Ariel Vives Bloise, president of the institution, accompanied

on a tour of the building and its history, which dates back to 1886 and to a married couple:

Both with a very important social and economic position, they bought the plot where the first building was built, the largest, which was inaugurated in 1889. Elisa was the daughter of Francisco Uriburu, a politician and landowner who founded a town that he baptized in honor to her: what is now the town of

The facade, full of images.

A couple of writers and, notably, the last name of the playwright Angel Guimerá, author of one of the most popular works in the Catalan language, Terra Baixa.

Photo: Lucia Merle.

And the first façade of that building continued the neighborhood

: a classic Italianate style, the one that can still be seen in many of the houses and low buildings of San Telmo.

, who mostly worked on the palaces and residences that were built at that time in Buenos Aires. 

It was not until 1910 that the other plot was incorporated, in which the

now operates ;

So named in honor of an engineer and linguist recognized for having established the modern regulations of the Catalan language.

Spanish Hospital, in Belgrano and Dean Funes.

Work of the architect Julián García Nuñez.

Today the façade presents a very important deterioration.

By 1926, with the unified land, the house also grew upwards and the change in the façade was decided.

For this, an architect born in the country was hired, but of a Catalan mother and father: Julián García Núñez, with many works in the City.

Together with Eugeni Campllonch, they designed this front that respects the concept of

based on nature and with decorative elements of great plastic importance. 

Casa Solé (1904), by the architect Eugeni Camplloch.

It forms part of the Inventory of the Architectural Heritage of Catalonia.

Photo courtesy: The Power of the Word

And in the casal those concepts were fulfilled to the letter.

It is worth waiting the six months that this restoration will require and then looking for the beautiful figures that make up its façade:

, birds, winged dragons, plants, flowers, leaves, human figures.

In addition, the wrought iron of the balconies, profusely ornamented, also with nature motifs.

And of course,

that represents this architectural style.

"The façade is also synonymous with the opulence of this batch of immigrants," says Vives Bloise.

The Pompeu Fabra Library.

The plot that was annexed in 1910. Light blue, the characteristic color of this architectural style.

Photo: Lucia Merle

But the germ of this house dates back to 1750 and not to San Telmo, but to

.

In that neighborhood of Buenos Aires -which was not yet called that- families from Catalonia began to gather.

They settled there, also with their businesses.

.

These families laid the cornerstone of what would become the Parish of Our Lady of Montserrat, patron saint of the Catalans.

A separate issue: although it sounds incredible,

Details in the drains, in the window frames and in the tiles located under the eaves.

Photo: Lucia Merle

"The families that came set up their businesses on the ground floors of the houses and lived on the upper floor. By the end of 1770 the monopoly of the Crown of Spain with the port of Cádiz ended (the ships that left Cádiz sailed to America and those who set sail from Barcelona, ​​did so through the Mediterranean), and then the first great migration of Catalans began. Many families already arrived with resources, because in reality they came to America

, says Vives Bloise.

Sant Jordi, framed by the winged dragons that are located in the smithy.

Photo: Lucia Merle

Going back to the Castells and Uriburu couple, they not only bought the plot, but also built and donated the building.

And

the Catalá Center, the Spanish Embassy, ​​the Spanish-Argentine Chamber of Commerce and the Catalan Association of Mutual Aid Montepio.

But from 1923 things begin to change.

With the rise of the dictator Primo de Rivera to power in Spain, many of the Catalans who began to migrate to Argentina arrived escaping political persecution: "Like my grandfather - recalls Vives Bloise -. So the coexistence of the four institutions it becomes unsustainable. It

he summarizes.

Details on the facade of the library.

Photo: Lucia Merle

One of the treasures of the Casal -in addition to the delicacies of the restaurant, with various typical recipes- is its library, Pompeu Fabra.

, some of them incunabula.

For Catalan culture, it is a unique place, which is why it is visited by researchers who come looking for what they cannot find in Spain.

Many books were burned and disappeared during the Primo de Rivera dictatorship.

"Many immigrants

and clothes. And then they handed them over to the library. We have almost 90% cataloged and 70% already uploaded to software that facilitates document management," they explained.

Open to the community, the most important activity is language teaching;

which for the community is much more, since they consider it a language and

In the darkest times of the dictatorships that Spain went through, they could not use Catalan, not even on the tombstones of their dead.

This year, the Catalan courses include cooking classes and typical dance classes, among other activities.

The crowning of a part of the building.

Golden tiles stand out.

Photo: Lucia Merle

The works in the manor house will accompany those carried out in the

, where the City replaces the cobblestones and recovers other historic facades, such as the Otto Wulff building, among other interventions.

During the nights the house will also be

SC

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