Index

Gràcia page 2
Eixample page 3

Sights in Eixample page 5
Casa Milà page 5
Mansana de la Discordia page 5
Casa Amatller page 6
Casa Lleó i Morera page 6
Casa Batllo page 6
Universitat de Barcelona page 7
Ciutat Vella page 8
Las Ramblas page 8
El Raval page 9
Sights in El Raval page 9
The CCCB(Casa caritat) page 9
MACBA page 10
Mercat de Boqueria page 10
Antic hospital page 11
Rambla de Raval page 12
El Gato page 12
Iglesia Sant Pau del Camp page 12
Port Vell page 13
Sights in Port Vell page 13
Mirador del Colon page 13
Transbordador Aeri page 14
Drassanes page 14
Aduana page 14
Port de Barcelona page 14
La Barceloneta page 15
Playas de Barcelona page 15
l’Estel Ferit page 16
Vila Olimpica page 16
Hotel Arts page 16
Torre Mapfre page 17
El Peix page 17
Plaza de los Voluntaris page 17
Marc page 17
El Born/ La Ribera page 18
Sights in El Born/ La Ribera page 18
Parque de la Ciudadela page 18
Arc de Triomf page 19
Castell dels Tres Dragons page 19
Cascada page 20
Glorieta de música page 20
Zoológico page 20
CC Born page 21
Fossar de les Moreres page 21
Santa María del Mar page 22

!1
 Gracia

Gràcia was established in 1626, called "Nostra Senyora

de Gràcia (Our Lady of Grace)". Following the loss of
Catalonian independence from Spain in 1714, Gràcia
remained an independent municipality, until it was
annexed to Barcelona in 1897 along with other villages
in the plain of Barcelona due to the expansion of the
Eixample district in the 19th century.

The area is populated by artists and bohemian people.

In addition, we can say that Gràcia is an authentic
place, with more locals than tourists.

Plaça de Vila de Gràcia (formerly names Pl. Rius I Taulat) the former city council of
Gràcia, the light blue building, now it is a
dependance of the city of Barcelona. The 33-meter
bell tower that dominates the square from the
middle was built by Antoni Rovira i Trias between
1862 and 1864. At the top there is the legendary
"Campana de Gracia", named "La Marieta". It tells
the legend that in 1870, during the riot of the fifth,
it was sounding from April 4 to 9, driven by a rope
to the roof of a neighbor. The troops of General
Gaminde, located in the Barcelona plain, bombed
the rebel town to try to silence the bell.

Plaça de Sol is the best known square, of over 15 squares, in this neighborhood. It is
full of cafes-terraces and it’s the place that people choose to
go for a drink at night. Under the festivals, concerts, bars
and meetings, three and a half meters deep we find a bit of
the history of the city. A major anti-aircraft shelter was built
during the Spanish Civil War. Even now it has been
remodeled and is a public parking, on the surface you find
the sculpture Astrolabi by Joaquim Camps. A figure
representing the clock of the sun with the twelve signs of the
zodiac.

Plaça del Diamant receives this name because who bought the lands, Josep Rosell,
besides being regidor of the Villa de Gracia, he was jeweler; Is also why the streets
surrounding the square have names related to jewelry (Calle
Rubí, del Oro...) It features a sculpture of La Colometa, the
main character in Mercè Rodoreda's novel that represents the
protagonist and its pigeons, translated in over 40 languages.
Works of 1992 discovered an antiaircraft refuge with capacity
for about 200 people carried out in the Spanish Civil War that
obtained 5,000 signatures in favor of its preservation.

Plaça de la Revolució (de Setembre de 1868) is more modest

in scale, and dotted with trees that provide welcome, cooling shade. It was built in the
mid XIX and was baptized with the name of Isabel II. It was after the Revolution of
September 1868, also known as The Glorious in which Isabel II was deposed from the
throne. On the floor can be read the word Revolució.

!2
Plaça de la Virreina was built in 1878, and is known for its name because it was
formerly the palace of the viceroy, widow of the viceroy of Peru. On the spot of the
former Palacio de la Virreina you find the church of Sant Joan XVII. The church was
almost totally destroyed by the anarchists in 1909 during the Setmana Tràgica, and
rebuilt by Berenguer; Then it was damaged again during the Spanish Civil War.

Gran de Gràcia Street is a famous street, full of small traditional shops, popular
clothing chains, small design shops, many shoe stores and international bars and
restaurants. It’s the perfect place for a pleasant pedestrian promenade and a nice
dinner at a terrace.

Casa Fuster is a modernist building created by Lluis

Domenech and Montaner, located in front of
‘Jardinets de Gràcia’. The building is based on
robust stone columns, rose windows and floral
decoration.

Festa mayor is the well known Gracia festivities

that take place every August during five days. The
streets are decorated
for the occasion and at night the streets are filled with
people, drinks and live music of all kinds. Festa Mayor de
Gràcia is famous for being one of the most popular festa’s
in Barcelona. The street that wins the price for best
decorated, receives money for the decoration for the
following year.

Passeig de Gràcia, the street which is today home to the most high-end international
fashion brands and posh hotels (Barcelona’s version of the Champs-Élysées), was
back then a country road linking the town to the larger city.

!3
 l’Eixample

Eixample, Catalan for 'wider part’ in English ‘

Extension’, is a district of Barcelona between
the old city (Ciutat Vella) and what were once
surrounding small towns (Sants, Gràcia, Sant
Andreu etc.), constructed in the 19th and early
20th centuries. Its population is over 270.000
people.

