Barcelona Part 1: A beautiful and historic city by the sea

 

An armored knight prays before battle. I encountered this statue when I visited Barcelona's Gothic-style Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulalia. The statue of the knight had no identifying sign, but the crown on the helmet indicates that he was probably one of the Counts of Barcelona. The steel plate armor he wears wasn't used until at least the 14th century. Before then, knights wore chain mail covered by a cloth tunic. 

This begins a series on a 2019 trip Carole and I took. Barcelona dates back to Roman times and has a wide variety of attractions. These include beautiful beaches, striking architecture, museums of art, history, and science, narrow medieval streets full of cafés and restaurants, a cable car ride to an historic mountain-top castle, boat tours of the harbor, and much more. Part 1 of my series will provide just a taste of this veritable banquet of experiences. 

Overview

Barcelona is located on the northeast coast of Spain. It is the capital of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia. Through much of the Middle Ages, Catalonia was an independent state with a powerful fleet of galleys with which it controlled much of the western Mediterranean. Barcelona is still an important Spanish seaport and its busy harbor is filled with commercial vessels, cruise ships and pleasure boats. 

The city is situated south of the Pyrenees Mountains, along an important land route to France and the rest of Europe. Barcelona has 1.6 million inhabitants within its city limits and there are a total of 4.8 million within Catalonia. The city has become a transportation hub and a major European cultural, economic, and financial center, as well as a magnet for tourists from around the world.

La Rambla

A stylish European tourist pushes her suitcase down La Rambla. The name means "The Boulevard" and it swarms with tourists like this young woman. La Rambla is a broad walkway approximately 15m (50ft) wide that is bordered on either side by single-lane, one-way streets running in opposite directions. Its eight long blocks stretch up from the Monument a Colom (Columbus Monument) at the harbor to a large central plaza known as Plaça Catalunya. 

Both sides of the boulevard are filled with hotels, restaurants, and shops, as well as various statues and historic sites. La Rambla forms the boundary between Barri Gotic (the Gothic Quarter) and El Raval. Both neighborhoods were part of the old medieval city, but Barri Gotic is even older, dating back to the original Roman town of Barcino. 

Our hotel, the Citadines Ramblas, was on the Barri Gotic side, about 1.5 blocks south of Plaça Catalunya. The hotel has all the modern conveniences and is very strategically located for foot tours. However, we found La Rambla to be mobbed with young European tourists and somewhat frenetic. Those seeking a quieter, more serene atmosphere might look for a hotel on one of the narrow pedestrian back-streets of Barri Gotic.

All four sides of Plaça Reial are lined with outdoor cafés. The square plaza can be reached from La Rambla by a short pedestrian walkway and can also be accessed from Carrer de Ferran, a street leading into Barri Gotic. Above the sidewalk cafés of Plaça Reial (Royal Plaza) are elegant four-story apartments built in the late 19th century. 

The Plaça's architect was Francesc Daniel Molina i Casamajó.  He modeled it on Plaza Garibaldi in Mexico City. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, some of Barcelona's most important families lived here. Today, its flavor is more bohemian and tourist-oriented. In addition to the many restaurants, there are also a number of popular nightclubs and concerts are sometimes performed in the plaça.

One night, Carole and I decided to try one of the restaurants here. I ordered the traditional Spanish dish called paella, made with rice, vegetables, chicken, and fish. It is cooked and served in a single flat pan. When the pan is placed it front of you it may be very hot, so be careful. Burned fingers can spoil a whole meal! Forewarned by the waiter, I was able to enjoy my feast without injury.

Barri Gotic

Barri Gotic is a tangle of pedestrian-only streets like this. Some date back to Roman times. Their narrowness, along with the height of the buildings, means deep shade for most of the day. Given the warmth of Barcelona's summer, the shade was a welcome relief. As Carole and I wandered these old streets, we encountered antiquity side-by-side with modernity. Medieval fountains burbled next to internet cafés. 

The narrow streets are a product of the city's Roman and medieval history. In those periods, the buildings of the town were crowded together within high stone walls as protection against attack. The central area of Barri Gotic was once the Roman seaport of Barcino, built at the end of the 1st century BC. Portions of Barcino's defensive walls and bastions, as well as sections of its aqueducts, can still be seen in various places.

This large ceramic globe once stored wine in a Roman shop. The shop pressed grapes, processed them into wine, and stored it in this and several similar globes. The wine shop once stood along a street that included other establishments which processed fish, wove textiles, and produced other goods. All these were either exported or sold to local residents. 

