The Old Town
Historic Center Barcelona
Barcelona offers the visitor a live historic center, cosmopolitan and with Bohemian atmosphere. The medieval streets of Ciutat Vella are integrated in the surroundings of a modern city that has succeeded in conserving its walls, witnesses of the history of a city that at Roman times was baptized with the name of Julia Augusta Favencia Paterna Barcino.
The capital of the Roman Empire in the peninsula was Tarragona However, along the years Barcelona gained protagonism until it become one of the most important cities of the Mediterranean.
La Rambla of Barcelona
Las Ramblas are the vertebral column of the Old City. They are a surprising walk that crosses the historic nucleus from the Plaza Catalunya up to Cristobal Columbus' statue, in the port. Las Ramblas are divided in diverse recognizable spaces by some architectural elements that characterizes them.
The first part, starting from the Plaza Catalunya, is called Rambla Canaletes, where one finds the centenary fountain of the same name. A popular saying assures that a person who drinks water of fountain Canaletes will return some day to Barcelona. It is not the best water of the city, but surely the most typical.
La Rambla dels Estudis is presided by the Real Academia de les Arts i de les Ciencies. Rambla Sant Josep (metro: Liceu) is recognized by the Palau de la Virreina and the popular market of the Boqueria, or of Sant Josep, in which the typical thing to do is to buy all kinds of food.
The most traditional stops offer an excellent quality in their products. But the reputation of this market has raised the prices a lot and makes them expensive to buy in. In this zone of La Rambla it is necessary not only to pay attention to the old buildings, but also to the soil, since in it you will find the work that Joan Miro gave to the city in 1976.
The Gran Teatre del Liceu, another big attraction of this walk, is in the zone La Rambla dels Caputxins. A bit down below, in the corner with Nou de la Rambla, hides the Palau Güell, of the brilliant Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, maximum representative of the Catalan Modernism. And the end of Las Ramblas is La Rambla Santa Monica (metro: Drassanes), where the Centre d’Art Santa Monica, a space of exhibitions and cultural visits, is located.
As one descends by Las Ramblas in the sea direction, he approaches the Cristobal Columbus monument, discoverer of America that left from the Andalusian Wood port in August 1492 with a crew of a hundred men.
The monument is a statue that was constructed for the Universal Exhibition of Barcelona in 1888 which it is sustained on a column of more than 50 meters height whose in interior there is an elevator that allows the access to the viewpoint of the monument. When Columbus returned from his first trip to America, believing to have been in Asia, he moved to Barcelona (1543), where it was received with all the honors. More than 500 years later, its image has become a symbol of this city.
Barcelona Cathedral
From Plaza Sant Jaume, looking at the Palau de la Generalitat, on the right begins Bisbe street, which leads to the Cathedral of Barcelona. In Christmas it is typical to visit the small shops of the Fair that takes place every year in front of the Cathedral and sell Christmas ornaments and figures.
The rest of the year, the avenue of the Cathedral sometimes becomes an arts and crafts market, gastronomic or cultural scenarios (during the celebration of the the Mercè, for example), according to the callender of fairs.
In the IV century Barcelona already had a Paleocristian Cathedral that was destroyed in 985. The present one, of gothic style, began to construct in 1280. However, it not always had the present aspect, since the facade dates from 1890. For more information it is possible to visit:
http://www.bcn.es/turisme/english/turisme/welcome.htm
From the Avenue of the Cathedral, in the opposed corner to Via Laietana, the street dels Arcs leads to Portal de l'Àngel, one of the peatonals streets that is part of Barcelona Shopping circuit. In this route, in addition to diverse stores, mainly of cloths and complements, perhaps we have the luck to find a group of musicians or street artists.
Portal de l'Àngel, one of the most animated spaces in the city, leads until the neuralgic Plaza de Catalunya, where the route at the historic Old City began.
The Born
From la Estación de Francia, right in the opposite side one can see Comerç street. On this street, on the hand right, one finds the popular Market of the Born that, at the present, is not used as a market. During the works that were carried out in its interior in order to turn it into library, workers discovered important ruins of medieval Barcelona. On the height of the market, on the left hand, one sees the Passeig del Born.
The avenue is the axis of this district that in the XIII and XIV centuries was the neuralgic center of the city. In this avenue one can have a coffee in the afternoon in the places like "Miramelindo" .
At the end of the avenue one can continue strait through Santa Maria street or turn to the right to Montcada street. In Montcada street there are some museums: The Textile and Indumentary Museum, the Barbier-Mueller Museum and the Picasso Museum. If one has time to make a shutdown on this street, it is recommended to stop to "tapear" in the "Xampanyet" and try the Anchovies of the house.
Back to the Paseo del Born, Santa Maria street leads until the gothic church of Santa Maria del Mar, located in an always concurred placita. From Plaza Santa Maria one cae walk to l'Argenteria street that leads until the Via Laietana (underground: Jaume I).
Gothic Quarter
Via Laietana separates the Born and the Gothic districts. Next to metro Jaume I there is a street with the same name that leads to Plaza Sant Jaume. When the route begins, it is worth to turn to the right at the first street, Veguer, that leads to the Plaza del Rei, where the Museum of History of the City is located. Once in Sant Jaume square, the building of the right (coming from Via Laietana) is the Palace of the Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan Autonomic Government) and the one on the left is of the City council of Barcelona.
After Plaça Sant Jaume, Jaume I street becomes Ferran street. This route communicates Las Ramblas with Via Laietana and in it there are a lot of Coffee shops, Ice-Cream shops, Pubs and hotels. A few meters of the Plaza, in Ferran street, Avinyó street is born on the left hand. In this street filled with houses built on the XIX century, one finds all kinds of fashion shops, complements and alternative design shops. The first street that crosses Avinyó is Sant Miquel. In it, there is a passage from 1879, one of many that filled the XIX century Barcelona. Curiosity can be satisfied giving a look at this passage. Following Avinyó, after Sant Miquel street, one finds Comtessa de Sobradiel street, planted with Orange trees.
Advancing on this street, one crosses Ataulf street and, if Ataulf one decides to turn left, he will be led to the small Templers street and, immediately after, to the Gegants street. At this moment, on the right one acceeds to Plaza Sant Miquel, where he finds one of the lateral walls of the consistorial building and, next to it, again, to Plaza Sant Jaume.
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