Architecture and design

The Eixample is characterized by long straight
streets, wide avenues, and square blocks with
’’cut’’ corners (named illes in Catalan, manzanas in Spanish). Original plan was a
design by Ildefons Cerdà, who considered traffic and transport along with sunlight and
ventilation in coming up with his characteristic
octagonal blocks. The inhabitants were of a higher
class than the mixed composition dreamed of by
Cerdà. The important needs of the inhabitants were
incorporated into his plan, which called for markets,
schools, hospitals every so many blocks. Today, most
of the markets remain open in the spots they have
been from the beginning.

Original design
The dimensions of the ‘Manzanas’ are given by the width of the roads. The blocks are
formed by quadrilaterals of 113,3m, by 15m corners, which gives a surface of 1.24
ha, contrary to the popular belief that the blocks have an exact surface of 1 hectare.
Original height was 20m, with this height, with the sun at 45°, it would illuminate any
building in its entirety without making shade on neighboring buildings. Finally, if one
more floor is built on that building, but with the facade withdrawn, it would be
possible to increase the constructed space without the shadow of the building
affecting the neighboring buildings, thus creating the attic floor.

Architects
Some parts of the Eixample were influenced by Modernista architects, chief among
whom was Antoni Gaudí i Cornet (25 June 1852 – 10 June 1926). His work in the
Eixample includes Casa Milà (nicknamed La Pedrera) and Casa Batlló, both of which
are on the wide Passeig de Gràcia, as well as the Sagrada Família. Other architects
who made highly significant were Josep Puig i Cadafalch, Lluís Domènech i Montaner,
Josep Maria Jujol i Gilbert, Josep Domènech i Estapà, Josep Vilaseca i Casanovas and
perhaps above all Enric Sagnier i Villavecchia, responsible for a total of over 500
buildings in the city (not all of them in the Eixample).

!4
 Sights in l’Eixample

Casa Milà
Popularly known as ‘La Pedrera’ (the stone quarry), an ironic allusion to the
resemblance of its façade to an open quarry, was constructed between 1906 and 1912
by Antoni Gaudí i Cornet. It was the last civil work designed by the architect.
The building was commissioned in 1906 by
businessman Pere Milà i Camps and his wife
Roser Segimon i Artells. At the time, it was
controversial because of the undulating stone
facade and twisting wrought iron balconies
and windows designed by Josep Maria Jujol.
Structural innovations include a self-
supporting stone front and columns, and
floors free of load bearing walls. Also
innovative is the underground garage.

In 1984 it was declared a World Heritage Site by

UNESCO. Currently, it is the headquarters of the
Catalunya-La Pedrera Foundation, which manages
the exhibitions, activities and public visits at Casa
Milà.
A total of 4,500 m2 can be visited, spread over
five floors. The only areas that cannot be visited
are the private homes and offices that remain in
the building.

Mansana de la Discordia (Block of Discord)

This is the name that the people from Barcelona gave to a group of houses found in
the paseo de Gracia street. Three of the most important houses representing
Modernism can be found on this block: Casa Amatller (1898-1900) by Josep Puig i
Cadafalch, Casa Lleó i Morera (1902-1906) by Lluís Domènech i Montaner and Casa
Batlló (1904-1906) by Antoni Gaudí i Cornet.

Two meanings can be attributed to the name Mansana de la Discordia: on the one
hand, the word mansana comes from the Latin mansio, -onis meaning “house”,
therefore making mansana a reference to the group of houses. On the other hand, the
word mansana (manzana in Spanish) meaning “apple”, explains the mythological story
of the wedding of Thetis and Peleus, in which the goddess of Discord threw a golden
apple and instigated the Trojan War. The people of Barcelona use this simile to convey
which of the three houses Casa Amatller, Casa Lleó i Morera or Casa Batlló the golden
apple should be awarded to, and therefore be chosen as the most beautiful.

!5
Casa Amatller
A modernisme building, designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch.
The building was originally designed as a residence for
chocolatier Antoni Amatller and was constructed between 1898
and 1900. 1.415 m2, 490.000 pesetas.
Puig broke schemes based on classical compositional symmetry
and regularity, exceeded 22 meters in height regulations and
added chromaticism as a prominent element in the urban
environment. He marked the emergence of Modernism in the
Eixample district.
Puig's intervention led to a radical transformation of the building;
• demolition and reconstruction of the facade
• building a photography studio on the roof
• reconstruction and redecoration of the ground floor (including the main staircase)
• the addition of an elevator and electrical installations
• renovation of kitchens and bathrooms quartos all habitats

Casa Lleó i Morera

A modernist building by Lluís Domènech i Montaner from 1902.
There was an old building, called Casa Rocamora, built in 1864
by master builder Joaquim Sitjas. Domènech i Montaner
designed a complete remodel of the existing house using a
variety of materials. The project lasted until 1906.
Francesca Morera i Ortiz inherited that building from her uncle,
Antoni Morera i Busó, but she died before seeing the finished
work. It was her son, Albert Lleó i Morera, who took charge of
the house, giving it the name by which it is known today, Casa
Lleó i Morera.
In order to complete this modernist piece of work, the architect
was surrounded by a large group of master artists and
craftsmen.
The façade and the mezzanine were decorated with different types of ornamentation,
of which the sculptures by Eusebi Arnau depicting two couples of female figures were
the most notable, although they were destroyed in a
remodel of the house's ground floor in 1943. The sculptures
on the balconies of the first floor are women holding the 4
most notables inventions of that time: electricity, the
telephone, the gramophone and photography. On the
façade are repeated allusions to the family's surname
Morera (which means mulberry in English) represented
through the use of different materials.

Casa Batlló
It is a remodel of a previously built house by Emilio Sala Cortés
(one of Gaudi’s teachers), it was redesigned in 1904 by Gaudí
and has been refurbished several times after that. 


