Barcelona/Ciutat Vella

From MaxTravelz

Ciutat Vella (Catalan for "Old city") is, as it's name suggests, the oldest part of Barcelona. Includes buildings and attractions from all the city history and has the most important monuments (except the most famous modernist ones).
The district is divided in four quarters, Barceloneta (separated in another MaxTravelz page), Casc Antic, Barri Gòtic and Raval.

Contents 1 Get in 2 See 2.1 Casc Antic 2.2 Barri Gòtic 2.3 Raval 2.4 Harbour 3 Eat 3.1 Cheap 3.2 Medium 3.3 Expensive 4 Drink 5 Sleep 6 Buy

Get in

Since Ciutat Vella is the also the city center, nearly all public transportation leads you there. The transportation center is Plaça Catalunya, and is possible to arrive by train, subway (L1,L3,L6,L7) and bus (many regular ones during day, all the night lines and Aerobus to the Airport)

There are also two other places very close to Plaça Catalunya where the subway and the buses stop, Plaça Universitat, with L1 and L2 lines and Plaça Urquinaona, with L4 and L2 lines.

To reach the other parts of the district you can walk for about twenty minutes to the furthest place.

See

Casc Antic

• Palau de la Música C/Sant Pere més Alt 13. This Modernist auditorium designed by Ramon Muntaner is the most important modernist example in Ciutat Vella. It was made to be the headquarters of the Orfeó Català, the oldest Catalan Choir. The most beautiful part is the stalls , although all the building is plenty of allegories about music and Catalonia, since the Orfeó Català is strongly bounded with the Catalan Renaixença, the romantic movement that tried to recuperate the Catalan history, language and traditions. Is also the best place in Barcelona to listen Symphonic music.
• Santa Maria del Mar Plaça de santa Maria. This Gothic church is could have been the cathedral, and is, for many people, the most beautiful Gothic building from Barcelona. Is dedicated to Saint Mary of the sea, since the quarter where is located (Born) was dedicated to the jobs related to the sea, from sailors to harbour works, commerce (see Carrer Montcada), even coin exchange (now you can do it in any bank, then was made in front of the church). The inside was burn during the civil war, but is still very interesting. Next to the church, you can see a monument, called fossar de les moreres, which is the place where many fighters where buried after the Barcelona defeat in 1714, so it's an important monument for the Catalan nationalism.
• C/Montcada Near C/Princesa, in the Born quarter. This street has the biggest collection of Gothic houses in Barcelona, since it was the main commercial street (and the widest one in the city, although today seems very narrow). One of this houses is the Picasso Museum, and there are also smaller museums along the street. During the night and lunch time, is a very good place for eating tapas (Catalan and Basque ones), although a bit expensive.
• Passeig del Born This avenue goes grom the Santa Maria del Mar church to the Born market. It's a really old street, very wide for the time. This is because it was the place where knights made their contests during the middle age. Don Quijote de la Mancha, the famous Cervantes character, had a contest in this place.
• Mercat del Born This market was the central market from Barcelona until the 60's. Now, it will become a museum about Barcelona's defeat, because the archaeologists have discovered the rests of the city destroyed after the battle.
• Parc de la Ciutadella At the end of C/Princesa. This park was built at the final part of the XIX century in the place that formerly occupied the fortress (ciutadella) built after the defeat of 1714. This fortress was hated by the citizens, and when the middle age walls were demolished, so was most of the fortress. Some buildings where conserved, as such as the church, and the gunpowder magazine. The new park was used as the place to hold the 1888 international expo, and some of the older modernist buildings are there, such as the Zoology museum, the greenhouse and, following the avenue Passeig de Sant Joan (towards the mountain), the Arc del Triomf, a modernist Arc de Triomphe. The park also has inside the city Zoo (not very big, and less interesting since the white gorilla Floquet de Neu died) and the Parliament of Catalonia. During weekends, there's a lot of life, with people practicing games, dancing, playing drums... a very good alternative if you are tired of old buildings.

