Walking Through Púbol, Where Dalí Restored a Castle for His Wife | 漫步布波 – 达利之村

You must have heard of the versatile artist Salvador Dalí, and do you know that the Spanish King Juan Carlos bestowed on him Marquess de Dalí de Púbol? For today's Wednesdaywalk, let's go to Púbol, a village in the title mentioned above. Here, Dalí purchased a castle for his wife Gala and lived in the later years of his life.

Púbol is located in Catalonia, right between the city of Girona and Costa Brava. It's in a beautiful valley surrounded by snow mountains and dotted by forests and farm houses. The medieval castle here attracted the attention of Dalí who was born in Figueres, 40 km north of Púbol. Today, the castle is converted into Gala Dalí Castle House-Museum. Along with Figueres and nearby Port Lligat where Dalí had a seaside villa, the three places form the so-called Dalinian Triangle.








If it's not for the popular Gala Dalí Castle House-Museum, Púbol might still be a sleepy village unknown to foreigners like me. Thanks to Dalí, we are able to discover this enchanting place. We initially planned to visit Púbol instead of Port Lligat or Cadaqués, as it's in the less windy inland... Costa Brava literally means Wild Coast, and I clearly see why :).

However, it turned out that the house museum is closed from middle January to March. I'm not sure if it's because of the pandemic or the off-season of each year, or perhaps both. So we couldn't go inside the castle that day, but never mind, the village itself is a pleasant place full of charm as well. Plus it's very quiet then as there were no other tourists in town... I only saw a few locals taking out trash and mowing the lawn.











Both the ancient village and the Castle of Púbol had held great importance in this area since old time. The castle is a Gothic-Renaissance fortification originated in the 11th century, which became the centre of the barony of Púbol. It was owned by several families over the centuries, and it retains most parts of the 14th and 15th centuries' original structures, though altered by transformations.

The Gothic-Renaissance style also predominates in most streets across the town. Walking through the narrow cobbled paths, I was impressed by the well-preserved building facades. The abundant flowers and plants added to its unique charm too. With the warm sunshine and blue sky, I couldn't believe it was still winter time. Hmmm, pity myself living in cold gloomy Belgium for too long.😉














In addition to fortifying the barons' castle house with walls, they also built their own hermitage, Sant Pere de Púbol, in the early 14th century. It is now the parochial church of the village. The Church of Sant Pere was built with a single nave covered with pointed vault. There are also side chapels and a bell tower at the top. Until 1936, it kept an important Catalan Gothic altarpiece, which is currently displayed at Girona Art Museum.





Dalí bought the derelict castle in 1969 and redesigned it to his wife's taste. According to Jordi Artigas i Cadena, the project coordinator for the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation, the Russian immigrant Gala who is 10 years senior to Dalí, wanted the castle to be “a place of silence and nostalgia, designed for a lady looking for her lost Russian youth”. As a visitor, I enjoyed the tranquil atmosphere here, just like the owner liked its remoteness.

Gala lived here every summer from 1971 to 1980. Interestingly, Dalí was only allowed to visit this castle if he received a written invitation from his wife. He later wrote that "sentimental rigor and distance — as demonstrated by the neurotic ceremony of courtly love — increase passion”. After his muse, soul mate and business manager passed away in 1982 at 87, Dalí moved to the castle and lived until a fire accident occurred. He spent his final years in the Galatea Tower of Figueres Theatre-Museum.



































In 1996, the castle was opened to the public as a house-museum. Managed by the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation, the castle houses objects including Dalí's paintings, drawings, furnitures, decorations, collections of haute couture dresses, Gala's mausoleum, and the iconic elephant sculpture with long legs in the garden.

There was a temporary exhibition going on about Dior, art and fashion the time when I visited. Together with Christian Dior, Dalí created a "costume for the year 2045" in 1950. It reminds me of the special high-heeled shoe-hat designed for Gala by her husband and Elsa Schiaparelli. The Italian fashion designer's famous white dress also features Dalí's lobster painting.

西班牙北部的布波本是个偏僻的小村子，却因为艺术鬼才萨尔瓦多·达利而名扬海外，因为他在此处为爱妻加拉购置并改建了一座城堡作为居所。我上个月去这个村子逛了一圈，现在就来分享一些随拍。

村子在加泰罗尼亚的赫罗纳市和布拉瓦海岸之间。雪山环绕着这处美丽的山谷，森林和农舍星罗棋布。出生在北边菲格雷斯市的达利被这里的幽静氛围和废弃古堡所吸引，在此度过晚年，还被西班牙国王胡安·卡洛斯授予布波侯爵。