Historic Site sights in Catalonia
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A
Centre d’Interpretació del Call
Once a 14th-century house of the Jewish weaver Jucef Bonhiac, this small visitors centre is dedicated to the history of Barcelona’s Jewish quarter, the Call. Glass sections in the ground floor allow you to inspect Mr Bonhiac’s former wells and storage space. The house, also known as the Casa de l’Alquimista (Alchemist’s House), hosts a modest display of Jewish artefacts, including ceramics excavated in the area of the Call, along with explanations and maps of the one-time Jewish quarter.
The area between Carrer dels Banys Nous and Plaça de Sant Jaume was the heart of the city’s medieval Jewish quarter, or Call Major, until a bloody pogrom in the 14th century drove…
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B
MUHBA Refugi 307
Part of the Museu d'Història de Barcelona (MUHBA), this is a shelter that dates back to the days of the Spanish Civil War. Barcelona was the city most heavily bombed from the air during the Spanish Civil War and had more than 1300 air-raid shelters. Local citizens started digging this one under a fold of Montjuïc in March 1937.
In the course of the next two years, the web of tunnels was slowly extended to 200m, with a theoretical capacity for 2000 people. People were not allowed to sleep overnight in the shelter – when raids were not being carried out work continued on its extension. Vaulted to displace the weight above the shelter to the clay brick walls (clay is…
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C
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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D
Passeig Arqueológic Muralles
The Passeig Arqueològic is a peaceful walk around part of the perimeter of the old town between two lines of city walls; the inner ones are mainly Roman and date back to the 3rd century BC, while the outer ones were put up by the British in 1709 during the War of the Spanish Succession. Prepare to be awed by the vast gateways built by the Iberians and clamber up onto the battlements from the doorway to the right of the entrance for all-encompassing views of the city. The walk starts from the Portal del Roser on Avenida Catalunya.
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E
Passeig Arqueològic
A walk along Girona’s medieval walls, also known as the Passeig de la Muralla, is a wonderful way to appreciate the city landscape from above. There are several points of access, the most popular being across the street from the Banys Àrabs, where steps lead up into some heavenly gardens where town and plants merge into one organic masterpiece. The southernmost part of the wall ends right near Plaça Catalunya.
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