Barri Gòtic

• Plaça Sant Jaume. This square has been the central square of the city since the roman era. One in front of the other, you can see the Palau de la Generalitat (the one with two flags on the top) and the city hall (three flags). Both are Gothic buildings, although their fronts are newer (the Generalitat'sis best example of the Barcelona's Renaissance art). But if you can go inside, both are very important civil Gothic buildings, and Catalonia has one of the most important civil Gothic in Europe. Visit hours are: City hall: Every Sunday, from 10 to 14. The entrance is free. The Saló de Cent, room where the artisans made the meetings is the most important part. Palau de la Generalitat: The second and forth Sunday every month from 10 to 14. Free entrance. The Pati dels Tarongers, a Patio with orange trees and the main room are the most famous parts. If you want more information (from Barcelona in general), at the left part of the City Hall there's an Touristic information point. The two buildings have guides.
• Plaça Reial. This square, next to La Rambla, is famous for the nightlife and the uniform architecture. It was build during the XIX century in the place of a monastery, after the Mendizábal law expelled the monks. A new square was built, making all the buildings look the same, with fountains and palm trees. After some years, Antoni Gaudí, the famous architect, designed the lights. It's a good place to take a drink (although expensive) or go to dance in the several locals (Sidecar, Tarantos...)
• Plaça del Rei This square next to the Cathedral is known because has two important buildings, the Santa Àgata church, where the kings from the Aragon crown had baptism. Is possible to visit it. The other building has the Saló del Tinell, one of the best civil Gothic architecture examples. Is the place where the royal receptions where held, so is very wide with a wooden ceiling hold by the typical Catalan Gothic arches. It has also a tower from which you can have a good view of the old town. An entrance is needed to visit both.
• Cathedral Plaça de la Seu. Opens daily. The Gothic Cathedral is the main Gothic church in Barcelona. The cloister is maybe the most interesting part.
• Plaça Sant Felip Neri To arrive, take the narrow street next to the cathedral cloister. This square has a very nice atmosphere. There's a baroque church (Sant Felip Neri), a XVI century palace and a fountain in the middle. The palace was moved from it's original location in the street Via Laietana during the 20's. If you llok the front of the church, you can see some holes made by a civil war bomb. If you go out the square through the other street, you'll arrive to the street Baixada de Santa Eulàlia, where is said that the Barcelona's protector was tormented.
• Plaça del Pi This square next to Les Rambles is one of the prettiest parts of the quarter. It has a pine tree in the middle (Pi mines pine tree), the church of Santa Maria del Pi, which is a very pretty Gothic church with a huge rose window. Many concerts are done here. The Pi square and it's twin square, called Sant Josep Oriol, have several bars and artisans, painters, musicians are there to sell their products.
• Carrer Petritxol This narrow street, that starts in the Plaça del Pi has a very special atmosphere. It's famous because of it's chocolate shops, where you can drink a hot chocolate since the XVIII century. It has also very important art galleries (Sala Parés it's the place where Picasso made a dedicated exposition for the first time). You can enter for free and see, if you are lucky, nice expositions. The street is decorated with flagstones that represent scenes of a modernist book called L'auca del senyor Esteve, by Santiago Rusiñol, which is a critic to the bourgeois society of that time and that he had to live.
• Synagogue C/Fruita 5. Free entrance (you can leave donations). They open during the morning. It's the recently re-discovered synagogue from the Jewish quarter, called call. This building, not very spectacular, is important since is there since the roman era, and stayed as a synagogue until the Jewish exodus in the XV century. The guide explains all the facts from the place in several languages.

Raval

• La Rambla. La Rambla is an avenue that crosses all the old town Ciutat Vella from Plaça Catalunya to the harbour and divides Ciutat Vella in Raval and Gòtic quarters. It's the most famous street in Barcelona, due to its animation and life during all the day. But it's much more. It's the place to find the most strange people, the place to meet, the place to stroll, to celebrate events such as Barça's victories, foe going to the Liceu, the opera house, to buy flowers or birds or press in the many places you can find, to go to the Boqueria market, to see the human sculptures, to... it's impossible to define, so you can take the Catalan word ramblejar, which means just that, going to La Rambla and spending your time there as you prefer. Be really careful with pickpocketing, it's the worst place in Barcelona for this kind of problems. During the night, be careful also if you go to the part near the sea, it has always been one of the prostitution centres of Barcelona.
  
  The Boqueria market (going down Les Rambles, is at your right hand)it's worth a visit. Is a modernist food market where you can find almost every kind of the food eaten in Barcelona and more(even live insects!). Some fruit shops sell very good fresh and natural juices to drink and there are about five small restaurants where you can eat the food from the shops. If you want some special thing, just ask the waiter and he'll buy it and cook it for you! (be careful, prizes can be high if you don't ask before).
• Hospital de la Santa Creu C/Hospital 56. (going down Les Rambles, turn right at the Miró painting). This Gothic building was the old city hospital, before the modernist Hospital de Sant Pau was build in l'Eixample. Now, the Hospital has the national Library inside, and it's a very nice example of civilian Gothic.
• Drassanes Av. de les Drassanes, 1 (From the Columbus sculpture to the right). The Gothic shipyard of the city. During the 14th century, the Aragó Crown wa the most important power in the Mediterranean Sea, and this was the main place where the ships where built. Nowadays is the Museum of the sea, and it's worth a visit more for the architectonic structure. If you don't want to go inside the museum, you can see a little bit looking inside thorough the big windows at the part in front of the Sea.
• Sant Pau del Camp C/Sant Pau 101 (Going down Les Rambles, following C/Sant Pau, which starts at the Miró painting). This Romanesque monastery is called Saint Paul of the Fields, since is located where the city finished and the country started. It's the prettiest Romanesque example in Barcelona, and it's worth the visit if you don't plan to go to the Pyrinées. To visit the cloister it's necessary to pay a 2€ entrance.

