To know what to see in Barcelona we must know its history a little. The first traces found of population in the area of the city go back to Neolithic (5500 a.), As they indicate the deposits found around the district of the Raval.
The City of Barcelona has been the scene of various international events that have helped to consolidate and develop it and give it a global outlook. At present, Barcelona is recognized as a global city because of its cultural, financial, commercial and tourist importance. It also has one of the most important ports in the Mediterranean.
One of its best known attractions is the architecture of Antoni Gaudí, the famous architect who transformed and built part of the modernist city that we can see today.
What to see in Barcelona?
1. Sagrada Familia
One of the must see in Barcelona is Sagrada Familia. Antoni Gaudí studied at the School of Architecture in Barcelona. As it became professionally consolidated, it took on more extensive works on behalf of the bourgeoisie, such as, for example, Casa Calvet, Casa Batlló and Casa Milà. It was not until 1883 that he took over the project of the Sagrada Familia.
He worked for forty-three years in the temple until 1926. In 1914 he decided to leave everything to focus on this unique project until the day of his death, on June 10, 1926, due to a tragic accident three days before. The procession of his coffin, which traveled from much of Barcelona to the Sagrada Familia, was a great citizen event, since it was said farewell who was – and still is – the most illustrious architect of Barcelona. Gaudí was buried in the chapel of the Virgen del Carmen, in the crypt of the temple.
Today it is still under construction and it is planned that the works will be finished in 2026.
Do you want to see more about the Sagrada Familia? Visit your website www.sagradafamilia.org
2. Casa Batlló
Casa Batlló built between 1904 and 1906 in the heart of the city, is one of the most emblematic works of the brilliant architect. Gaudí provided the Casa Batlló with an original facade, fantastic and full of imagination. He replaced the old facade with a new set of stone and glass. He ordered the exterior walls to be tapped to give it the wavy shape, which he then revoked with lime mortar and covered with tin-glass trencadís and ceramic disks.
It is a masterpiece of form, color and light. A must visit that will not leave anyone indifferent.
You can visit his website for more information www.casabatllo.es
3. Palau de la Musica Orfeo Català
The Palau de la Música Catalana was built between 1905 and 1908 by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner as the headquarters of Orfeó Català, financed with funds from popular subscription.
The Palau de la Musica Catalana is an architectural pearl of Catalan modernism, the only modernist concert hall declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, which is now an inescapable meeting point for cultural and social life in Catalonia. In addition it constitutes a symbolic and sentimental heritage of a whole town that is identified with its history.
If you want to see some of his concerts, visit his website www.palaumusica.cat and book your tickets now.
4. Gothic Quarter
The Gothic Quarter is one of the four neighborhoods that make up the Ciutat Vella district of Barcelona. It is the oldest nucleus of the city and its historical center. The Roman cardus and decumanus are the historical axes of urbanization of the neighborhood in its highest part, the old Monte Táber (St. James Square).
In turn, it is composed of different neighborhoods that retain their own personality: the Judería (“Call” in Catalan), Santos Justo y Pastor, Santa María del Pino, the Cathedral, Santa Ana, La Merced and the Palace.
The structure of the neighborhood remained intact until the nineteenth century, a period that brought about great changes in the structure and morphology of the neighborhood, such as the transformation of parish cemeteries into public squares, the emptying of large buildings with the consequent change of use or Demolition of the walls.
Presently pieces of the first wall are preserved in the Plaza de la Seo, in front of the Cathedral of Barcelona. In the street Ataúlfo exists a gothic chapel that belonged to the Real Smaller Palace of Barcelona and is known by the chapel of the Palace.
5. El Camp Nou
The Camp Nou, the new stadium of Barça replaced the old field of Les Corts, which despite having a capacity for 48,000 spectators. With a capacity of 99,354 people, it is currently the largest stadium in Europe. His team, known worldwide, leaves its mark in every corner of this stadium, making it one of the most known in the world.
They also offer theCamp Nou Experience. Tour & Museum where you will visit the most emblematic places of the Stadium, Museum, Space Messi and a multimedia area.
If you want to visit the Camp Nou or see some of their matches, on their website www.fcbarcelona.es you will find all the information.
6. Mercado de Sant Josep de la Boqueria
The Mercado de la Boqueria is a municipal market located on the Rambla de Barcelona which was inaugurated in 1840. Its origins are outdoors, outside the gates of the old city, on the esplanade of Pla de la Boqueria, where vendors Street vendors and laborers from nearby villages and farms were settling in order to sell their produce, before the city left its first walls.
It is a paradise for the senses. Awaken them with the smells and colors of the Boqueria. A multitude of sensations that open their way, amidst the bustling comings and goings of people who strive for the good job of buying and selling.
Visit his website www.boqueria.info and know everything he can offer.
7. La Basílica de Santa María del Mar
The history of Santa Maria del Mar, is a story tied to the town of the city of Barcelona. Shortly after the arrival of Christianity to the Roman colony of Barcino, the present Barcelona, a small Christian community was born near the sea and outside its walls.
