Gothic Quarter

The Gothic Quarter is the medieval core of Barcelona inside the line of the Roman walls, and parts of it are considerably younger than they look. Several of its most photographed corners were built or heavily remodelled in the 1920s.

Overview

Barcelona rebuilt the quarter for the 1929 International Exposition, moving Gothic fragments from demolished buildings, adding the neo-Gothic bridge on Carrer del Bisbe in 1928 and reshaping streets to look older than they were. The genuinely old is underneath: the Roman city is excavated below the Plaça del Rei and can be walked. Plaça Sant Felip Neri still carries shrapnel scars from a 1938 bombing that killed forty-two people, most of them children.

Highlights

Walk the underground Roman city at the Museu d’Història first; the streets above make more sense afterwards. Go early — by ten the narrow lanes are a slow-moving line. Plaça Sant Felip Neri is a two-minute detour and is the quietest and most sobering corner in the quarter.

Overview

Highlights

Location