Sights in Barcelona
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Plaça de Sant Jaume
In the 2000 or so years since the Romans settled here, the area around this square (often remodelled), which started life as the forum, has been the focus of Barcelona’s civic life. Facing each other across it are the Palau de la Generalitat (seat of Catalonia’s regional government) on the north side and the Ajuntament (town hall) to the south. Behind the Ajuntament rise the awful town hall offices built in the 1970s over Plaça de Sant Miquel. Opposite is a rare 15th-century gem, Casa Centelles, on the corner of Baixada de Sant Miquel. You can wander into the fine Gothic-Renaissance courtyard if the gates are open.
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Universitat de Barcelona
Although a university was first set up on what is now La Rambla in the 16th century, the present, glorious mix of (neo) Romanesque, Gothic, Islamic and Mudéjar architecture is a caprice of the 19th century (built 1863–82). Wander into the main hall, up the grand staircase and around the various leafy cloisters, or take a stroll in the rear gardens.
On the 1st floor, the main hall for big occasions is the Mudéjar-style Paranimfo.
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Església de la Mercè
Raised in the 1760s on the site of its Gothic predecessor, the baroque Església de la Mercè is home to Barcelona’s most celebrated patron saint. It was badly damaged during the civil war. What remains is, however, quite a curiosity. The baroque facade facing the square contrasts with the Renaissance flank along Carrer Ample. The latter was actually moved here from another nearby church that was subsequently destroyed in the 1870s.
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Bellesguard
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Casa Llotja de Mar
The centrepiece of the city’s medieval stock exchange (more affectionately known as La Llotja) is the fine Gothic Saló de Contractacions (Transaction Hall), built in the 14th century. Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró attended the art school that was housed in the Saló dels Cònsols from 1849.
These and five other halls were encased in a neoclassical shell in the 18th century. The stock exchange was in action until well into the 20th century and the building remains in the hands of the city’s chamber of commerce. Occasionally it opens the doors to the public but the rooms are more generally hired out for events.
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Palau de la Generalitat
Founded in the early 15th century, the Palau de la Generalitat is open on limited occasions only (the second and fourth weekends of the month, plus open-door days). The most impressive of the ceremonial halls is the Saló de Sant Jordi, named after St George, the region's patron saint. At any time, however, you can admire the original Gothic main entrance on Carrer del Bisbe. To join weekend visits, book on the website.
Marc Safont designed the original Gothic main entrance on Carrer del Bisbe. The modern main entrance on Plaça de Sant Jaume is a late-Renaissance job with neoclassical leanings. If you wander by in the evening, squint up through the windows into the Saló…
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Colònia Güell
Apart from La Sagrada Família, Gaudí’s last big project was the creation of a utopian textile workers’ complex for his magnate patron Eusebi Güell outside Barcelona at Santa Coloma de Cervelló. Gaudí’s main role was to erect the colony’s church, Colònia Güell. Work began in 1908 but the idea fizzled eight years later and Gaudí only finished the crypt, which still serves as a working church.
This structure is a key to understanding what the master had in mind for his magnum opus, La Sagrada Família. The mostly brick-clad columns that support the ribbed vaults in the ceiling are inclined at all angles in much the way you might expect trees in a forest to…
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Coro, La Catedral
In the middle of the central nave is the late-14th-century, exquisitely sculpted timber coro. The coats of arms on the stalls belong to members of the Barcelona chapter of the Order of the Golden Fleece. Emperor Carlos V presided over the order’s meeting here in 1519. Take the time to look at the workmanship up close – the Virgin Mary and Child depicted on the pulpit are especially fine.
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Market
A 19th-century market, built on the site of a 15th-century monastery, was replaced in 2005 with this original, colourful market designed by the adventurous Catalan architect Enric Miralles. The outstanding element is the bright, ceramic-covered, wavy roof - a splash of pastel loopiness. Out the back, remnants of the monastery uncovered during excavations are on public show with explanatory panels.
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Fundació Foto Colectania
Photography lovers should swing by here to see the latest exhibition; they change over about three times a year. When you reach what seems like offices, head through to the back on the ground floor, where two floors of exhibition space await. The exhibits may come from the foundation’s own collection of Spanish and Portuguese snappers from the 1950s onwards, but more likely will be temporary exhibitions.
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Jardí Botànic
This botanical garden is dedicated to Mediterranean flora and has a collection of some 40,000 plants and 1500 species that thrive in areas with a climate similar to that of the Mediterranean, such as the Eastern Mediterranean, Spain (including the Balearic and Canary Islands), North Africa, Australia, California, Chile and South Africa.
The garden is a work in progress and the plan is to reach 4000 species.
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Museu de Montserrat
The Museu de Montserrat has a varied art collection ranging from an Egyptian mummy to works by Degas and Caravaggio. Use the funiculars and walking paths to explore this incredible piece of nature.For train timetables and prices from Barcelona to Girona and Sitges, check www.renfe.es. For Montserrat, the R5 line trains operated by FGC (www.fgc.es) run from Plaça d'Espanya station to Monistrol de Montserrat.
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Col.legi de les Teresianes
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Església de les Saleses
A singular neo-Gothic effort, this church is interesting because it was designed by Joan Martorell i Montells (1833–1906), Gaudí’s architecture professor. Raised in 1878–85 with an adjacent convent (badly damaged in the civil war and now a school), it offers hints of what was to come with Modernisme, with his use of brick, mosaics and sober stained glass.
