Description
On the south side of Plaça d’Alfons XII, at the heart of the Temple’s historic grid street layout, we come across a unique and architecturally historicist building. Built by the master builder Jose M. Vaquer in 1914, Casa Sabaté was commissioned by the Doctors Sabaté to house their clinic.
With a simple structure in terms of the architectural design, the most significant feature of the house is the profuse ornamentation with depictions, elements and motifs taken from Egyptian art (or more precisely neo-Egyptian), which give the building an interesting and unique appearance that is extremely uncommon in Catalonia.
As we contemplate the façade, we are transported to the stage of a Pharaonic opera. On the ground floor, two monumental winged sphinxes sculpted in stone flank the entranceway. Along the street level, we find more oriental elements around the same main doorway and elephant head corbels supporting the balcony on the chamfered corner.
Another remarkable feature is the wrought ironwork and carpentry.
