Bellesguard Tower: Gaudí's secret work that almost no one visits

What is Torre Bellesguard and where does it come from?

The Bellesguard Tower was built by Antoni Gaudí between 1900 and 1909 on the ruins of the palace that Martí I, the last king of the Catalan dynasty, had built at the end of the 14th century. Gaudí, a deeply Catalan nationalist, chose this commission precisely because of its historical value. The house is in the neo-Gothic style - the most rectilinear and least 'Gaudinian' of his buildings - but it is full of details that only Gaudí could have thought of: the rooster-shaped roofs, the mosaic tiles that reproduce the Catalan coat of arms, the parabolic arches on the exterior. The tower remains the private property of the Guilera family and only opened to the public in 2013.

Why go — and what's the purpose of your appointment with the artist?

Bellesguard is the perfect appointment with the artist if what you need is Gaudí without masses. Sagrada Familia, Casa Batlló and La Pedrera are experiences conditioned by queues, audio guides, photographs and a store. Bellesguard is the opposite: 30-40 people maximum in the house at a time, silence, garden, views of the city from a low hill in Tibidabo.

How to take advantage of it (concrete practice)

Go on a Wednesday morning. Buy the self-guided ticket (not the guided one, which limits time). Walk through the garden before entering — the benches overlooking Barcelona from Bellesguard are one of the most magical corners of the city. Inside, climb up to the attic — the interior roof with parabolic arches is one of the rarest spiritual spaces in all of Gaudí's work. Stay twenty minutes. Writes.

Why this place connects with Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way

The practice of the appointment with the artist that Julia Cameron prescribes in The Artist's Path has a principle: creativity needs to be fed before I can produce. Cameron calls it 'filling the well.' The metaphor is exact: if it doesn't rain, the well runs dry. If you don't expose your brain to non-work stimuli once a week, your ability to generate new ideas quietly declines, week by week.

Torre Bellesguard is an ideal place for a date with the artist because it meets the three conditions that Cameron asks for: It takes you out of your routine (a place other than your work and home), does not require production (you are going to receive, not create), and exposes you to curated stimuli (someone with judgment decided this was worth watching). Three conditions, an hour or two, once a week. It is probably the practice with the best mental ROI that you are going to add to your routine.

If you haven't taken the course yet, this is the place to start. Your Artist's Path is the free 12-week program that applies Julia Cameron's method to your life — including two hours a week blocked off on your calendar for appointments like this. More about the course at the end of the post.