Venetian Towers

[2] They were originally envisaged in Léon Jaussely's city expansion plan of 1907,[2] and designed by architect Ramon Reventós [ca] and built in the period 1927 to 1929, as part of the redevelopment of the area for the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition.

They serve an ornamental function, to mark the entrance to the exhibition district, now known as Fira de Barcelona, and the start of the grand avenue leading up to the Palau Nacional on Montjuïc, which houses the National Art Museum of Catalonia.

In later years, the western tower housed equipment for controlling the illumination of the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc, 350m away at the far end of Avinguda Maria Cristina, and the gallery of the eastern tower housed sirens for signalling possible emergencies;[5] the disused equipment was removed during the 2013/14 restoration work.

[9] In 2009, a survey detected defects in the stonework in both towers, and resulted in netting being wrapped around the viewing galleries to catch any falling debris.

[5] The work was expected to be completed in January 2014, and it enabled the removal of the netting which had previously been put in place.