Libreria El Ateneo (Grand Splendid) - Interior

The building was designed by the architects Pero and Torres Armengol for the empresario Max Glucksmann (1875-1946), and opened as a theatre called Teatro Gran Splendid in May 1919. The ecleticist building features ceiling frescoes painted by the Italian artist Nazareno Orlandi and caryatids sculpted by Troiano Troiani. With each incarnation since its inception in 1919 -- first as a performing arts theater, then as a cinema, and now a bookstore -- the Grand Splendid has proven itself befitting of its majestic title.