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Trencadís
“Art is Beauty. Beauty is the radiance of truth. Truth is known by studying life in depth and life manifests itself mainly through colour and, if exceptionally it does not lose it, we say that it seems alive.”
Antoni Gaudí
Cèsar Martinell explained that Gaudí liked to play with colours, the element which gave life to his works. Nature is colourful: from the most exuberant flowers to insignificant bits of pottery and pebbles in the stream; from the reflections of shards of broken glass to the green of the mountains, the blue of the sky and its reflection in the sea.
The trencadís joke
At the entrance to the Parc Güell, there were 30 labourers smashing tiles and farther ahead another 30 putting them back together again (Cu-Cut magazine). But why? Simply because Gaudí designed warped forms that could not be flattened with whole pieces. To make the curves, the tiles had to be broken and the pieces made to fit the shape in the space.
Blessed Bonaventura Gran
(Riudoms 1620- Rome 1684)
The veneration of the Riudoms people for the Franciscan Bonaventura Gran began when he was sent to Rome in 1658, where he founded the Sant Retir. He was advisor to 4 popes: Alexander VII, Clement IX, Clement X and Innocent XI.
In 1679, at the request of the Riudoms judges, among whom were Josep Gaudí Oriol, sent from Rome the relics of Saint Boniface, Saint Julian and Saint Vincent. Ever since then, the Festival of the Holy Relics has been celebrated in Riudoms on the 2nd Sunday in May.
He died in Rome on September 11, 1684. In 1775 he was declared Venerable and in 1906 was beatified by Pope Pius X.
The popular devotions of the town are shared by even the most agnostic. There can be no doubt that the devotion was followed fervently in young Gaudí’s home during his childhood and took deep root in him.
The Gaudí Family and Riudoms
From the marriage of Joan Gaudí Escura to Maria Oriol Giner, was born Josep Gaudí Oriol. He continued the trade of linen weaver and became an important property owner. He inherited the house of his maternal grandfather, Joan Escura, who bought and prepared wool, in Calle Avall in 1672. His social position led him to form part of the local government in Riudoms, where he was a judge (1671-1715) and auditor in 1687. During the Catalan Uprising or Reapers’ War (1640-1652), the Gaudís aligned themselves against the Bourbons, which indicates their feeling of belonging to the land that had chosen them. In the War of the Spanish Succession (1705-1714), the Gaudí family sided with the Austrians, but their successors became “botiflers” after the Catalan defeat in 1714.