Harbour

Although it's not a quarter, it can clearly separated touristically.
To find it, just walk down La Rambla until the monument to Columbus. The sea is just after it. The harbour you can see is completely new, since until the 80's it was closed to the public. Some old buildings related to the harbour still exist, such as the Tinglado near the Barceloneta quarter that is now a History museum.
There are two main parts in the harbour: the Moll de la Fusta, which are the decks that touch the city, and the Maremagnum, a newly created amusement center/shopping mall, with an Aquarium, an IMAX cinema, discos, bars, restaurants. The clubs are situated on the top floor, which is accessed through the general shopping area via stairs and the like. Even out of season and on work nights you are sure to have a good time, as the clubs are always filled. It is located at the other side of the wooden bridge next to the Columbus monument.

Eat

The best part in touristic Barcelona is eating for little money. Avoid Les Rambles, since the prices there are much higher and the quality is lower.

Cheap

• Can Conessa C/Paradís 2 (In a corner of the Plaça Sant Jaume). Cheap and very good sandwiches. Always with a lot of people. They have some tables inside. They close quite early at night (for the Spanish Standard!).
• Naim C/Hospital 155. Maybe the cheapest restaurant in Barcelona. Indian/Pakistani food menu for 3 €.
• El Gallo Kiriko C/Avinyó 19. Cheap Pakistani food.
• Pollo Rico. C/Sant Pau 31. A fantastic and cheap grilled chicken place buried in the side streets east of La Rambla.

Medium

• Can Culleretes C/Quintana 5 (From Les Rambles, go to C/Ferran, and it's the first street at your left). Founded in 1786 is the second oldest restaurant in Spain (after Casa Botín in Madrid). The prices are from low to medium, and th quality is quite good for the price. They have Catalan traditional food. But the most interesting from the restaurant is the decoration, an eclectic mix from all the times. A really good option if you don't have many time/money.

Expensive

• Les set portes Passeig Isabel II 14 (In the buildings between el Born and la Barceloneta). The Seven doors is one of the oldest restaurants in Barcelona. Catalan food at a good price.

Drink

• l'antic teatre screens special artistic productions. There is also a small café inside and outside operated by the association which makes for a great break from the noisy Barcelona downtown. It's only a few steps away from the Palau de la Música Catalana.
• RiBborn, carrer Antic de Sant Joan 3 (map) Tel.(+34) 93 310 71 48. A hip bar in the heart of the Casc Antic, a vibrant section of the Ciutat Vella with a variety of bars and restaurants. RiBborn offers "Funk you till you drop" hiphop jazz reggae and soul with dj Chocolito + guests, Tuesday-Sunday 10pm-3am. Live music until 1am on most Sundays and the odd weeknight.
• La Clandestina C/Baixada de Viladecols 2bis (Behind the Post Office in Via Laietana). Youcan take tea, different fruits juices, vegetal sandwiches and much more in a different place that holds some cultural events, lends some books...
• Traveler's Bar C/Boqueria 27 (Going down Les Rambles, the street at the left from the Miró's painting on the floor). Traveller's ambient, Internet connection, a good place to ask and talk with other people visiting Barcelona. Has a quite terrace.
• Harlem C/Comptessa de Sobradiel (Behind the City Hall, ask there). Live music every night. You must take at least one drink, but the entrance is usually free.
• Jazz sí C/Requesens 2 (Near Ronda St. Antoni). Live music every day, by the teachers and pupils of the music school next to it. Pop/Rock, Flamenco, Jazz, Latin music... Depends on the day. The entrance with a drink for about 3 euros.
• Sidecar C/Heures 4 (Next to Plaça Reial). Music, live music, always with a good atmosphere.
• Otman C/Cirera 4 (between C/Flassaders and C/Montcada). In the Born, very close to Picasso museum, this Moroccan designer has a clothes shop where you can have a tea in a very relaxing ambient. Medium prices.

Sleep

There are a lot of hotels, hostals, and pensions in Ciutat Vella. Pensiones are the cheapest, but take a look before taking a room, since they can be really dirty (in el Raval look three times more). Increasingly, there are also many Youth Hostels that offer budget accommodation to those who don't mind bunking in a dormitory with other travelers.

• Alberg PALAU carrer Palau, 6 - Tel.(+34) 93 412 5080 and Hostel NEW YORK carrer d'en Gignas, 6 - Tel.(+34) 93 315 0304 are two youth hostels in Barcelona's Barri Gottic. Clean and friendly, both hostels include breakfast, internet access, kitchen facilities, and a common room; all for under 20€ per person.

• Hostel Kabul, Plaça Reial (dorm rooms €24) has increased its prices considerably to capitalise on its location, popularity and positive guidebook write ups. However it remains friendly and is a magnet for young travellers who come for the party atmosphere. Bookings are not accepted, so you'll have to show up and hope for the best.

Buy

• La gauche divine, an incredible multiconcept store near las Ramblas. An example of the catalan design is the decoration of the shop with an exclusive combination of furniture from the sixties and paintings and sculptures all around. The shop includes a little corner where you can have a drink while watching the latest trend publications and an inner patio with plants and sculptures They have a lot of clothes and accessories for men and women, the most original pieces you can find in Barcelona Don't miss the courreges mini dresses brought from Japan and the catwalks and special events they organize every month.