Barcino was founded by Caesar Augustus sometime between 15-10 BC. The remains of the street and its shops were discovered during an archeological excavation beneath the Plaça del Rei (Plaza of the King). The plaza is bordered by the Palau Padéllas, a medieval palace that now houses the Museum of the History of the City of Barcelona. 

Carole and I walked through the dimly-lighted underground rooms beneath the Plaça del Rei which contain the ruins. The shadowy walls, doorways, columns, and other structures created an eerie experience. It was like walking through a time portal into a ghostly world. Seeing the same things on the surface, in bright sunlight, would have been completely different experience. 

El Raval

Sant Pau del Camp is the oldest church in Barcelona. The church is located in El Raval, the neighborhood on the western side of La Rambla.  The Romanesque structure dates back as far as 897 AD, but the site was once occupied by a 5th century Christian hospice. Sant Pau del Camp (St. Paul of the Field) is believed to have been established by Count Wilfred II, who ruled Barcelona in the Late Dark Ages. His father was Wilfred I, who founded Catalonia in 878 AD. 

The thick walls and central tower create the impression of a stronghold. Inside, the barrel-vaulted ceilings, tiny windows, and stark simplicity seem to confirm the feeling. The church, along with its monastic cloister and chapter house, originally stood outside the city walls in a camp ("field"). Its builders may well have had defense in mind when they constructed it.

I first visited the church alone and photographed its exterior. Later, I returned with Carole to check out the interior because she has a particular fondness for Romanesque art and architecture. There were only a handful of other tourists during the return visit and this enhanced the experience greatly. 

El Raval shows another face. When I visited the area, I decided to check out La Rambla del Raval. The five-block-long, tree-lined boulevard is located in the center of El Raval. Among other attractions, it contains this large, whimsical sculpture. The cat was crafted by the acclaimed artist Fernando Botero and looks like an escapee from Alice in Wonderland.

El Raval is an area where medieval structures like Sant Pau del Camp and the Antic Hospital de la Santa Creu rub shoulders with museums displaying modern art like the Museu de Arte Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA). In between, you can find many bohemian restaurants, bars, and cafés. While El Raval is reputed to be infested with teams of pickpockets, we encountered no problems during our visit. 

La Ribera

Santa Maria del Mar, viewed from Carrer de Argenteria. While the afternoon sun was bright on the church, the street called Carrer de Argenteria was in deep shade. This magnificent church has many beautiful architectural details which I'll show in a future posting. The neighborhood called La Ribera (The Shore) is southeast of Barri Gotic, near the harbor. The proximity to the harbor probably accounts for del Mar ("of the sea") in the name of the church. 

La Ribera also contains the Museu Picasso and this was one of our priorities. Carole is very interested in Picasso and we had previously visited a museum devoted to him in Paris. Barcelona's museum is contained in a building made up of five Gothic palaces dating from the 13th-15th centuries. The museum's collection focuses on Picasso's early work, particularly during the time he lived in Barcelona.

Busy sidewalk café in La Ribera. Like the Gothic Quarter, La Ribera has many narrow streets dating back to the medieval period. It seemed like every time we emerged from one of these streets, we would encounter yet another tiny plaza filled with umbrellas-shaded tables, and waiters eager to serve coffee, food, or drinks. Barcelona is definitely your town if you want to lead a "café life". The biggest problem was choosing which among them suited our mood at the moment.

Parc de la Ciutadella

Spouts of water plunge from the mouths of griffins into a large pool. A griffin is a mythical creature, part lion and part winged dragon. They adorn a magnificent waterfall structure called La Cascada in Parc de la Ciutadella.  The large park is located several blocks east of Barri Gotic and La Ribera. 

The waterworks were designed by Antoni Gaudi in the 1870s. Gaudi later became a world famous architect whose works appears all over Barcelona. La Cascada's several levels of waterfalls include numerous other statues from Greek and Roman mythology. At the very top is Aurora, the goddess of dawn, riding a golden chariot drawn by four gold horses. 

A wooly mammoth with huge tusks never fails to fascinate kids. The mammoth is tucked away in a small clearing surrounded by woods. Kids find the long trunk to be an irresistible perch. The mammoth and La Cascada are only two of the park's many attractions. There are museums of zoology, geology, and archeology, a zoo, a boating lake, wonderful gardens, and the Parlement de Catalunya. We spent several hours here, but to see it all we would have needed a full day, or even two. 

