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Vicky Cristina Barcelona: Gaudí to Asturias

Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona is set in Barcelona and Oviedo and shot there and in Avilés, from the rooftop of Casa Milà to the Hotel de la Reconquista and the Avilés lighthouse.

Mapped by Mapped Chronicles editors6 locationsCountries: SpainCities: BarcelonaGPX

Timeline & locations

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  1. On their tour of Barcelona, Vicky and Cristina wander among the weirdly humanoid chimneys on the roof of the Casa Milà, and Woody Allen shot the scene up there. Gaudí's apartment building is popularly known as La Pedrera, the stone quarry. It was built between 1906 and 1912, and today visits take in the interior and the roof too, so you can walk among the same chimneys.

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    Visitor guidance: The building is at Passeig de Gràcia 92; visits include the roof.

    Sources

  2. Juan Antonio brazenly invites Vicky and Cristina to join him right away for a weekend in Oviedo, flying them there in a small plane he pilots himself. The hotel he picks for their stay is the Hotel de la Reconquista on Calle de Gil de Jaz, the same landmark hotel where Woody Allen stays when he is in town. The building has housed the hotel since 1972 and is one of the two main venues of the Princess of Asturias Awards.

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    Visitor guidance: A working hotel at Calle de Gil de Jaz 16.

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  3. On the Oviedo weekend Juan Antonio takes Vicky and Cristina to this church to show them "the sculpture that is so meaningful to him". Here he tells the story of his stormy time with his ex-wife Maria Elena. The church was ordered by Alfonso II of Asturias and built around 830 by the court architect Tioda. UNESCO made it a World Heritage Site on 2 December 1998.

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    Visitor guidance: The church is at Calle de Selgas 1, on the edge of Oviedo.

    Sources

  4. With Cristina put to bed with food poisoning, Juan Antonio and Vicky set off alone. After lunch they travel about 15 miles north to the coast, where he takes her to see the old lighthouse at Avilés, near where he grew up. In Avilés the film was shot at this lighthouse, on Calle de San Francisco and at the Hotel Ferrera. Construction of the lighthouse began in 1861.

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  5. Later in Barcelona, Vicky bumps into Juan Antonio in Parc Güell, in front of the famous salamander fountain. The practicalities of filming meant the fountain's flow had to be temporarily reduced so it would not drown out the dialogue. Nearby, the park's terrace is bordered by a long, curving bench shaped like a sea serpent.

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  6. After marrying Doug, Vicky begins to have nagging doubts. At the Hospital de Sant Pau, where she takes a language class, she is approached by an American student named Ben, and in front of the grand arched entrance he invites her to see Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt. The complex was built between 1901 and 1930 by Lluís Domènech i Montaner and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.

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    Visitor guidance: The former hospital complex is at Carrer de Sant Antoni Maria Claret 167.

    Sources

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