We suggest a route through 5 places in the city that help explain Gaudí’s connection with Reus and the influences that shaped the early years of the Reus-born genius
Antoni Gaudí was born in Reus in 1852 and spent much of his childhood and adolescence here. His family background in coppersmithing, the landscapes of the Camp de Tarragona, Mediterranean light, spirituality and the cultural atmosphere of the city all formed part of this early Gaudí universe.
The Gaudí Year 2026, marking the centenary of his death, is the perfect opportunity to rediscover this story. Not through the great works that made him famous around the world, but by returning to the streets, landscapes and places where it all began.
Here is our route to understand the relationship between Gaudí and Reus, together with a few Mapilife recommendations for discovering the city along the way.
1. Gaudí Centre: step inside Gaudí’s universe
The best place to start is the Gaudí Centre, right on Plaça del Mercadal. This interpretation centre explores the architect’s life, ideas and working methods through models, audiovisuals, objects and interactive displays.
For the Gaudí Year, the centre has opened La forja d’un geni, a new immersive experience focused specifically on his origins. The family coppersmithing tradition, nature, the local landscape, Mediterranean light and spirituality are all connected to forms and ideas that Gaudí would later turn into architecture.
The same building also houses the Reus Tourist Office, where you can find information and book some of the city’s main cultural experiences. Discover the best things to do in Reus, selected at Mapilife guide.
🍴 Complete the experience: lunch at Orígens
On the rooftop of the same building you will find Orígens by L’Alkimista, one of the most interesting recent additions to Reus’ food scene.
2. Gaudí’s birthplace and Gaudí as a child
Just a few minutes from Plaça del Mercadal, on Carrer de Sant Vicenç, stands the house linked to the birth of Antoni Gaudí on 25 June 1852. The building is closely connected to his mother’s family and to the coppersmithing trade, a family tradition that influenced the way he would later imagine shapes, surfaces and volumes.
Today, the house is privately owned and cannot be visited inside, but a plaque on the façade marks the architect’s birthplace.
Very close by you will find the Gaudí as a child sculpture, by Reus-born artist Artur Aldomà. It depicts a young Antoni Gaudí sitting on the ground playing marbles. Here we are not yet looking at the creator of the Sagrada Família, but simply a child playing in the streets of his hometown.
🛍️ Explore Reus, a city made for shopping
Around Gaudí’s birthplace and the sculpture you will find some of the city centre’s main shopping streets, with independent shops, specialist stores and local businesses along Carrer de Santa Anna, Monterols, Llovera and the surrounding squares.
3. The Gaudí mural: the genius enters 21st-century Reus
One of the newest images of the Gaudí Year is the large mural dedicated to Antoni Gaudí, located next to the Church of Sant Joan and opposite the Mercat Central.
The artwork brings Gaudí’s universe into the language of contemporary street art, combining his portrait with visual references to his architecture and turning the façade into one of the most photogenic stops on the route.
🥬 Take a look around the Mercat Central
Just a few steps from the mural is the Mercat Central de Reus, an excellent place to discover another of the city’s great traditions: its food and market culture, with stalls selling local and seasonal produce.
4. The Prioral, the bell tower and the new Gaudí sculpture
At the foot of the bell tower of the Prioral de Sant Pere, in the Fossar Vell, a new sculpture dedicated to Gaudí has been installed as part of the 2026 commemorations.
Created by Joan Serramià, the figure shows Gaudí at work as an architect, modelling in plaster the façade he designed for the Santuari de Misericòrdia.
Beside him are several objects connected to his life: the workshop bench, his hat, hazelnuts and a rosary. The sculpture has been designed so visitors can approach it, sit alongside it and become part of the scene.
It is one of the most interesting new additions of the Gaudí Year and a highly visual way of connecting Gaudí, Reus and the Camp de Tarragona.
The Prioral de Sant Pere is also one of the most important biographical places on the route. Antoni Gaudí was baptised here on 26 June 1852, just one day after he was born.
The Reus Bell Tower is another key detail. Its interior spiral staircase is traditionally considered one of the architectural references Gaudí later drew on when designing the staircases inside the towers of the Sagrada Família.
🏛️ Discover Reus’ cultural heritage
The Gaudí route combines perfectly with the city’s cultural heritage route. One of the best experiences is climbing the Bell Tower itself, following its spiral staircase before enjoying views across the historic centre.
The Reus tourist bracelet allows you to combine several monuments and cultural attractions in a single visit.
5. Gaudí’s future in Reus: the Chapel of the Assumption
There is an interesting paradox in the relationship between Gaudí and Reus: although he was born and raised here, he never actually built anything in his hometown.
Reus is now working on a project that could change that: a full-scale replica of the Chapel of the Assumption, designed by Gaudí as part of the Sagrada Família project, is planned for Parc Gandhi.
The project is intended to become a new monumental space linked to the architect and to strengthen Reus’ position within the wider geography of Gaudí.
The location is significant too. It is very close to the Santuari de Misericòrdia, another important place in the story. Gaudí once designed a new façade for the sanctuary, although the project was never built.
If the Chapel of the Assumption is eventually completed, it will symbolically close a circle that has remained open for more than a century.
More Gaudí connections in Reus
The route does not end with these five stops. Reus preserves several other places connected to the architect’s life and education.
Gaudí studied at the former Escoles Pies, maintained a close connection with the Santuari de Misericòrdia, and the city also preserves documents and materials linked to his life and work.
Throughout the Gaudí Year 2026, Reus is also hosting exhibitions, guided tours, cultural activities and special events exploring his origins in greater depth.
Reus, much more than the city where Gaudí was born
Reus does not have a Casa Batlló or a La Pedrera. And that is precisely what gives the city its place in the Gaudí story.
Here, you can discover what came before the masterpieces: the family of coppersmiths, the streets of his childhood, the bell tower he knew, the Mediterranean landscape and the territory that helped shape his unique way of understanding space.
Following Gaudí’s footsteps through Reus offers a different way of approaching the architect: not through the final result of his work, but through the beginning of the story.
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