Casa de les Bruixes, Valencian Art Nouveau building in central Alicante, Spain.
Casa de les Bruixes is a three-story building in the Valencian Art Nouveau style on Doctor Gadea Street in central Alicante. Its front wall is covered with floral carvings, elephant heads, cherubs, and lion figures arranged across the surface.
The building was designed by architect Enrique Sánchez Sedeño in 1898. It was expanded between 1910 and 1911, when Gothic influences from northern Europe were added to the original structure.
The name Casa de les Bruixes means Witches' House in Valencian, a nickname the locals gave it during the years it stood empty and neglected. Today it serves as a government office, though most people stop to look at the facade rather than go inside.
The building is on Doctor Gadea Street and easy to reach on foot from the city center. Since it operates as a government office, visitors generally stay outside to look at the facade from the street.
The elephant heads on the facade were not purely decorative: they were meant to evoke Spain's trade connections with colonial territories where ivory was exchanged. This detail is easy to miss when looking at the overall decoration.
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