Casa Serra and Casa Capella are to be found in the modernist Heart of L’eixample – the famous “Expansion“ of the city in the 19th Century under the direction of the Master Architect Idelfons Cerdá. The city effectively broke out of the constraining walls of the old city, to follow a logical geometric street plan based on blocks of 110m sides. At that time the chamfered corners permitted the completed turn of a carriage with three horses in line. Cerdá originally planned the blocks for residential and commercial property with street level entrance and three floors and a large central garden in each block – at the time a pioneering design in urban planning.

Some of these squares can still be visited: for example the children’s swimming pool at Roger de Lluiria Street, number 56 (the Water Tower).

The area is divided into two halves “L’eixample Dreta” (the right expansion) and “L’eixample Esquerra” (the left expansion) by the spacious boulevard “Passeig de Gracia”, the old road from the mediaeval city connecting the then nearby village of Gracia to the North West. The colonial years in Spain saw the development of this road into the elegant avenue we see today as newly wealthy émigré traders and merchants returned to Barcelona and built large townhouses designed by the leading architects of the time. The result is unique, giving Paseo de Gracia the largest concentration of “Modernisme” or art noveu residences in Europe today.

“L’eixample” offers a wealth of modernist architecture within a 10 minute walk form Casa Serra / Capella, among these being some of the most interesting in Barcelona. Close by we find three major works by Antonio Gaudi: “La Pedrera” (Casa Milà), “Casa Batlló” and the “Casa Calvet”, four by Josep Puig I Caldefalch: “La Casa de les Punxes” (or Casa Terrades), the “Palau Baró de Quadres”, the “Casa Amatller” and the “Casa Macaya”. Five works by Lluis Domènec I Montaner: the “Casa Fuster”, the “Casa Lleó Morera”, the “Casa Thomas”, the “Palau Montaner” (currently the head offices of the State Government in Barcelona), and the “Editorial Montaner I Simon” (currently the Tàpies Foundation). Finally two works by Salvador Valeri I Pupurull: the “Casa Comalat” and the “Casa Ramon Casas” (home of the well known shop “Vinçon” next to “La Pedrera”.

15 to 30 minutes walking one finds other major works such as Gaudi’s “Sagrada Familia” (The Holy Family Church), or the “Palau de la Musica Catalana” (The Palace of Catalan Music) and the “Hospital de Sant Pau” both by Domènec I Montaner.

Barcelona has a deserved reputation for cuisine and some of the finest restaurants in the city are situated in “L’eixample”. Among these we can find Moo (in the Hotel Oom), Drolma (in the Hotel Majestic), East 47 (in the Hotel Claris), Windsor, Cinc Sentits, Alkimia or Saúc along with the best tapas bars such as La Cerveseria Catalana, El Condal, or De Tapa Madre.

By the end of the 19th Century and at the beginning of the 20th, the elegant residences along “Passeig de Gracia” accommodated the highest echelons of Catalan society, but during the 20th Century the majority of the buildings changed owners or became landmarks in their own right and today many of these fine houses have exclusive shops at street level.

Even underfoot, with the pavement itself designed by Gaudi (an experiment in the form of the hexagon in which he used animals from land, sea and air) and the tessellated ceramic and ironwork seating by Falqués (1906), visitors find themselves surrounded by modernism. Whilst being one of the principal route ways through the city, the avenue maintains an elegant, tree-lined atmosphere.

Outstanding international shopping lines “Passeig de Gracia” including Loewe, Yves St Laurent, Hermés, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Armani, Carolina Herrera, Max Mara, Salvatore Ferrangano, Lacoste, Mandarina Duck, Escada, Laurel, Ermenegildo Zegna, Burberry, Cartier, Tous, Pomellato, to name but a few. All along the wide pavements there are numerous café-bars, restaurants, hotels and newsstands.

Cutting straight across the city from south west to north east this broad avenue goes through the University of Barcelona (University Zone), passes the Royal Palace of Pedralbes, divides the geometric street plan of “L’eixample” and terminates at the beach in the north of Barcelona.

The intersection with “Passeig de Gracia” constitutes one of the most important crossroads in the city. The avenue houses large stores; corporate headquarters, international banks, bars and restaurants, and in combination with “Passeig de Gracia”, centres services and sights for both the business and recreational visitor.