1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition

(Redirected from Exposición Universal de Barcelona (1888)) World's Fair held in Barcelona, Spain in 1888

1888 Barcelona
Official Poster
Overview
BIE-class	Universal exposition
Category	Historical Expo
Name	Exposició Universal de Barcelona / Exposición Universal de Barcelona
Building(s)	Arc de Triomf
Area	46.5 ha
Visitors	2.300.000
Organized by	Tomàs Moragas (artistic director)
Participant(s)
Countries	30
Location
Country	Spain
City	Barcelona
Venue	Parc de la Ciutadella
Coordinates	41°23′17″N 2°11′15″E / 41.38806°N 2.18750°E / 41.38806; 2.18750
Timeline
Opening	8 April 1888 (1888-04-08)
Closure	10 December 1888 (1888-12-10)
Universal expositions
Previous	Melbourne International Exhibition (1880) in Melbourne
Next	Exposition Universelle (1889) in Paris

The 1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition (in Catalan: Exposició Universal de Barcelona and Exposición Universal de Barcelona in Spanish) was Spain's first International World's Fair and ran from 8 April to 9 December 1888. The second one in Barcelona was held in 1929.

Summary

Eugenio Serrano de Casanova (journalist, writer and entrepreneur) tried to launch an exposition in 1886, and when that failed, the Mayor of Barcelona, Francesc Rius i Taulet, took over the planning of the project. The fair was hosted on the reconstructed 115-acre (47 ha) site of the city's main public park, the Parc de la Ciutadella, with Vilaseca's Arc de Triomf forming the entrance. More than 2 million people from Spain, the rest of Europe, and other international points of embarkation visited the exhibition, which made the equivalent of 1,737,000 United States dollars. The fair was opened by Alfonso XIII of Spain and Maria Christina of Austria. Twenty-seven countries participated, including China, Japan and the United States.

The piano manufacturer Erard sponsored a series of 20 concerts featuring Isaac Albéniz, a Catalan pianist and composer best known for his piano works based on folk music idioms. The artistic director was Tomàs Moragas.

Josep Maria Tamburini won a silver medal at the exhibition.

Legacy and surviving monuments

The main legacy of the 1888 World Fair is the Ciutadella Park: the World Fair served as the opportunity for Barcelona to rid itself of the hated citadel and transform it into a central park for the city's denizens. The entire Ciutadella Park in its present layout is a product of the World Fair, with its monumental fountain and small ponds, its Castell dels tres dracs (Castle of the Three Dragons) built by Domènech i Montaner to house the World Fair's café / restaurant, which later served to house the Zoology Museum, Hivernacle (Glasshouse or Greenhouse), the classicist Geology Museum and the Umbracle (a remarkable shaded structure for plants).

Another product of the World Fair is the Modernista or Neo-Mudéjar Arc de Triomf (triumphal arch), the Fair's former gateway, presiding over Passeig de Lluís Companys.

The Columbus Monument (Monument a Colom), a 60 m (197 ft) tall monument to Christopher Columbus, was built for the exposition on the site where Columbus returned to Europe after his first voyage to the Americas. It was erected at the lower end of Les Rambles and remains standing today.

References

^ Pelle, Kimberley D. "Barcelona 1888". In Findling, John E (ed.). Encyclopedia of World's Fairs and Expositions. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 94. ISBN 978-0-7864-3416-9.
^ Pelle, Kimberley D. "Appendix B:Fair Statistics". In Findling, John E (ed.). Encyclopedia of World's Fairs and Expositions. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 414. ISBN 978-0-7864-3416-9.
^ Pelle, Kimberley D. "Barcelona 1888". In Findling, John E (ed.). Encyclopedia of World's Fairs and Expositions. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 95. ISBN 978-0-7864-3416-9.
"Frances Barulich. Albéniz, Isaac".
"Moragas y Torras, Tomás - Museo Nacional del Prado". Retrieved 19 May 2020.
"Josep Maria Tamburini i Dalmau | enciclopèdia.cat" (in Catalan). Retrieved 19 June 2020.

External links

Official website of the BIE
THE WORLD’S FAIR 1888
Overview / brief history of the 1888 Barcelona Universal Expo on the GenCat website (in English, Catalan, Occitan, Spanish and French).

v t e 1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition
Site Parc de la Ciutadella, Barcelona
Buildings	Arc de Triomf Castle of the Three Dragons Hotel Internacional Palau de les Belles Arts Royal Palace
Attractions	Columbus Monument
Urban development	Passeig de Colom Saló de Sant Joan

v t e List of world's fairs in Spain
1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition 1892 Historical American Exposition (Madrid) Hispano-French Exposition of 1908 (Zaragoza) 1909 Valencia Regional Exhibition 1929 Barcelona International Exposition Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 (Seville) Seville Expo '92 Expo 2008 (Zaragoza)

World exhibitions

Bureau International des Expositions (BIE)

Retroactively
recognized
expositions

BIE-recognized
Universal
expositions

BIE-recognized
specialized
expositions

BIE-recognized
horticultural
exhibitions (AIPH)

Not BIE-
recognized

Africa	Freetown 1865 Cape Town 1877 Kimberley 1892–1893 Johannesburg 1936–1937
Asia	Calcutta 1883–1884 Hanoi 1902 Nanking 1910 Semarang 1914 Hangzhou 1929 Taihoku (Taipei) 1935 Nagoya 1937 Clark 1998 Shenyang 2006 Chiang Mai 2011–2012 Udon Thani 2026
Europe	London 1760 Dublin 1853 Manchester 1857 Porto 1865 Stockholm 1866 London 1871–1874 Lyon 1872 Vienna 1873 Amsterdam 1883 Liverpool 1886 London 1886 Copenhagen 1888 Glasgow 1888 Frankfurt 1891 Prague 1891 Lyon 1894 Oporto 1894 Berlin 1896 Stockholm 1897 Glasgow 1901 Cork 1902 London 1905 London 1906 Marseille 1906 Dublin 1907 London 1908 Zaragoza 1908 London 1910 Dresden 1911 London 1911 London 1912 Lyon 1914 Cologne 1914 London 1914 Kristiania 1914 Malmö 1914 London 1921 Marseille 1922 Gothenburg 1923 British Empire Exhibition 1924–1925 Antwerp 1930 Stockholm 1930 Paris 1931 Porto 1934 Glasgow 1938 Stockholm 1943
North America	New York City 1826–1897 Bryant Park, New York City 1853 Atlanta 1881 Louisville 1883–1887 New Orleans 1884 Atlanta 1887 San Francisco 1894 Atlanta 1895 Nashville 1897 Omaha 1898 Buffalo 1901 Charleston 1901–1902 Portland, Oregon 1905 Jamestown 1907 Seattle 1909 Knoxville 1913 San Diego 1915–1917 Bronx 1918 Philadelphia 1926 San Diego 1935–1936 Dallas 1936 Cleveland 1936–1937 Dallas 1937 San Francisco 1939–1940 Chicago 1940 New York City 1964–1965
Oceania	Melbourne 1866 Sydney 1870 Melbourne 1875 Brisbane 1876 Sydney 1879 Adelaide 1887 Melbourne 1888 Dunedin 1889 Christchurch 1906 Auckland 1913–1914 Dunedin 1925 Wellington 1939–1940
South America	Lima 1872 Santiago 1875 Quito 1909 Buenos Aires 1910 Rio de Janeiro 1922

Postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Cancelled
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41°23′19″N 2°11′12″E / 41.38861°N 2.18667°E / 41.38861; 2.18667

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