Description
The Gothic Quarter (Barri Gòtic) is the historic heart of Barcelona's old city, a labyrinth of narrow lanes and small squares between La Rambla, Via Laietana and the sea. It holds the cathedral, Roman walls, the old Jewish quarter and the seat of Catalonia's government.
It is also less Gothic than it looks. Around 1900 there was little medieval about it. Much of what seems five hundred years old was built, moved or "Gothicized" in the 20th century, in a massive restoration timed for the 1929 International Exhibition.
The name was coined in 1911, in a magazine article. As the new Via Laietana was cut through the old town, Gothic windows, doorways and capitals piled up in the city's warehouses, and architects found uses for them.
The Roman wall beside the Casa de l'Ardiaca, with its square towers, was hidden by houses until 1957. Roman Barcino stood on the low hill of Mont Tàber, and Plaça de Sant Jaume lies roughly on its forum.
That square has been the center of power for two thousand years. It houses the Catalan government and the city council. The lacy bridge over Carrer del Bisbe that links two of the buildings looks medieval, but Joan Rubió built it in 1928.
Plaça del Rei was the royal palace square. Casa Padellàs, a palace from around 1500, was taken down and rebuilt here in 1931, and it now holds the City History Museum, whose Roman Barcino lies underground.
The Centre Excursionista de Catalunya on Carrer Paradís got its Gothic windows and battlements from Domènech i Montaner in 1922, and the whole quarter is like that: real stones, imaginative stage sets.
And El Call, the medieval Jewish quarter, hides in the lanes with the remains of its great synagogue, the Sinagoga Major. Wander without a plan: the best of the quarter is its corners. Most of it is closed to regular traffic, so the lanes stay quiet.
The wide square in front of the cathedral was a tangle of houses until the bombing of 1938 and the demolitions that followed. The cathedral's own Gothic façade was only finished in 1913. So the fake sits on top of the genuine, and it is the mix that makes the quarter.
Don't miss
• The Roman wall.
• Plaça de Sant Jaume.
• The bridge over Carrer del Bisbe.
• Plaça del Rei.
• El Call.
Did you know?
• Aguilar Palace, now the Museu Picasso, got its Gothic windows in 1959.
• Most of the quarter is closed to regular traffic.
It is also less Gothic than it looks. Around 1900 there was little medieval about it. Much of what seems five hundred years old was built, moved or "Gothicized" in the 20th century, in a massive restoration timed for the 1929 International Exhibition.
The name was coined in 1911, in a magazine article. As the new Via Laietana was cut through the old town, Gothic windows, doorways and capitals piled up in the city's warehouses, and architects found uses for them.
The Roman wall beside the Casa de l'Ardiaca, with its square towers, was hidden by houses until 1957. Roman Barcino stood on the low hill of Mont Tàber, and Plaça de Sant Jaume lies roughly on its forum.
That square has been the center of power for two thousand years. It houses the Catalan government and the city council. The lacy bridge over Carrer del Bisbe that links two of the buildings looks medieval, but Joan Rubió built it in 1928.
Plaça del Rei was the royal palace square. Casa Padellàs, a palace from around 1500, was taken down and rebuilt here in 1931, and it now holds the City History Museum, whose Roman Barcino lies underground.
The Centre Excursionista de Catalunya on Carrer Paradís got its Gothic windows and battlements from Domènech i Montaner in 1922, and the whole quarter is like that: real stones, imaginative stage sets.
And El Call, the medieval Jewish quarter, hides in the lanes with the remains of its great synagogue, the Sinagoga Major. Wander without a plan: the best of the quarter is its corners. Most of it is closed to regular traffic, so the lanes stay quiet.
The wide square in front of the cathedral was a tangle of houses until the bombing of 1938 and the demolitions that followed. The cathedral's own Gothic façade was only finished in 1913. So the fake sits on top of the genuine, and it is the mix that makes the quarter.
Don't miss
• The Roman wall.
• Plaça de Sant Jaume.
• The bridge over Carrer del Bisbe.
• Plaça del Rei.
• El Call.
Did you know?
• Aguilar Palace, now the Museu Picasso, got its Gothic windows in 1959.
• Most of the quarter is closed to regular traffic.