This small Italian town in the Sicilian province of Trapani was first settled by the Saracens in the Middle Ages. After the Second World War, on account of the post-war hardships, the area lost a substantial part of its population as many of its inhabitants emigrated to the New World. Subsequently, the town was totally devastated by an earthquake in 1968. The decision was then taken to start over from scratch, and an inventive project was drawn up to “humanise” the area, for which purpose several famous international artists were called in, names such as Pietro Consagra, Alberto Burri, Mario Schifano, Andrea Cascella, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Mimmo Paladino, Franco Angeli and Leonardo Sciascia. The town soon turned into a huge laboratory of experimental art, prompting artists to create works that ennobled the new urban precinct.

The Top 6 Monuments in Gibellina

It should be noted that the reconstruction of Gibellina arose as part of a major cultural challenge which involved both the need to built habitable dwellings and to do so in an artistic milieu. Today, Gibellina is one huge open-air, modern-architecture museum featuring some brilliant works; and, it is now inhabited once more. Here, then, are the six most stunning areas.

Il Cretto di Burri

Gibellina is a town born of a tragedy, and an earthquake at that, the remains of which are still visible beneath the vast work known as Il Cretto, by Alberto Burri. The artist was reluctant to set his work within the confines of yet another urban complex. Instead, he created a gigantic monument dedicated to the earthquake victims which stretches over the streets and alleyways of the old town. It is a massive concrete structure which hugs the ground and is scored by deep cracks. Its artistic value lies in having physically frozen the historical memory of the land. For its sheer size, Il Cretto is one of the largest artworks in the world.

The “Meeting”

In 1976 Pietro Consagra designed a monument-sculpture known as The Meeting. This large-scale sculpture features smooth curves emerging from two parallel projections. It is a clear example of Brutalist architecture, so in vogue in the seventies. In this case he combined transparent sections with opaque ones, while eschewing any balanced compositional harmony. It now stands between the bus station and the area taken up by bars and other leisure facilities.

The Chiesa Madre

in 1970 Ludovico Quaroni was commissioned to design Gibellina’s parish church on a hilltop. The geometry of the church is novel, not only owing to the layout of the building and its relationship to its surroundings but on account of the language in its architectural forms. The various functional areas are distributed in a box with a 50-metre-square base sub-divided into modules and sub-modules, while the symbolical and geometrical centre of the monument is a great smooth cement sphere bearing reference to the sacred.

The Piazza del Municipio and the Civic Tower

The town square is surrounded by a colonnade designed by Vittorio Gregotti and Giuseppe Samonà, the walls of which were decorated with ceramics by Carla Accardi. Edging the perimeter of the square stand some marvellous white metal sculptures of characters from the work, Oedipus Rex, made by Pietro Consagra, with others by Mimmo Rotella, and the so-called Civic Tower designed by Alessandro Mendini. Four times a day, a blend of sounds with reminiscences of everyday life in the old Gibellina can be heard from this tower.

The Square System

This is actually a matrix of closed architectural squares designed by Franco Purini and Laura Thermes. Enclosed within this System are the Piazza Rivolta del 26 giugno 1937, Piazza Fasci dei Lavoratori, Piazza Monti di Gibellina, Piazza Autonomia Siciliana and Piazza Passo Portella delle Ginestre.

The Civic Museum of Contemporary Art

Gibellina’s contemporary art collection was created from contributions by Italy’s leading artists, and others of international acclaim.

The first to chip in were the Sicilians – Pietro Consagra, Carla Accardi and Emilio Isgrò. Ever since its inauguration in 1980, the Gibellina Museum has been endowed with over 1,800 artworks, notably original paintings, illustrations and sculptures. Most are housed inside the building, but some are dotted about the town streets, where they form a complement to the urban architecture. The bulk of the museum’s exhibition space is taken up by the collection, but there is a room dedicated to Mario Schifano, while another open-air area is given over to artistic and architectural mock-ups.

Join us on a trip to this unique spot in the world. Check out our flights here.

