Barcelona · ES
Barcelona: Gothic Quarter Highlights
Down the famous Rambla and deep into the medieval Barri Gòtic and El Born, the ancient soul of the Catalan capital.
What's the walk about?
Welcome to Barcelona, a city where Roman walls, medieval alleys and Mediterranean sunshine come together in one glorious tangle. On this gentle loop we leave the tourist rush of the famous Rambla and plunge into the Barri Gòtic, the Gothic Quarter, the oldest and most atmospheric part of the Catalan capital. We will graze through a legendary food market, stand in the square where Catalonia is still governed, crane our necks inside a soaring Gothic cathedral, and cross into the fashionable medieval streets of El Born. Keep your eyes open for Roman stones hiding in doorways and let the stories of this proud, rebellious city unfold around you.
What you'll see
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1
Plaça de Catalunya
Square
The vast, fountain-studded square at the very centre of Barcelona, the hinge where the medieval old town meets the elegant grid of the nineteenth-century Eixample.
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2
Font de Canaletes
Fountain
A modest iron drinking fountain at the top of La Rambla, wrapped in a famous legend and the traditional gathering place where Barcelona football fans celebrate their victories.
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3
Mercat de la Boqueria
Market
Barcelona's most celebrated food market, a riot of colour and aroma under a grand iron roof, where stalls overflow with jamón, seafood, fruit, sweets and tapas just off the Rambla.
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4
Gran Teatre del Liceu
Opera House
Barcelona's grand opera house on La Rambla, one of the great lyric theatres of Europe, twice destroyed by fire and once bombed, and each time lovingly rebuilt by the city.
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5
Plaça Reial
Square
A graceful, palm-filled arcaded square just off the Rambla, ringed by golden-hued buildings and lit by ornate lampposts designed by a young Antoni Gaudí.
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6
Plaça de Sant Jaume
Square
The political heart of Barcelona and all Catalonia, a square facing one another across open space: the city hall and the palace of the Catalan regional government.
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7
Catedral de Barcelona
Cathedral
The grand Gothic cathedral of Barcelona, dedicated to Santa Eulàlia, with a soaring vaulted nave, a leafy cloister famous for its thirteen resident geese, and sweeping rooftop views.
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8
Plaça del Rei
Square
A perfectly preserved medieval square enclosed by the palace of the Counts of Barcelona, where tradition says Columbus was received after his first voyage, with the Roman city surviving beneath.
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9
Basílica de Santa Maria del Mar
Basilica
A breathtaking fourteenth-century church in El Born, the purest example of Catalan Gothic, built in record time by the port district's own labourers and famed for its soaring, luminous interior.
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10
El Born
Neighbourhood
The fashionable medieval quarter around the Passeig del Born, a tangle of narrow lanes now filled with boutiques, tapas bars and galleries, and home to a dramatic covered memorial to 1714.
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