4Gats, Barcelona

4Gats is a café and restaurant occupying the ground floor of Casa Martí, designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch. Its entrance opens from Carrer de Montsió, beneath a wrought-iron lantern carrying the establishment’s sign. The pointed openings and patterned glazing give the façade a distinctly Gothic character, while the building also belongs to Catalan Modernisme.

Opened on 12 June 1897, the café became a meeting place for artists during Catalonia’s modernist period and closed in June 1903 after financial difficulties. Pere Romeu created it after working at Le Chat Noir in Paris, aiming for an adventurous, bohemian gathering place. Ramon Casas helped finance the interior, including the medieval-inspired furniture designed by Puig i Cadafalch.

Look at the sign and the decorative ironwork as you take in the entrance; this was not simply a place to eat. It hosted concerts, literary gatherings, puppet and shadow performances, and exhibitions. Pablo Picasso held his first solo exhibition here in 1900, and the café preserves period decoration, photographs, and prints. The current tandem painting inside is a copy: the original, showing Casas and Romeu cycling together, is held by the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya.