While dining in the main hall of their sumptuous palace a stone's throw from La Rambla, the Güell family was discreetly observed from above. Seeing without being seen, the service staff interpreted the gestures and desires of the family and eventual guests to check if they required any attention, and thus be able to respond immediately to their needs. The service members had a privileged perspective of Barcelona's high society of the time, with the Güells as main characters. They knew their routines, customs, and secrets. These secrets, however, are no longer exclusively reserved for the service; the guided tour The Secret Palau Güell allows visitors to discover hidden corners and learn unknown anecdotes and stories of Gaudí's unique building.
The evening visit opens doors usually closed to the public and provides access to hidden rooms and spaces, some of which are not accessible during the regular palace tour. Peeking through the same lattices from which the service staff observed the Güell family transports the visitor to the daily life of Barcelona's elite at the end of the 19th century, with Gaudí's palace as the setting. The building, constructed between 1886 and 1890, was the first major commission the architect received from Eusebi Güell, who entrusted him with building the family residence for himself, his wife, Isabel López —daughter of the Marquis of Comillas, Antonio López, another of the richest people of the time—, and their ten children. At 34, Gaudí then experimented with innovative techniques that he would later apply in other works, a fact that makes Palau Güell the seed and testing ground from which the work that elevated the architect from Reus to a universal artist developed.
These techniques and the way they intertwine are a distinctive feature of the building, but they are not the only factor that surprises those who enter the property with the visit El Palau Güell secreto (The Secret Güell Palace), every second Saturday of the month. The route through hidden spaces of the building transports visitors to the daily life of the Güells through elements such as the old dumbwaiter that connected the dining room floor with the kitchen, which in late 19th-century Barcelona was usually located on the upper floors for safety reasons in case of fire. The kitchen shared a floor with other spaces for the service, who resided in the attic. These spaces were connected to other rooms of the Güell residence by doors and stairs out of sight of guests, such as a small door located on the bedroom floor, in the gynaeceum room, which gave access to the service and is shown during the visit. In fact, the only staircase that connected all floors of the building was for the exclusive use of the service, and it runs through the building from the ground floor to its unique rooftop with winding chimneys over Ciutat Vella.
One of the highlights of the tour takes shape in another of the rooms reserved for the staff who served the family: the Güell coachman's chamber. The small 16-square-meter room, usually closed to the public, has become a time capsule that transports visitors to the tumultuous and repressive years of the Civil War and post-war period.
Its walls served as a canvas for dozens of detainees who passed through the room since 1937, both during the period when the palace was the headquarters of Solidaridad Internacional Antifascista (International Antifascist Solidarity) during the Civil War, and when it became the police station of the Fifth District from 1937 and during the post-war period. On its walls, the detainees engraved numerous inscriptions, a total of 185 drawings and writings that have brought the memory of the prisoners to the present day.
The guided tour The Secret Palau Güell allows visitors to scrutinize these traces, as well as delve into various aspects and facets of the palace and the Güells, who resided in the palace until 1906, when they moved to Casa Larrard, located in the park that bears their name. Eusebi Güell's business and economic dimension becomes more evident to the visitor when they enter his office and the room of the old library that housed more than 5,000 volumes, rooms now used as administrative spaces. The cultural and musical facet of the residence also does not go unnoticed during the visit, as it is possible to closely contemplate the console and the 1,386 pipes of the organ by maestro Blancafort that periodically fills the palace with its notes.
The most unknown facets of the emblematic Palau Güell climb up to its rooftop, with 20 Gaudian chimneys and a spire that ascends from the central hall. Its undulating floor also makes evident Gaudí's undeniable genius, who left an undulated space reserved for service and hanging laundry. The trencadís that covers a large part of the chimneys reflects the imprint not only of the Güell era, but also of Olympic Barcelona, with a Cobi that surprises among the pieces and awakens the visitor's curiosity. Its location is also revealed during the visit, which at the end invites to return to Palau Güell and continue exploring the corners and techniques that make it the germ of Gaudí's work.
More information and tickets for The Secret Palau Güell at palauguell.cat.