Lesser known Gaudi works

In Léon (Spain) we can find another building which the famous architect Antonio Gaudí built. It is one of only three buildings which he constructed outside of Catalonia. The name of it is Casa Botines (Casa de los Botines), this nickname comes from the last name of the company's former owner, Joan Homs i Botinàs.

The construction work has been finished after only 10 months. You have to know, that during this work, Gaudí had some problems with some local people, especially with engineers as they considered sunken piles as the best foundation for this region. These split opinions between Gaudí and the engineers of Léon provoked rumors that the building would collaps during its construction. Till this day, the house has never had structural problems.

With the construction of Casa Botines, Gaudí wanted to pay tribute to León's emblematic buildings. Therefore, he designed a building with a medieval air and a lot of neo-Gothic characteristics.

The building consists of four floors, a basement and an attic. He placed towers in the corners to underline the neo-Gothic atmosphere of a medieval building. To illuminate the basement, he created a moat around two of the façades, a strategy that he repeated in the Sagrada Familia.

In 1950, people restorated the buidling. In doing so, workers discovered a tube of lead under the sculpture containing the original plans signed by Gaudí.

Nowadays, the Casa Botines belongs to Caja España, the savings bank of León, which bought it in 1929.

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