Malecon & Harbor 

Fish swim through coral in the Aquarium de Barcelona. The Aquarium is located on the Moll España in the marina. Its tanks contain a wide variety of salt water fish, including manta rays, sharks, and moray eels. The Moll is shaped like a short-handled hockey stick, with a large grassy plaça on the handle and the Aquarium, sailboat docks, a shopping mall and other attractions on the "business end" of the stick.

Other places of interest in the marina and harbor area include the Museu Maritim, the Museu d'Históra de Catalunya, the Malecon (a broad walkway along the shore), the tour boats of Las Golondrinas, a cable car ride across the harbor, and several long beaches. There are also many restaurants and bars throughout the area.

Platja de la Barceloneta, looking northeast. Summers in Barcelona are quite warm, so the platjas (beaches) swarm with people enjoying the cool water and breezes. Barcelona's platjas lie north of the busy industrial area of the harbor. Some, like the one above, are long and broad. Others, further up the shore, are smaller and a bit more secluded. This being Europe, people (mostly young) thought nothing of stripping bare to wash off the sand and sweat at one of the public showers along the beach.

Montjuic

A cable car rises up the side of Montjuic. The top of Montjuic can easily be reached without an automobile. First, you take the light-rail Funicular de Montjuic, then hop aboard a cable car like the one above. The views are spectacular in all directions. Montjuic means Jewish Mountain, referring to the Jewish cemetery that existed here in the Middle Ages. The "mountain" is actually a large hill that overlooks Barcelona and its harbor and is visible from everywhere in the city.

Rock from Montjuic was quarried in ancient times to build the city. In the Middle Ages, the hill became the site of a lookout tower which signaled the approach of ships. In the 17th century, a fortress was built at the very top to guard against attacks by sea and revolts by the local population. In the 1960s, Castell de Montjuic (Montjuic Castle) was transformed into a museum. Over the years several other museums, art galleries and lush gardens have been built on its slopes.

Carole walks along the battlements of Castell de Montjuic. The barrel of a 20th century coast artillery gun points out to sea while, in the background, a watchtower overlooks both the coast and the city. The beauty and serenity of the Castell's view contrasts with its dark history. In addition to serving as a military strongpoint, the Castell has also functioned as a prison, particularly for political detainees. Torture and political executions were carried out here as recently as the 1930s, during Spanish Civil War. 

After touring this impressive fortification, Carole and I decided to walk down Montjuic rather than return by cable car and funicular. By doing so, we were able to visit the Fundacio Joan Miró (an art museum) and the Museu Archeológic on the path down. We ended up at the Palau Nacional (MNAC), a huge art museum near the bottom of Montjuic. After all that, we didn't have time to visit the Museu Etnológic, the two big botanic gardens, or several smaller points of interest. Maybe next time?

Montserrat

The monastery of Montserrat nestles in a small canyon. Monetsir de Santa Cecilia de Montserrat was officially founded in 1025 AD. However, religious hermits had inhabited caves on the rugged, rocky mountain in previous centuries. The Benedictine monastery is located 61km (38mi) northeast of Barcelona in the Parc Natural de la Muntanya de Montserrat. The Parc encompasses a large portion of Montserrat, whose name means "serrated mountain". 

We went on a group tour by bus from Barcelona to the base of the mountain. From there we took a funicular up to the monastery. The site can also be reached by cable car or by a serpentine walking path. Whatever mode of transportation you choose, the views of the vertical cliffs and deep valleys are breathtaking. For those who love hiking (like me) there are also paths from the monastery to higher points on the mountain. 

The basilica of the monastery is filled with religious art treasures. The church was originally built in the 16th century, but was destroyed by Napoleon's troops in 1811, when the French occupied Spain. Reconstruction began almost immediately, resulting in the basilica we see today. The most famous art treasure is the Black Madonna on the main altar. According to legend, she was carved at the start of the Christian era. In 1844, she was declared patroness of Catalonia.

The church takes its shape from the ancient Roman basilicas, which were used for public meetings and as courts of justice. Roman basilicas were long, rectangular buildings supported by columns, with a semi-circular apse at one end. When Emperor Constantine I recognized Christianity as Rome's official religion, the basilica style was adopted for churches and has been used ever since.

This completes Part 1 of my Barcelona series. What I have shown above is a tiny portion of all we saw during our visit. What we had time to see was nowhere near all there is to Barcelona. I hope you have enjoyed this posting and, if so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly.

Hasta luego, Jim