Text by ISABELYLUIS Comunicación

Images by Tiberio Frascari, Giulio Nepi, Antonella Profeta

The Esposizione Universale Roma, better known by its acronym, EUR, is one of those areas lying off the tourist track which would not fit any stock image of the Eternal City. No Roman ruins, Baroque churches, Renaissance palaces or narrow back streets – here you will find broad avenues set along orthogonal axes and a regular layout, and large buildings with simple lines that adhere to the Fascist model on which the district’s design was based, alternating with large, more recent constructions.

The district dates back to the nineteen thirties, when Mussolini decided to commission an urban expansion project on the south side of Rome in preparation for the World Fair of 1942. The idea was also to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the Fascist “March on Rome” (1922). The project was originally known as E42 and some of the best contemporary architects were engaged, including Giuseppe Pagano, Luigi Piccinato, Luigi Vietti, Ettore Rossi and Marcello Piacentini, who was the head of the project. The assignment adhered to a design of Fascist ideological inspiration and combined rationalism with a simplified form of neoclassicism.

Work on the project was disrupted by the outbreak of World War II, while the 1942 World Fair was never held. Construction work on the buildings resumed in the fifties and sixties and the area was earmarked for a different purpose, which still holds true today, as it operates as a business district. In this respect it preempted similar projects in such cities as London or Paris.

The most alluring reason for visiting the EUR district nowadays is to see some of the original constructions and to appreciate the contrast they strike with the landmarks in ancient Rome. Among the most noteworthy buildings is the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, also known as the Palazzo della Civiltà del Lavoro (Palace of Labour Civilisation) or Colosseo Quadrato (Square Colosseum), one of the most emblematic exponents of Italian Fascist architecture. Unveiled on 30 November 1940, it was purpose-built to host the Mostra della Civiltà Romana and was designed by the architects, Giovanni Guerrini, Ernesto Bruno La Padula and Mario Romano. In the end, the exhibition was cancelled and the building remained derelict until 1953, when it was finally opened to the public. Ever since restoration work that lasted from 2003 to 2008, the building has housed the headquarters of luxury fashion label Fendi.

Another interesting example of Fascist architecture is the Palazzo dei Congressi (Palace of Congresses), designed by Adalberto Libera. The interior was decorated by Achille Funi and the Futurist artist, Gino Severini. Built from 1938 to 1954, it is now an exhibition area and also hosts congresses and other events.

Other buildings worth seeing on your visit include the Basilica dei Santi Pietro e Paolo, the work of Arnaldo Foschini, and the Palazzo degli Uffici, the only building to be completed before the war, which has an air-raid shelter inside.

Among the museums worth visiting in the EUR is the Museo della Civiltà Romana (Museum of Roman Civilisation), a colossal building which houses a stunning ensemble of model reconstructions of ancient Rome.

Book your Vueling to Rome and treat yourself to a tour of some of the city’s lesser known areas, like the EUR district.

Text by Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS

Images by FaceMePLS, Sebastian Baryli, Alexandre Delbos

The Bauhaus is to Tel Aviv what Art Deco is to Miami or Modernism is to Barcelona, an unmistakeable identity trait which is the pride and joy of the city’s inhabitants. We came across more than 1,000 buildings in the length and breadth of the city, which stretches for 50 square kilometres.

Bauhaus Comes To Tel Aviv

The relationship between Tel Aviv and the Bauhaus goes back to the 1930s when, coinciding with the rise of the Nazi party, many Jewish architects decided to leave their homeland and try their luck elsewhere. At that time, the future metropolis was a young city with an urge to expand and to tap its full potential. The so-called White City – as the area housing these buildings is known – was built between the early 1930s and 1948 to an urban layout designed by Sir Patrick Geddes, based on the principles of modern organic urbanism. The likes of Walter Gropius, the founder of the Bauhaus in Weimar, and of Arieh Sharon, Shlomo Bernstein and Shmuel Mestechkin, arrived in Tel Aviv and drew up an elaborate, ambitious urban plan which enabled the directives of this style to be adapted to the arid surroundings of the site and to its Mediterranean context. Thus, the light, fresh air of this architecture consorted to perfection with the thirst for renewal and creativity that characterised what would become the new State of Israel as of 1948.

Preservation – A New Challenge

The buildings were designed in light colours – generally white – leaving open-air pillars for the wind to blow unfettered through the lower part of the buildings, while recessed windows were fitted to check the passage of heat. The Bauhaus of Tel Aviv is also characterised by its straight lines, its symmetry and a minimalist style which even today tends to amaze visitors on account of its simplicity and overall character. The fact is that, faced with a new cultural context, those architects designed an exceptional set of buildings which became highly representative of the modern architecture movement.

