Casa Bruno Cuadros – Once a House of Umbrellas

Casa Bruno Cuadros or Casa dels Paraigües – The House of Umbrellas:

Casa Bruno Cuadros - Barcelona

A walk through Las Ramblas is a journey of many discoveries and at La Rambla, 82 is the Casa Bruno Cuadros, a stunning building that was once an umbrella shop in the 1880s.

Casa Bruno Cuadros is presently the premises of a bank.  But even if you’re not in the market for banking services, it’s worthwhile checking out this interesting building which locals refer to as Casa dels Paraigües (House of Umbrellas).

Casa Bruno’s History

Casa Bruno Cuadros was originally built in 1858 but its eclectic facade was the result of a thorough refurbishment carried out by Josep Vilaseca i Casanovas in 1883. It was just a few years before the 1888 Universal Exhibition and Barcelona was in a period of expansion with all kinds of interesting buildings being constructed.

Casa Bruno Cuadros is a pleasurable sight for visitors to this section of Las Ramblas. Look above the ground floor and you’ll see that its balconies and the top-floor gallery are highly decorated with Egyptian imagery. Its façade features stained-glass windows and reliefs of umbrellas

and fans made of cast-iron. Also on the outer walls are intricate Oriental carpentry, enamelled glass and paintings of people taken from Japanese prints.

Casa Bruno’s most opulent decorative element is the ornate Chinese dragon, on the corner of the building, which was used to advertise the shop. The dragon holds a lantern on which hangs an umbrella.

Casa Bruno Cuadros was refurbished in 1980, and the Caixa Sabadell bank now has its premises in the beautiful umbrella shop of Barcelona.  Personally, I would have preferred for it to be used as premises for a museum.

Address:
La Rambla, 82
Barcelona

How to get there:
Metro L3, stop Liceu | Bus 14, 59 and 91

See more Barcelona info HERE.

Map of Barcelona:

Things to do in Barcelona

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