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Excitement erupted from the streets as people from across Catalonia arrived in Barcelona to discover the thrilling industrial and cultural wonders being exhibited at the 1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition. The stodgy citadel locals had grown to detest was replaced with a grand green space akin to New York’s Central Park, and to visitors’ shock, an extraordinary castle-like structure stood in the background with large blue-and-white shields and fantastical motifs. Architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner intended for Castell dels Tres Dragons to be a striking café that would wow guests at the fair, but it instead became the starting point for modernisme in Barcelona.