Panel 12 

The light of Gaudí

“Observing flower pots, surrounded by vineyards and olive trees, animated by the clucking of hens, the singing of birds and the buzzing of insects, and with the Prades Mountains in the background, I captured the purest and most pleasing images of nature, which is always my teacher.”
Antoni Gaudí

The light in Riudoms shortens distances. It has a magical and mystical effect. The genius of Gaudí is a product of the contemplation of those surfaces, those colours of his origin. Riudoms oozes the aftertaste of the Mediterranean. The town that Gaudí loved remembers the genius and origin of the artist on this route.

Gaudí’s Riudoms origins provided him with a wide catalogue of images and ideas. This gave him a great sense of belonging. He always maintained his links with Riudoms and, when he had a few days off, he would return there. Only the need for money for his Barcelona Temple was the reason for him to part with some of his family properties; others he donated to his beloved Riudoms.

Gaudí needed to rediscover the places of his childhood to feed his imagination. It was here, with the mountains of Baix Camp and Montsant, the Maspujols stream and the plain of Riudoms, surrounded by bell towers and vitality, that many horizons opened up for him.

Much has been written about Gaudí, but about Gaudí and Riudoms there is still much to tell.

The Gaudí Route through Riudoms is the only one in the world where you can discover the origin of the sensations that inspired the young Gaudí that we find in his work.

The Gaudí Family and Riudoms

The different generations of the Gaudí family were related to well-to-do families in Riudoms: Forcades -ferrer-, Compte, Claveguera, Capdevila -manescal-, Molons, Sugrañes, Granada, Pujol, Tarragó, Gran -ascendants of the blessed Bonaventura-, Montserrat, Pomerol, etc. Also from other towns: Reus, Vila-seca, Tarragona, Almoster, Botarell, Vila-rodona, Borges d’Urgell. Some of the marriages were between different members of the same families. Throughout the 18th century, the surname spread throughout the nearby lands of Garrigues and Baix Ebre.