It used to be 20m tall, just like any other block in Eixample, with
a total surface of 3100m2. It has now a total surface of 4300 m2,
each apartment 450 m2. 

The facade is built with sandstone of Montjuïc.
Like everything Gaudí designed, it is only identifiable as
Modernisme or Art Nouveau in the broadest sense. There are few
straight lines, and much of the façade is decorated with a
colorful mosaic made of broken ceramic tiles. The roof is arched
and was likened to the back of a dragon.
!6
A common theory about the building is that the rounded feature to the left of centre,
terminating at the top in a turret and cross, represents the lance of Sant Jordi (patron
saint of Catalonia), which has been plunged into the back of the dragon. The local
name for the building is Casa dels ossos (House of Bones), as it has a visceral,
skeletal organic quality.
The house was rebuilt for Josep Batlló i Casanovas, a rich
businessman who owned several textile factories. He had
5 kids with his wife Amàlia Godó i Belaunzarán, from the
editors family of La Vanguardia, newspaper in Catalunya.
He paid 510.000 pesetas (3.065€) Since 1993 the house is
owned by the family Bernat, known from the Chupa
Chups, and it is worth over 73 million€.

The legend of Jordi, the dragon and the princess

There was a dragon attacking the kingdom. Died of fear, the inhabitants decided to
deliver two lambs to the dragon every day to satisfy his hunger and not to attack the
village. But when the animals became scarce, they decided to send one person -
chosen by lot - and only one lamb. That family that suffered the loss of one of its
members received, in compensation, all kinds of wealth.

One day the princess was chosen by faith to accompany the lamb. Be as it was, in the
cave of the dragon, the princess met the knight Jordi, who killed the dragon by
stabbing him with his sword and saved her. From the blood that sprang from the
monster's lifeless body was born a red rose that the knight offered to the princess.

The king gave the knight unimaginable riches, but Jordi preferred that they would be
shared among the inhabitants of the kingdom.

For this reason, in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and in parts of the Valencian
Community it is customary that every April 23 (date of death of Saint Jordi) men give
roses to women, as if they were a gentleman and a princess. The women give a book
to the men, remembering the death of two greats of European literature, Cervantes
and Shakespeare.

Universitat de Barcelona (UB)

Since 1450 Estudi General of Barcelona, unifying all of
the previous schools of higher learning.
The UB is the most formidable public institution of
higher education in Catalonia and is also the principal
centre of university research in Spain. It occupies a
competitive position at national, European and
worldwide levels in the most important ranking tables.
Number one of Ranking of World Universities is Spain,
in the top 100 most innovative universities of Europe and in the top 200 best
universities in the world.

Over 65.000 students separated over 16 different faculties

spread over Barcelona.
The UB opens the doors of its most emblematic spaces to
showcase its rich architectural and artistic heritage.

!7
 Ciutat Vella

The name means "old city" in Catalan and refers to the

oldest neighborhoods in the city. Ciutat Vella is nestled
between the Mediterranean Sea and the neighborhood
l’Eixample. There are four administrative neighborhoods
(some of them include former or traditional
neighborhoods):
● El Gòtic
● El Raval
● Sant Pere, Santa Caterina i la Ribera
● La Barceloneta

Las Ramblas

Is a street in central Barcelona, popular with tourists and
locals alike. It stretches for 1.2 kilometers connecting
Plaça de Catalunya in the centre with the Christopher
Columbus Monument at Port Vell. La Rambla forms the
boundary between the quarters of Barri Gòtic and El
Raval.

The course of La Rambla was originally a sewage-filled

stream-bed, usually dry but an important drain for the
heavy rainwater flowing from the Collserola hills during spring and autumn. Rambla,
from the Arabic "sand", is Catalan for "wadi", seasonal stream. It separated the
walled city from El Raval ("the suburb").
In the year 1377, construction started on an extension of the city
walls to include La Rambla and El Raval. In 1440, the stream was
diverted to run outside the new walls, and La Rambla gradually
started turning into a street.

La Rambla can be considered a series of shorter

streets, each differently named, hence the plural form
Les Rambles (the original Catalan form, in Spanish it
is Las Ramblas).

El Raval

It is the artsy, bohemian, slightly edgy part of Ciutat Vella. It is considered safe during
the day, but some parts are better to avoid at night. On the whole it is a vibrant area
that brings life and colour to the city.

El Raval was originally an area of markets and gardens outside the city wall (the city
wall was on the left of what is now the street La Rambla). The markets, gardens and
convents from 1800 later developed into factories and workers blocks which
eventually made the the neighborhood one of the most densely populated areas in the
world - and one of the worst workers ghettos in the world too. Where dock workers
and sailors went to have a good time. With a red light district with many brothels and
bars. Picasso was known to frequent visit the Raval brothels in his youth in the early
20th century.

!8
It was known as the "Barrio Chino". This did not originate from any kind of Chinese
connections, but the name came from a journalist in the 1920ies, who used the name
to describe the area after seeing a movie about San Francisco's Chinatown, and the
name stuck.

Today, El Raval is probably the most multicultural neighborhood attracting creative,

fun, edgy and artistic residents and also a few unsavory characters.

Raval restaurants are neo-hippy, ghetto-trendy and many other variations that have a
reputation for some of the tastiest food in town.

Sights in El Raval

The CCCB (Casa de Caritat)

Stands for Contemporary Culture Centrum Barcelona. It
hosts many major art and cultural festivals.

In the year 1802, King Charles IV of Spain authorised the

creation of a charitable establishment, the Casa de Caritat
(Almshouse) to provide shelter for the most
disadvantaged members of society (housing over two
thousand people). Over time, the Casa de Caritat came to
fund itself and it obtained income from very diverse
sources. It organised prize draws, masquerade balls, and
bullfights. It also produced basic essentials: biscuits, needles, fabrics, noodles, rope
sandals, cotton, clothing, et cetera. Its most profitable activities prominently included
the municipal concession of the funeral service in 1838 and, especially, the creation of
one of the city’s most important printing presses. This self-funding system was
achieved by the teaching of specialised trades (carpentry, blacksmithery, printing,
shoemaking, etc.) within the Almshouse itself.

The Casa de Caritat ceased to function in the

year 1957 with the move to and inauguration of
new premises in the Vall d’Hebron district.

The remodeling project, for the rehabilitation of

Raval and its historical buildings, implemented
by architects Helio Piñón and Albert Viaplana,
began in the year 1991. It occupies the original
structure of three wings arranged in a U-shape

!9
around a large central courtyard: the Pati de les Dones. The new northern wing with a
rectangular block measuring thirty meters high: a glass façade that has become a
mirror of the urban landscape and a lookout point over the city.
Architecture prize in the year 1993.

MACBA
Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona. A $35
million construction designed by the American
architect Richard Meier & Partners.
Meier embraced the difficult task of creating a
building that would ultimately display a variety of
contemporary artworks that were unknown to him
at the time of design. The choice to build the
museum in the Plaça dels Ángels is consistent with
Meier’s vision to situate the building amongst some
of Barcelona’s oldest streets and buildings, in
addition to revamping the public space of the Raval.
The museum opened to the public on November 28th 1995, well after the 1992
Summer Olympics for which it was planned.
The permanent collection of around 5.000 works, dates from the mid-20th century
onward. There are three periods of modern art represented: the first one covers the
forties to the sixties; the second spans the sixties and seventies; the third period is
contemporary.
Together with surrounding places in Barcelona, it is a meeting ground in youth culture
due to its reputation in the world of skateboarding photography and cinema.

Nice to know is that the skateboarders were a problem at first. Later the people came
to realize that they were the one to make Plaça dels Ángels an accepted part of El
Raval neighborhood again.

Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria

The Boqueria Market, as it is known today, has been through
many phases. Where this market comes from is uncertain,
what we are sure of is that it was born early 1200 as a
traveling market. It originated as an open-air market, in front
of one of the gates of the old city wall (Pla de la Boqueria)
where fruit and vegetable traders from local towns would sell
their products. The spaces inside the city at that time were too
small to establish a big market of the current Boqueria kind
and it was necessary to set them outside the walls.

In 1914 the market with the metal roof was

inaugurated. From there, it began to modernize and to
improve, not only at a sanitary level, but also aesthetic,
and decorative. Over the years, La Boqueria has
become the most emblematic market of all the network
of markets in Barcelona. It is now an international
name of reference. This is shown by the great number
of prizes it has won, which include the prize for the best
market in the world, awarded by the World Markets
Congress held in 2005 in Washington DC.

!10
Antic Hospital de la Santa Creu / Biblioteca de Catalunya
The former Hospital de la Santa Creu is one of the finest examples of Catalan civil-
Gothic architecture. Building work began in 1401, with the purpose of bringing
together Barcelona's six hospitals on one site. Some parts were not finished before
the 17th century, as you can see many different constructions in the building.
It is famously the place where Antoni Gaudí died (73 years old), three days after he
was hit by a tram on 10th of June 1926. A tram ran over Gaudí at the intersection of
Gran Vía and Calle Bailén, leaving him lying on the ground and seriously injured. The
passers-by, however, where taking him for a beggar due to the careless appearance
he wore in his old age. After a while, a civil guard noticed the accident, and although
he did not recognize him (Gaudí did not carry
with him any identity document just the bibel,
a rosary and the key of his desk), he
managed to transfer him to the nearest
emergency post. Not without some difficulty
since the taxi drivers were reluctant to help
him as well. The doctor on duty orders his
transfer to the Clinical Hospital after
administering the serious state of the injured.
Once at Hospital Santa Cruz the chaplain of
the Sagrada Familia was the first to recognize
him.
Antoni Gaudí, universal architect, fought for his ideals, died as a poor man, was
buried as a king and has gone down in history as one of the cornerstones of
modernism and one of the great masters of contemporary architecture.

By the end of the 19th century the hospital had become outdated because of the
growth of the city and advances that had been made in medicine and hygiene, so it
was moved to a new site at the Hospital de Sant Pau, built between 1902 and 1930.

Today it houses the Biblioteca de Catalunya

(since 1939). The Library has a collection
volume of over 3.9 million pieces on 12.000
m2.

Fun fact:
At the corner of Calle Hospital and
Gadrunya, there was a house where from
the end of the 12th century patients were
cured. It was converted into a hospital in
1219 by Canon Colom. Also known as "Casa
dels Orats” (=house of the crazy people). It is the first hospital in the Iberian
Peninsula that is known to have hosted psychiatric patients. The Hospital of Colom
was one of the hospitals that became part of the Santa Cruz Hospital.

Rambla de Raval
An authentic lung of oxygen in the heart of El Raval:
this is the youngest of the Ramblas in Barcelona. It
is a wide boulevard-shaped street where we meet
people of very diverse social, cultural and
geographical backgrounds.
Ildefons Cerdà had already planned the opening of
this artery in the southern part of El Raval. At the
beginning of the 20th century, the "Chinatown" was
an urban nucleus with harsh living conditions and a
!11
high demographic density. Cerdà thought about the need to open squares that would
sponge the neighborhood. But it was not until 1955 when the Barcelona City Council
decided to remodel El Raval. This young Rambla was opened in 2000 and its opening
meant the disappearance of some unhealthy streets and buildings. The street
collaborates in the social integration of disadvantaged groups as well as becoming one
of the most suitable public spaces for the celebration of cultural events of all kinds.
The social profile of the new Rambla changes day after day: the inauguration in 2008
of a great hotel and the installation of modern restaurants, have meant a new
economic injection for an increasingly integrated neighborhood in the city. Meanwhile,
at the lower end of the promenade, the enormous Gato de Fernando Botero smiles at
everyone.

El Gato
Fernando Botero's Cat was acquired by the Barcelona City Council in 1987. From then
until 2003, the sculpture wandered the streets of the city in search of a definitive
location. He first found it in the Parc Ciutadella, near his colleagues in the Barcelona
Zoo. In 1992 they took him to the Olympic Stadium as a mascotte for the summer
Olympics and a few years later he was placed in a hidden square behind the
Drassanes in Raval. A bad place for El Gato, the
unknown Baluard gardens, which are accessed through
a gate located in the square and have become a refuge
for drug addicts. Finally in 2003 the decision was taken
to place it definitively at the end of the young Rambla
del Raval. Everyone recognizes the figure of the cat, big
and fat, made in bronze, childlike and long tail. The
story goes that touching the cat’s whiskers will bring
you luck. And from the look of the balls
under his fat tale and the bell around his
neck, they must have a myth behind it
as well ;)

The same style defines the horse (Caballo) of the Colombian author,
placed in Terminal 2 of the Barcelona airport since 1992.

Iglesia Sant Pau del Camp (oldest church of the city)

Catalan for "Saint Paul of the countryside" or "fields" is a
church and former monastery. While the monastery now
stands in central Barcelona, it once stood outside the city
(before 14th century); its rural location gave the church
its name.

There are no sources about the monastery's origins, but

it is documented from 977; in 985 it was sacked and
destroyed by the Muslim troops. That was not the last
time the church was attacked, since it was the first place
the incoming troops would find.

The Romanesque monastery has a small cloister, built in the 13th century. It features
lobular arcades supported by double columns, whose capitals are decorated by biblical
and daily life scenes, animals, monsters and vegetable motifs. The abbots' house was
built in the 13th-14th and early 18th century.
It was declared National Monument in 1879.

!12
 Port Vell

Catalan for ‘old harbor’, is the most important port of Catalonia and lies at the
Mediterranean Sea. The port is just as old as the city of Barcelona itself and the two
are inseparably connected to each other. It is the most important passenger port of
the Mediterranean, and the fifth most important
passenger port in the world. It is the third port of
Spain, after the port of Algeciras and the port of
Valencia.

The harbor has been renovated several times with

the biggest renovation for the ´92 Summer
Olympics. They built
the touristic peninsula
with the Aquarium,
the 3D cinema
(already closed) and the Maremagnum shopping mall
that’s open 365 days a year. The actual harbor was
moved towards the airport, in front of the Montjuïc.

Sights in Port Vell

Mirador de Colon
Is a 60m tall monument dedicated to Christopher Columbus at the lower
end of La Rambla. It was constructed for the Exposición Universal in 1888
(World Fair) in honor to Columbus’ first voyage to the Americas. The
monument serves as a reminder that Columbus reported to Queen
Isabella I and King Ferdinand V in Barcelona after his first trip to the new
continent.

In 1889 an elevator was installed inside the column. On the day of its
inauguration, on January 24, it suffered a breakdown, and the mayor Rius i Taulet was
locked inside for a few minutes. The first, hydraulic, was replaced by another in the
postwar period, and again by another more modern in the restoration carried out in
1984.

The statue of Columbus on top of the drone is 7m tall and only his index finger is
already half a meter long. But where does Columbus point at? Some say Genoa where
he was born. Others say India, where he was supposed to go to. He doesn’t point to
either of them. Initially it was said that the finger pointed to America, but this
statement created controversy since America is located in the opposite direction to
where the finger points. The public would not have understood if the finger had
pointed to the Rambla, inland, and therefore the statue is pointing to the sea; the
second opinion, very similar to the first, states that the statue does not point to
America, but the road to America by sea, which is the route that Columbus made from
the port of Palos de la Frontera (Huelva).


Interesting facts:
The government of Madrid yielded 30 tons of bronze from waste war material for the
monument.
A French architect, Gustave Eiffel, also proposed to build an iron tower. However, this
project did not go through because it was too "extravagant". The following year, this
tower was build for the Paris World Fair. It has become the symbol of Paris. It could
also have been the symbol of Barcelona .

!13
Transbordador Aeri
The cable car was constructed for the 1929 World Fair, for
visitors that came by boat. They wouldn’t have to walk all the
way to the Exhibitions entrance, 5 km further, but were
directly transported to the Montjuïc where the Fair was held. It
has three stations, the San Sebastián Tower in the Barceloneta
neighborhood, the Jaime I Tower next to the World Trade
Center on the Barcelona Pier, and the Miramar station on the
Montjuïc mountain. With a total distance of 1303 meters.

Drassanes
The Barcelona Royal Shipyar (Drassanes Reials de Barcelona) is a shipyard and former
military building of Gothic architecture placed at the Port Vell area of the Port of
Barcelona. Nowadays it houses the Barcelona Maritime
Museum. Construction started during the 13th century.
During excavations in 2012 it was discovered that in the
late 16th century a new building was constructed on top of
the old medieval dockyard, giving the building its current
structure. This excavations
also uncovered a Roman
graveyard. The shipyard's
restoration was finished in
early 2013. The Museum
was reopened in 2014.

Aduana
The old (first) Customs of Barcelona, was built in the Palace Square, "Pla de Palau", in
179. In 1902, due to the changes by the expansion and transformation of the port, it
had to change place. The ‘’new’’ Customs is the building that we see in Port Vell, left
from Colon (facing the city).
The building is now housing the tax agency. 


Port de Barcelona

This building is listed as a historical and artistic
architectural heritage of the city. Work was begun in
1903 and completed in 1907. Initially the building
was a maritime station that served as a passenger
pier, and had a very popular restaurant among locals
of the time. Currently it is the headquarters of the
Port Authority, which is the public body in charge of
the management of the Port of Barcelona.

!14
 La Barceloneta

The history of this place starts in the year 1477 when, in one of the multiple
enlargements of the port of Barcelona, they decided to build a jetty. Thanks to this
action on the seafront of the city in that area sediments were accumulating: the sea
was accumulating sand and Barcelona gained more space. A new location that the
citizens of a crowded city, still constrained by the walls, could take advantage of.

The neighborhood was built during the eighteenth

century and initially designed in 1719 to accommodate
the inhabitants of the neighborhood of La Ribera who
had lost their homes, ordered demolished by Felipe V
to build the Citadel. But the works did not begin until
1753. Curiously, the disposition of the blocks of houses
oriented to the Ciutadella responded to a military
objective, allowing to control everything that happened
in the neighborhood.

It became the home for Army aligned craftsmen, soldiers and fishermen. Ever since it
has always been a working class neighborhood, even up until today.

Since Barceloneta was a neighborhood that arose from the accumulation of

sediments, it was not advisable to raise more than two floors in height. But the
demographic growth and the real estate market ended up causing that the majority of
buildings were raised, between the end of the XVIII century and the beginning of the
XIX, between three and six floors. The extra apartments are called ‘cuarts de
casa’ (=a quarter of a house) and measure 28 to 35 m2.

It still breathes its Fishermens neighborhood atmosphere. There are still many little
fish restaurants and tapas places.

!15
Playas de Barcelona
The only part of the beach, about 300 meters, is original. The rest of the 5km of
beach is made for the ‘92 Olympics. Before it was an industrial area with slums. All
radically taken away to make way for Barcelona’s own Miami beach (with actual Palm
trees from California).

Still besides all the blockades of big

concrete stones in the sea, in order to keep
most of the sand, the current still takes
sand away from the beach. A couple times
a year they have t add sand to the beach to
make it ready for another season.

L’Estel Ferit
Along the coast, and especially in the beach area of La Barceloneta, you will find many
sculptures and monuments. Most of them were placed in public places for the 1992
Olympic Games, and many are signed by a significant sculptor of different
contemporary art trends.

The four disjointed cubes that pile up 10 meters in a

disorderly manner form the sculpture L'Estel Ferit (The
Wounded Star); however, everyone knows her as "The
Cubes". This popular monument fits perfectly with the taste
of Olympic Barcelona for innovative art. Although its
symbolism is completely linked to the past of the Barceloneta
district.

Vila Olimpica

The Olympic Village was the first maritime district of Barcelona and has got a new
marina, a large promenade and a wide range of bars and restaurants. It was built with
two objectives, to modernize this urban sector and meet the accommodation needs of
the Olympic Games. Big part of the district, including Industrial Revolution factories of
architectural value such as Fàbrica Foret, got destroyed. To create over 2000 new
apartments in the area.

Link to the transformation of Barcelona between 1986-1992:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLMhjPDKKJk&t=5s

!16
Hotel Arts
The famous architect Bruce Graham was in charge of building this monumental project
that forever changed the skyline of the city. Its construction began in 1991, on the
occasion of the Olympic Games of Barcelona 92 ', although it did not open its doors as
Hotel Arts until 1994.

With 500 rooms it is the biggest hotel of the city and with 150 meters hight it is the
tallest of them all. With a penthouse spa on the 43rd floor and 5 restaurants (one with
2 Michelin stars) it is very luxurious 5 star hotel. It also offers the most expensive
hotel room in Barcelona, 14.000€ a night.

Interesting fact: Barcelona’s most expensive hotel

is built on top of the former ‘’ghetto’’.

Torre Mapfre
Together with the Hotel Arts it stands out above
everything.
Torre Mapfre is closed to the public, it is an office
built in 1991-1992 and financed by the insurance
company ‘Mapfre’. The tower together with Hotel
Arts is the "gateway to the Olympic village".

Some statistics about Torre Mapfre:

44 floors, 154 meters high, 44,555 Square meters area. The tower also holds the
record for the highest landing spot for helicopters in Spain.

El Peix (the fish)

Created in 1992 by the Canadian-American artist Frank Gehry. This was the first
project in which he experimented with the computer to help him build his complicated
curvilinear structures and asymmetrical shapes. The idea of the fish, he says, is an
expression of his anger against the useless historical references of postmodernism.
It has become one of the symbols of post-Olympic Barcelona. 56 meters long and 35
meters high, the animal seems to want to jump into the blue Mediterranean sea.
Frank Gehry, is also the author of other works in Spain. Among the best known is the
Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

Plaza de los Voluntaris

Behind to the two towers of the Olympic Village, is the Plaza de los Voluntaris
Olímpics. This square pays homage to the more than 30,000 volunteers who
collaborated to make the dream of an Olympic Barcelona possible in 1992.

Marc
The sculpture Marc is the work of Robert Llimós (1997),
located in the Plaza de los Voluntarios of the Vila Olímpica.
The sculpture was made in honor of the artist his deceased
son(1996).
Llimós created the first issue of this figure, which he called
Threshold, for the 1996 Olympic Games in the city of Atlanta
(USA). "Due to the high percentage of people of color in
Atlanta, I created this multi-ethnic character that reflects the
union of all cultures," he explains.

!17
 El Born/La Ribera

Many artists have set up their studios in La Ribera, inheriting the past of the
neighborhood where Barcelona city's artisans used to live. Many street names remind
us of the ancient trades and skills: Mirallers (mirror makers), Sombrerers (hatters),
Argenters (silversmiths), etc. Streets that grew up around the Basílica de Santa Maria
del Mar, which is, without a shadow of a doubt, the masterpiece of Catalan Gothic
architecture.

The main, tree-lined avenue, Passeig del Born was,

according to local historians, the main square in Barcelona
and where most of the cities festivities were held.

By the 13th century, Barcelona needed to expand beyond its

city walls and a separate borough was created, which soon
became the district where merchants and the wealthiest
Barcelona families came to live, supported by an important seafaring tradition. Carrer
Montcada, currently the home of art galleries and major museums such as the Museu
Picasso, formed the centre of this affluent part of Barcelona. The medieval palazzos
are a vivid reminder of this past. A period of splendor cut short in the 16th century,
and later, by the War of the Spanish Succession, when Philip V built a military citadel
on the eastern side of La Ribera.

Now, among the ancient stones of La Ribera, restaurants, wine bars, cocktail lounges,
dance clubs and designer boutiques showcase the vibrant colour of an old
neighborhood whose beauty has been renewed.

Sights of El Born/La Ribera

Parque de la Ciudadela
It is located in the neighborhood of La Ribera. For many
years it was the only public park in Barcelona. It has
ten accesses and has an extension of 31 hectares
including the Zoo. It is the largest urban park in
Barcelona after Montjuïc.

In medieval times it was located outside the city walls.

It was a district of fishermen and sailors, whose main
constructions were the church of Santa María del Mar
and the convents of San Agustín and Santa Clara.
In 1700, the death without descendants of King Charles
II caused a succession conflict that gave rise to the War
of Succession (1701-1714), where the main European powers intervened: France
(Felipe Borbón V), the Sacrum Germanic Roman Empire, Great Britain, the
Netherlands and Portugal.
Catalonia initially opted for Felipe, who swore the Catalan constitutions. However,
some factors, caused a turn in the sympathies of some Catalan leaders, which went
over to Carlos's side in 1705.
To keep the city under tight control, Felipe V ordered the construction of a fortress,
the Ciudadela, as part of a military complex to dominate the city.
For its construction it was necessary to demolish part of the Ribera district: 1200
houses were demolished and various buildings of artistic interest were demolished. In
total, about 4.500 people were evicted, who received no compensation and were

!18
abandoned to their fate. Some were relocated three decades later in the new district
of Barceloneta, on land reclaimed from the sea.
The fortress was characterized by having five corners, which gave the citadel
defensive power, and by a rather wide surrounding margin, serving as location for the
army's cannons. It included enough buildings to house 8,000 people.
Hundreds of Catalonians were forced to work on the construction for three years,
while the rest of the city provided financial backing for this and for warfare-related
expenses as well, with a new tax named el cadestre. Three decades later a quarter
was rebuilt around the fortress named Barceloneta, which is located inside the
neighborhood Ciutat Vella.
In 1841 the city's authorities decided to destroy the fortress, which was hated by
Barcelona's citizens.

The chapel (now the Military Parish Church of Barcelona), the Governor's palace (now
Verdaguer Secondary School), and the arsenal (now home to the Catalan Parliament)
remain, with the rest of the site being turned into the contemporary park by the
architect Josep Fontsére in 1872.
In 1888 the first International World Fair
in Spain was held in the park and ran
from May 20 to December 9. More than
2 million people from Spain, the rest of
Europe, and other international points of
embarkation, visited the exhibition,
which made the equivalent of 1,737,000
USD. The World Fair served as the
opportunity for Barcelona to rid itself of
the hated citadel and transform it into a
central park for the city's denizens.

Arc de Triomf
The arc de triumph served as the main entrance to the
1888 World Fair. Neo-classical design by architect Josep
Vilaseca i Casanova. The arch is 30 meters tall. The front
façade contains the stone sculpture ‘Barcelona rep les
nacions' (Catalan for ‘Barcelona welcomes the nations’).
The opposite façade contains a stone carving entitled
‘Recompensa’ (‘Recompense’), representing the granting of
awards to the participants in the World Fair. The friezes
along the sides of the arch include allegories of agriculture and industry and of trade
and art. The two pillars of the arch feature stone bats, which were the emblem of King
Jaume I, who ruled over a period of prosperity in Barcelona.

Castell dels Tres Dragons

‘Castle of the three Dragons’ was built as a Café-Restaurant of the World Fair by Lluis
Domenech i Muntaner, a leading architect of Catalan Modernism, and is considered
one of the best examples of pre-modernism.
In its time it was one of the main buildings of the exhibition. Work began in
September 1887, and suffered many delays, and so, on April 8, the day of the
inauguration, it was not ready, delaying its opening until
August 17. For this reason Domènech i Montaner
resigned as the responsible architect.
Later it was dedicated to museum purposes, being a
museum of history, archeology, biology and natural
sciences. During the Spanish Civil War it was closed,
after suffering some damage by bombing aviation
Franco. Until 2010 it hosted zoology collections of the
Museum of Natural Sciences of Catalonia.
!19
La Cascada
The Cascada (=waterfall) was first inaugurated in 1881 without sculptures or any
meticulous details. It was erected by Josep Fontsére. The hydraulic water house was
designed by Antoni Gaudí, who at that time was still an unknown student of
architecture.

The monument stands out for its sculptural profusion, in which several of the best
sculptors of that moment participated.
On the back the waterfall has several rooms, like a grotto artificial, in which a
Aquarium was located, behind the group of the Birth of Venus. The aquarium was in
operation until the 1930s, when its collections went to the Zoo. In its day it was the
first permanent exhibition of live fish that was in Barcelona. On a surface of 120 m²
several species of marine fish and Catalan rivers were exposed, as well as
crustaceans, stars and sea urchins, shells, seashells, corals, sponges and insects
linked to fluvial and marine environments
Quadriga de l'Aurora on the top of the fountain, is the golden statue with the 4
horses. In her right hand she holds up a torch, as a symbol of the light with which she
illuminates the world every morning. In the times of the Roman Empire, a quadriga
was a type of chariot drawn by four horses in line. It was used by the generals when
they triumphantly entered the cities.
The griffins are mythological animals, half lion and half eagle. There are four, each of
them differentiated and with their own peculiarities: one has the head of an eagle
while the other three have a lion's head. Likewise, the wings of each figure are
different, from ones similar to those of a bat to others with feathers or scales.

Glorieta de música
The bandstand located in front of the Monumental Cascada is
where the municipal band was formerly located, built in 1884. In
2013 this space was called Glorieta (round pavilion) of the
Transsexual Sonia, in honor of Sonia Rescalvo, a transsexual
murdered there by a group of neo-Nazis in 1991.

Zoológico
The main pavilion of the World Fair was the Palau de la Indústria with an area of
70,000 m2. In 1930 this building was demolished and now the Zoo of Barcelona is
located on that spot. It was inaugurated in 1892, during the day of the Mercé, the
patron saint of the city.
Nowadays, with one of the most substantial collections of animals in Europe, the zoo
affirms that their aim is to conserve, investigate, and educate.
From 1966 to 2003 the zoo was home to the famous albino gorilla Snowflake, who
attracted many international tourists and locals.

!20
Born CC
After Barcelona fell to Bourbon troops in
1714, this area of the city was leveled to
make way for a huge citadel. In 1863 the
citadel was demolished and replaced by a
large park (El Parque de la Ciudadela),
houses and a the “Mercat del
Born” market. The market, designed by
Antoni Rovira i Trias, inaugurated in 1876,
the “Mercat del Born” and was Barcelona’s 1876
first cast-iron covered market and is the
largest of it’s kind in Europe. It was the city’s central food market right up-until
1971 when the new Mercabarna wholesale market opened in the Zona Franca (outside
of the city centre).

1910

1963

The abandoned market building fell into decay until 2002 when work started to
convert it into a library. The library project came to an abrupt halt when the remains
of 18th century Barcelona were unearthed. Ten years later the El Born Centre Cultural
opened its doors to the public.

The large quantity of artifacts recovered (mainly crockery and other household items),
combined with written records, have been used to create an exhibition that gives
visitors an insight into life in Barcelona in the 1700s.

The Centre is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10am until 8pm. Entry to the
building and the central walkway is FREE of Charge.

Fossar de les Moreres

It is a square built on the old cemetery belonging to the adjacent basilica of Santa
María del Mar. It integrates the commemorative elements to the fallen during the
siege of Barcelona in 1714, as part of the War of the Spanish Succession. The reason
that in this place the fallen defenders are remembered is that, during the battle of
September 11, 1714, many of the defenders killed in combat were buried here.

In the nineteenth century, the new sanitary regulations meant the disappearance of
numerous cemeteries, whose plots were urbanized as new public squares: places like
Santa María, del Pino, San José Oriol, and San Felipe Neri, San Pedro and San Jaime.

At the end of the 1980s the square was urbanized with

the aim of installing the monument in memory of the
fallen. For this purpose, several one-story houses that
had been built over the cemetery were demolished,
some of them attached to the church of Santa María
del Mar. The elevated passage that connected the
church with the General Captaincy building was also

!21
eliminated. Architect Carme Fiol designed a separation wall between the square itself
and the street of Santa María, which runs parallel to the wall of the church; in this
wall, of red granite and 30 meters long, the verse of Pitarra dedicated to the fallen
was inscribed. For the pavement of the square he chose bricks of red color,
symbolizing the blood poured in this place.

Every September 11th, during the National Festival

of Catalonia tribute is paid in the square to the
defenders of the city, dead and buried in this place.
For this reason, the following text by Serafí Pitarra
is inscribed:
In the Fossar de les Moreres no traitor is buried,
even if losing our flags it will be the urn of honor.

In 2001, a cauldron was installed on a curved

metal structure, 15 meters high and red -like the
rest of the set-, from which a flame arises in
memory of the fallen. This new element was the work of the architect Albert Viaplana.

Santa María del Mar

The Basilica Santa María del Mar is a beautiful Catalan gothic church finished in 1383.
The name Santa María del Mar means ‘Saint Mary of the Sea’. Now it is not very close
to the sea, but when the church was built, the neighborhood of El Born was on the sea
front. This church is unique because it is the only
Catalan gothic church built entirely in this style.

The earliest mention of the church ‘Santa María del

Mar’ dates back to the year 998. But the
construction, led by architect Berenguer de
Montagut, started on 25 March 1329 wen the
foundation stone was laid by King Alfons IV of
Aragon, also know as Alfons the Kind.

Unlike Barcelona Cathedral, which was being built

at the same time and was paid for by the king, the
church was principally funded by local people. Rich
merchants provided the majority of the money whilst sailors and porters (bastaixos)
transported tons of stone from the quarries on Montjuïc.

In 1428 the church was shaken by a major earthquake that

destroyed the large rose window which was replaced in 1459 by
the one we can see today. In 1936 it burned for eleven days in
a row and the magnificent Baroque altar, most of the stained
glass windows and a large quantity of historic documents where
destroyed. In the 60s they lounged a sponsorship campaign to
finance the restoration project for the windows and several
entities joined the cause, including FC Barcelona. Their gift in return is the FC
Barcelona shield in one of the windows of the church.

It is now also possible to take a tour of the Santa María del Mar church roof, which has
lovely views of Barcelona's old city.

!22