Villa Quijano, better known as El Capricho, is a modernist building located
in Comillas. It was a project by Antoni Gaudí and built between 1883 and 1885,
commissioned by Máximo Díaz de Quijano.
This work belongs to the orientalist stage of Gaudí, period in which the
architect made a series of works of marked oriental taste, inspired by the art
of the Near and Far East, as well as in the Hispanic Islamic art, mainly the
Mudejar and Nasrid.
The building fell into disrepair after the Civil War, a state in which it
continued despite its declaration as an Asset of Cultural Interest in 1969. In
1977 the last descendant of the López-Díaz de Quijano, sold the property to
businessman Antonio Díaz who Restored in 1988 and turned it into a restaurant.
In 1992 it was bought by the Japanese group Mido Development. Finally, in 2009,
the building became a museum.
CURIOSITIES
- It was a palace designed to fix the summer residence of its owner.
- It is one of the few works that Gaudí designed outside Catalonia.
- It is framed in a privileged natural environment, between sea and mountains, which must have impacted on its day.
- At first glance you can not appreciate the amount of details and ingenious solutions you have.
- Gaudí distributed the rooms of the Capricho based on day-to-day activities, making, in turn, follow the path of the sun (therefore the main symbol of this building are sunflowers).
For more information: https://www.elcaprichodegaudi.com/
There you can find out the rates to visit it, opening hours, how to get there
... besides indicating on your own page your social networks with which you can
see photographs or even videos of the place.
-Marta.
