Page 150 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Spain

148  BARCEL ONA

Street-by-Street: Barri Gòtic

The Barri Gòtic (Gothic Quarter) is the true heart of
Barcelona. The oldest part of the city, it was the site chosen 1 Casa de l’Ardiaca
by the Romans in the reign of Augustus (27 BC–AD 14) on Built on the Roman city wall,
the Gothic-Renaissance arch-
which to found a new colonia (town), and has been the deacon’s residence now houses
location of the city’s administrative buildings ever since. Barcelona’s historical archives.
The Roman forum was on the Plaça de Sant Jaume, where
now stand the medieval Palau de la Generalitat, Catalonia’s To Plaça de Catalunya
parlia ment, and the Casa de la Ciutat, Barcelona’s town
hall. Close by are the Gothic cathedral and royal
palace, where Columbus was received by
Fernando and Isabel on his return from his
voyage to the New World in 1492 (see p61).

ALL S A N T S E V E R
7. Cathedral C C A R R E R D E L B I S B E PIE T A T
The façade and spire
are 19th-century DEL A T
additions to the O R
original Gothic N
building. Among O
the artistic treasures DOMÈNEC H
inside are medieval T
Catalan paintings. N A
6 Palau de la SANT S
Generalitat
The seat of
Catalonia’s governor
has superb Gothic PL A Ç A DE
features, which SANT
include the chapel C ARRER DE FERR AN JA UME
and a stone staircase
rising to an open-air,
arcaded gallery.

A C I U T A T

To La Rambla
D E L

5 Ajuntament
Barcelona’s town hall was built in the 14th and A R R E R
15th centuries. The façade is a Neo-Classical addition.
In the entrance hall stands Three Gypsy Boys by Joan C
Rebull (1899–1981), a 1976 copy of a sculpture he
originally created in 1946.
For hotels and restaurants in this area see pp564–5 and pp586–8

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