Gothic Catalan architecture of the XIV century has a strong personality manifested in the sober horizontality of its buildings. It can be said that the basilica of Santa Maria del Mar is the clearest example of this way of building monuments in Barcelona throughout the fourteenth century.
Do you want to know more about its history? In its website www.santamariadelmarbarcelona.org you will find all the details.
8. La Pedrera – Casa Milà
Casa Milà, popularly known as La Pedrera, is a unique building, built between 1906 and 1912 by the architect Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926) and declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1984. The building is currently the headquarters of The Foundation Catalunya-la Pedrera and hosts an important cultural center of reference in the city of Barcelona for the set of activities organized and for the different museum spaces and public use that includes.
La Pedrera is today a beacon that radiates creation and knowledge, a great continent full of content, with a key role in the transformation of society and commitment to its people.
In their website www.lapedrera.com you can find the Tours they make and all their visits, many of them special.
9. Park Güell
The Park Güell is a public park with gardens and architectural elements located in the upper part of the city of Barcelona. It was designed by the architect Antoni Gaudí, maximum exponent of the Catalan modernism, by order of the entrepreneur Eusebi Güell. Built between 1900 and 1914, it was inaugurated as a public park in 1926. In 1984 Unesco included Park Güell within the World Heritage Site «Works by Antoni Gaudí».
A must visit for anyone who wants to get to know the artist closely, and is also a good place to spend a relaxed morning overlooking Barcelona.
You can find everything you can see in the park and buy tickets online to save queues at www.parkguell.cat.
10. Palau Güell
The Palau Güell is a building designed by Antoni Gaudí and framed in the current of Catalan modernism. The palace was entrusted to Gaudí by Eusebi Güell, who had great admiration for the architect and financed several of his best known works. Gaudí put all his efforts in this work, since it was his first important commission, and shows that it came to devise up to twenty-five different solutions for the design of the facade.
Visit the website palauguell.cat
11. Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC)
The Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya is located in the National Palau de Montjuïc, built for the International Exhibition of 1929. In 1934 it opened as Museu d’Art de Catalunya, gathering the medieval collection. Later, in 1995, and as a Museum National d’Art de Catalunya, the new Romanesque art halls are inaugurated and the public presentation of the collections is expanded in a successive way, culminating in 2004 with the presentation of a new collection of modern art.
In addition, the museum hosts temporary exhibitions of great artists and carries out activities within it.
To see all his exhibitions, visit his web museunacional.cat.
12. Paseo de Gracia
Paseo de Gracia is one of the main avenues of Barcelona and one of the most famous avenues in Catalonia, due to its tourist importance, commercial areas, business and a great showcase of outstanding works of modernist architecture, such as the buildings of the Antoni architects Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner, declared a World Heritage Site.
The Passeig de Gràcia is home to the major brands, with Barcelona Street hosting a greater number of luxury shops, concentrating much of the sales of this sector in Spain. Likewise, it is a great showcase at the national and international level of the brands, due to the large influx of people who walk daily through this walk.
It is also characterized by an important offer of hotels and accommodation for national and international visitors. Its location is privileged for the operation of tourism throughout the year.
13. Recinto Modernista de Sant Pau
Sant Pau, the largest modernist complex in the world, is a space to be discovered. After hosting the facilities of the Santa Creu and Sant Pau Hospital for a century, as a result of the transfer of the sanitary activity to the new hospital, an ambitious process of rehabilitation has made it possible to recover the patrimonial and artistic value of the Modernist Enclosure of Sant Pau, The work of the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner.
Thanks to this transformation, the Modernist Enclosure has become a new reference space in the city of Barcelona in which history and innovation coexist.
14. Cathedral de Barcelona
The gothic cathedral of Barcelona is the seat of the archbishopric of Barcelona. The cathedral was built during the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries in the same place where there had been a Romanesque cathedral, and even earlier a paleo-Christian cathedral. The façade, neo-gothic style, is modern (19th century). The building is Well of Cultural Interest and National Historic Historical Monument.
The cathedral is dedicated to the Holy Cross, its main invocation, and in Santa Eulalia, patroness of Barcelona, a young virgin who, according to the Christian tradition, suffered martyrdom during Roman times. The dedication of the temple to the Holy Cross, very unusual, is one of the oldest in the Christian world and probably dates back to the middle of the seventh century. The dedication to Santa Eulalia has been known since 877.
15. CosmoCaixa Barcelona
CosmoCaixa occupies the premises of which was the first Museum of Interactive Science of Spain, inaugurated in 1981. Now, the new CosmoCaixa offers more than 30,000 square meters of facilities dedicated to scientific dissemination.
During the process of remodeling, the walls of the old modernist nave were preserved and restored, considerably enlarging the old installations, with a new role of glass and steel.
Exhibitions, workshops, visits and much more in agenda.obrasocial.lacaixa.es