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Fundació Fran Daurel
The Fundació Fran Daurel (in Poble Espanyol) is an eclectic collection of 300 works of art including sculptures, prints, ceramics and tapestries by modern artists ranging from Picasso and Miró to more contemporary figures, including Miquel Barceló. The foundation also has a sculpture garden, boasting 27 pieces, nearby the Fundació and within the grounds of Poble Espanyol (look for the Montblanc gate). Frequent temporary exhibitions broaden the offerings further.
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Parc de la Ciutadella
Come for a stroll, a picnic, a visit to the zoo or to inspect Catalonia’s regional parliament, but don’t miss a visit to this, the most central green lung in the city. Parc de la Ciutadella is perfect for winding down.
After the War of the Spanish Succession, Felipe V razed a swath of La Ribera to build a huge fortress (La Ciutadella), designed to keep watch over Barcelona. It became a loathed symbol of everything Catalans hated about Madrid and the Bourbon kings, and was later used as a political prison. Only in 1869 did the central government allow its demolition, after which the site was turned into a park and used for the Universal Exhibition of 1888.
The…
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Palau del Lloctinent
Gracefully restored in 2006, this converted 16th-century palace has a peaceful courtyard worth wandering through. Have a look upwards from the main staircase to admire the extraordinary timber artesonado, a sculpted ceiling made to seem like the upturned hull of a boat. It was done in the 16th century by Antoni Carbonell. Exhibitions, usually related in some way to the archives, are sometimes staged.
Next to the Plaça del Rei, the palau (palace) was built in the 1550s as the residence of the Spanish lloctinent (viceroy) of Catalonia and later converted into a convent. From 1853 it housed the Arxiu de la Corona d’Aragón, a unique archive with documents detailing the…
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Museu Etnològic
Barcelona’s ethnology museum presents a curious permanent collection that explores how various societies have worked down the centuries, as seen through collections of all sorts of objects. The entire museum was closed at the time of writing for major refurbishments. Check the website for reopening date.
Prior to the refurbishment, the museum started with a general look at ethnology in an introductory section, Orígens (Origins). Thereafter, collections covered the Pyrenees region in Catalonia (including traditional instruments and archive images of traditional dances) and Salamanca in central Spain, looking at a now largely extinct rural society. Further collections…
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Torre Agbar
Barcelona’s very own cucumber-shaped tower, Jean Nouvel’s luminous Torre Agbar (which houses the city water company’s headquarters) is the most daring addition to Barcelona’s skyline since the first towers of La Sagrada Família went up. Completed in 2005, it shimmers at night in shades of midnight blue and lipstick red. Unfortunately, you can only enter the foyer on the ground floor, frequently used to host temporary exhibitions on water-related topics.
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Pavellons Güell
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Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona
A complex of auditoriums, exhibition spaces and conference halls opened here in 1994 in what had been an 18th-century hospice, the Casa de la Caritat. The courtyard, with a vast glass wall on one side, is spectacular. With 4500 sq metres of exhibition space in four separate areas, the centre hosts a constantly changing program of exhibitions, film cycles and other events.
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Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya (MAC)
This archaeology museum, housed in what was the Graphic Arts palace during the 1929 World Exposition, covers Catalonia and cultures from elsewhere in Spain. Items range from copies of pre-Neanderthal skulls to lovely Carthaginian necklaces and jewel-studded Visigothic crosses.
There’s good material on the Balearic Islands (rooms X to XIII) and Empúries (Emporion, the Greek and Roman city on the Costa Brava; rooms XIV and XVII). The Roman finds upstairs were mostly dug up in and around Barcelona. The most beautiful piece is a mosaic depicting Les Tres Gràcies (The Three Graces), unearthed near Plaça de Sant Jaume in the 18th century. Another is of Bellerophon and the…
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Palau del Baró Quadras
Puig i Cadafalch built Palau del Baró Quadras between 1902 and 1904, festooning the fantastical facade with neo-Gothic carvings and a fine stained-glass gallery. It houses Casa Asia, an Asia-Pacific cultural centre. Visiting the varied temporary exhibitions allows you to get a peek at the inside of this intriguing building, which is full of surprising oriental themes.
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Ajuntament
The Ajuntament, otherwise known as the Casa de la Ciutat, has been the seat of power for centuries. The Consell de Cent (the city’s ruling council) first sat here in the 14th century, but the building has lamentably undergone many changes since the days of Barcelona’s Gothic-era splendour.
Only the original, now disused, entrance on Carrer de la Ciutat retains its Gothic ornament. The main 19th-century neoclassical facade on the square is a charmless riposte to the Palau de la Generalitat. Inside, the Saló de Cent is the hall in which the town council once held its plenary sessions. The broad vaulting is pure Catalan Gothic and the artesonado (Mudéjar wooden ceiling…
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Fundació Joan Brossa
Pop into this basement gallery to get an insight into the mind of one of the city’s cultural icons, Joan Brossa, a difficult-to-classify mix of poet, artist, theatre man, Catalan nationalist and all-round visionary. You’ll see a panoply of objects of art (like Porró amb Daus, a typical Spanish wine decanter with dice), followed by samples of his visual poems.
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