The great entrance stairway leads to the Hypostyle Room, which could be used as a market place for the estate. It is made up of 86 striated columns inspired in the Doric order. The outermost ones slope in an undulating movement clearly contrary to the rules of classical composition, while reinforcing a perception of their structural role. The colonnade is crowned by an architrave on which the undulating bench is placed. A conduit running inside it collects the rainwater that filters down from the square, sending it on to an underground tank, which has as the stairway dragon’s mouth as its overflow. Inside the room the absence of columns in some sections creates spaces that simulate three naves, like a great church. The ceiling is formed of small domes constructed using the traditional technique of clay bricks decorated with original tile-shard mosaics made by Josep M. Jujol, one of Gaudí’s assistants.
- Inici
- emblematic features
- hypostyle room