Despite the large number of such buildings scattered about the city, their state of preservation is somewhat precarious. In fact, over 4,000 of these buildings were originally erected, so many of them clearly did not survive. Hence, concerted endeavours have been under way in recent years to restore over 1,000 extant constructions to their original state. It is a slow, arduous task, as most of them are private property and have not been touched since their completion some 70 or 80 years ago.

The Best Examples In the City

Given the large number of surviving buildings, the best thing is to plan an itinerary before embarking on a search of Bauhaus buildings in the city. Some of the most prominent examples are on the Rothschild Boulevard, and on Bialik and Dizengoff Street, but you are advised to first visit the Bauhaus Center to get the relevant information. They have books and maps on the subject and you can find out about the free tour organised by the City Hall on Saturdays called the Tel Aviv-Bauhaus Walking Tour.

To round off your visit, be sure to visit the Bauhaus Museum on Bialik Street which is useful for gaining insight on the impact which the Bauhaus of Tel Aviv has had on the rest of the world.

Text by Aleix Palau for Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS

If we had to choose the ideal day for visiting Barcelona and seeing it in all its finery, that date would undoubtedly be 23 April. The celebration of the Catalan “Diada de Sant Jordi” (Feast of St George) sees Barcelona festooned with books and roses, and thousands of people crowding the streets in search of new book releases or their favourite author to autograph a copy of their purchase. Roses are also in evidence everywhere, particularly red ones, which all young men are duty bound to gift to their beloved. The ritual is re-enacted year after year and draws numerous booksellers to the city. Following is a list of the main bookshops in Barcelona which you are encouraged to visit on the Feast of St George or, to avoid the crush, any time you happen to be book hunting in Barcelona.

1. Laie
A true beacon of Barcelona’s literary scene and a must-visit destination for any reading enthusiast is Libreria Laie, specialising in art, literature and the humanities. This well managed bookstore also features a café-restaurant on the upper floor, the perfect spot for chatting about the latest literary releases.

2. La Central del Raval
Located in the heart of El Raval quarter, and housed in the former Chapel of Misericordia, is Central del Raval, a classic in the city’s literary scene, boasting some 80,000 titles. Featuring books on anthropology, architecture, design, art, cinema and photography, as well as poetry and the performing arts, among others. Also on the premises is an area devoted to literary activities.

3. Altaïr
Planning to travel anytime soon? Make a point of visiting Librería Altaïr to research your trip beforehand, as there you will find all the books you need to prepare your getaway. They specialise in travel, and as such are one of the largest bookshops in Europe, stocking travel guides, maps and books relating to all possible destinations imaginable.

4. Taifa
Located on the Calle Verdi, in the heart of Gràcia, is the bookstore Librería Taifa. Founded in 1993 by the poet, publisher and literary critic, José Batlló, they stock both new and secondhand books. While specialising in the humanities, the store is noted for its section on cinema, which the proprietors hold in great esteem.

5. Hibernian Books
Also located in the Gràcia  district is Hiberian Books, which is celebrated for being the only store in Barcelona specialising in secondhand books in English. Their list runs into some 40,000 titles, covering all possible genres, including a section featuring children’s books.

6. Loring Art
Loring Art are specialists in contemporary visual culture. The store started out in 1996 with just a hundred titles, while nowadays it has some 20,000, a treat for connoisseurs of this genre. Their offerings provide a journey through 20th- and 21st-century painting, sculpture, design, fashion, photography, architecture, cinema, music, the performing arts and electronic art.

7. Casa Anita
This unique bookshop located in the Gràcia district is dedicated to illustrated books. While targeting primarily children and young readers, their titles are a delight for children and adults alike.

8. Arkham Comics
This small bookshop in El Raval specialises in comics. Although it can be challenging to jostle your way among so many volumes, this is the perfect place for devotees of graphic novels, who are urged to take the advice of Xavi, the ever-helpful owner.

Book your Vueling to Barcelona and delve into the city’s literary world, as well as revelling in one of the city’s most becoming festivities.

Text by Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS