Barcelona: The Gothic Quarter

The Barcelona Barri Gotic area, or the Gothic Quarter, 

is the area in which the old town of Barcelona is located. 

The streets of the Barri Gotic vary considerably in style, 

but the old quarter is generally portrayed by narrow cobbled streets with tall old buildings. 

The Gothic Quarter is the heart of old Barcelona, 

a medieval city built upon Roman foundations. 

This historic hotchpotch of narrow and, in many cases, pedestrians streets and squares 

is full of character and charm and home to hundreds of shops, bars and restaurants. 

The gothic quarter is located between Barcelona’s famous boulevard Las Ramblas and Via Laietana, 

with Plaza Catalunya at the top and the port at the bottom. 

Barcelona: Plaça de Catalunya Area

Plaça de Catalunya is considered the centre of Barcelona 

and is where the old centre meets the new. 

It is the starting point for 

Passeig de Gràcia, Rambla de Catalunya, La Rambla and Portal de l'Àngel, 

streets always crowded with residents and visitors. 

Around the square you have some large department stores 

including El Corte Inglés, FNAC and Habitat, other shops, cafés, bars and banks.

The square's large central space holds one-off concerts, 

public celebrations and a variety of activities. 

The square is notable for its sculptures, which were created by important artists, 

such as Josep Clarà's Goddess; the Francesc Macià monument by Josep Maria Subirachs; Pau Gargallo's Shepherds, 
and other works by Josep Llimona and Enrique Casanovas.

The origin of Plaça de Catalunya was the 1859 Pla Rovira, 

although the city council did not get permission to build it until the end of 1889, 

after Pere Falqués won the competition for its construction, 

at the Universal Exhibition of 1888. 

The foundations, considered of great urban value, 

extended to the shopping galleries on Avinguda de la Llum, 

today the basement of the El Triangle shopping centre. 

Until the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), 

its cafés and restaurants (Maison Dorée, Colón, Lluna, Suís) 

were centres of literary and political discussion. 

It was also an area of theatres such as the Bon Retir, Circ Eqüestre Alegria, Eldorado Concert and Teatre Barcelona.

Barcelona: Ajuntament de Barcelona & Palau de la Generalitat

The 15th-century city hall, 

in the very center of the Gothic Quarter, in Plaça Sant Jaume, 

faces the Palau de la Generalitat, with its mid-18th-century neoclassical facade, 

across the square once occupied by the Roman Forum. 

The Ajuntament is a rich repository of sculpture and painting by the great Catalan masters, 
from Marès to Gargallo to Clarà, from Subirachs to Miró and Llimona. 

Inside is the famous Saló de Cent, from which the Consell de Cent, 

Europe's oldest democratic parliament, 

governed Barcelona between 1373 and 1714.

MySpot: I'll Sit in the Park and Feed the Pigeons for a While

"The Flutter of blue pigeon's wings

Under a river bridge

Hunting a clean dry arch,

A corner for a sleep --

This flutters here in a woman's hand."

Carl Sandburg

Barcelona: Boats in Tequila Sunset

"Twenty years from now 

you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do 

than by the ones you did do. 

So throw off the bowlines. 

Sail away from the safe harbor. 

Catch the trade winds in your sails. 

Explore. Dream. Discover."

Mark Twain

Barcelona: El Desconsol

Desolation is a 1907 sculpture by Josep Llimona 

in the collection of the National Art Museum of Catalonia in Barcelona.

It represents a mysterious, delicate woman hiding her face in an attitude of despair 

and is one of the paradigmatic works of the Catalan Modernist movement. 

Llimona's masterful work arises from a block of stone, 

but the softness and roundness of its forms contrasts strongly 

with the roughness of the material. 

The female figure evokes contained melancholy that can be perceived subtly; 

her pose hides much of the inner world of the character. 

Her face, covered by a thick mass of hair, is unknown. 

Only the gesture of the hands, slightly touching, give life to the sculpture.