To know what to see in Barcelona we must know a little about its history. The first traces found of a population in the city area date back to the Neolithic (5500 BC), as indicated by the sites found around the Raval neighborhood.
Barcelona has been the scene of various international events that have contributed to consolidating and developing it and giving it global projection. Currently, Barcelona is recognized as a global city for its cultural, financial, commercial and tourist importance. In addition, it 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. Basilica of the Sagrada Familia
One of the essential things to see in Barcelona is the Sagrada Familia. Antoni Gaudí He studied at the Barcelona School of Architecture. As he established himself professionally, he took on larger works commissioned by the bourgeoisie, such as, among others, the Calvet House, the Casa Batlló and the Casa Mila. It was not until 1883 that he took on the Sagrada Familia project.
He worked for forty-three years at the temple, until 1926. In 1914 he decided to leave everything to focus on this single project until the day of his death, June 10, 1926, due to a tragic accident that occurred three days before. The procession of his coffin, which traveled through much of Barcelona to the Sagrada Familia, was a great citizen event, since it said goodbye to 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 the works are scheduled to be completed in 2026.
Do you want to see more about the Sagrada Família? Visit their website www.sacredfamilia.org
2. Casa Batlló
The Casa Batlló Built between 1904 and 1906 in the heart of the city, it is one of the most emblematic works of the brilliant architect. Gaudí gave Casa Batlló an original, fantastic façade full of imagination. He replaced the old façade with a new set of stone and glass. He had the exterior walls tapped to give it a wavy shape, which he then plastered with lime mortar and covered with trencadis of colored glass and ceramic discs.
It is a masterpiece of form, color and light. A mandatory visit that will not leave anyone indifferent.
You can visit their website for more information www.casabatllo.es
3. Palau de la Musica Orfeo Català
He Palau of Catalan Music It was built between 1905 and 1908 by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner as headquarters of Orfeó Català, financed with funds from popular subscription.
The Palau de la Música Catalana is an architectural pearl of Catalan modernism, the only declared modernist concert hall UNESCO World Heritage , which is currently an unavoidable meeting point of the cultural and social life of Catalonia. It also constitutes a symbolic and sentimental heritage of an entire people that identifies with its history.
If you want to see any of their concerts, visit their website www.palaumusica.cat and book your tickets now.
4. Gothic Quarter
He Gothic Quarter It 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 historic center. The Roman cardus and decumanus are the historical urbanization axes of the neighborhood in its highest part, the ancient Mount Taber (St. James's Square).
In turn, it is made up of different neighborhoods that retain their own personality: the Jewish Quarter ("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 19th century, a period that brought great transformations 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 the demolition of the walls.
Currently, pieces of the first wall are preserved in the Plaza de la Seo, in front of the Barcelona's cathedral. On Ataúlfo Street there is a Gothic chapel that belonged to the Royal Palace of Barcelona and is known for the Palace chapel.
5. Camp Nou
The new Barça stadium replaced the old Les Corts field, which although it had a capacity for 48,000 spectators. With a capacity of 99,354 people, it is currently the largest stadium in Europe. Its world-famous team leaves its mark in every corner of this stadium, making it one of the best known in the world.
Additionally, they offer the Camp Nou Experience. Tour & Museum where you will visit the most emblematic places of the Stadium, Museum, Messi Space and a multimedia Zone.
If you want to visit the Camp Nou or watch any of their matches, go to their website www.fcbarcelona.es you will find all the information.
6. Sant Josep de la Boqueria Market
He Boqueria Market, is a municipal market located on the Rambla of Barcelona that was inaugurated in 1840. Its origins are outdoors, in front of the gates of the old city, on the esplanade of Pla de la Boqueria, where street vendors and farmers from the Nearby towns and farmhouses were established in order to sell their products, before the city left its first walls.
It is a paradise for the senses. Wake them up with the smells and colors of La Boqueria. A multitude of sensations that make their way, among the bustling comings and goings of people who strive in the good office of buying and selling.
Visit their website www.boqueria.info and knows everything it can offer.
7. The Basilica of Santa María del Mar
The story of Santa Maria del Mar, is a story linked to the people of the city of Barcelona. Shortly after the arrival of Christianity in the Roman colony of Barcino, present-day Barcelona, a small Christian community was born near the sea and outside its walls.
The Catalan Gothic architecture of the 14th century has a strong personality manifest in the sober horizontality of its buildings. It can be said that the Basilica of Santa María del Mar is the clearest exponent of this way of building monuments in Barcelona throughout the 14th century.
Do you want to know more about its history? On your website www.santamariadelmarbarcelona.org you will find all the details.
8. La Pedrera – Casa Milà
The Casa Mila, popularly known as La Pedrera, is a unique building, built between 1906 and 1912 by the architect Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926) and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. Currently, the building is the headquarters of the Catalunya Foundation. -la Pedrera and houses an important cultural center of reference in the city of Barcelona due to the set of activities it organizes and the different museum and public use spaces it 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.
On your website www.lapedrera.com You can find the Tours they do and all their visits, many of them special.
9. Park Güell
He Park Guell It 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, the greatest exponent of Catalan modernism, commissioned by the businessman Eusebi Güell. Built between 1900 and 1914, it was inaugurated as a public park in 1926. In 1984, UNESCO included Park Güell within the “Works of Antoni Gaudí” World Heritage Site.
A mandatory visit for anyone who wants to get to know the artist up close, it is also a good place to spend a relaxed morning with views of Barcelona.
You can find everything you can see in the park and buy tickets online to save lines at www.parkguell.cat.
10. Palau Güell
He Palau Güell It is a building designed by Antoni Gaudí and framed in the current of Catalan modernism. The palace was commissioned from Gaudí by Eusebi Güell, who had great admiration for the architect and financed several of his best-known works. Gaudí put all his effort into this work, since it was his first important commission, and proof of this is that he came to devise up to twenty-five different solutions for the design of the façade.
11. National Museum of Art of Catalonia (MNAC)
He Museum National d'Art of Catalonia this located in the Palau Montjuïc National, built for the exhibitionInternational from 1929. In 1934 Opened its doors as Art Museum from Catalonia, gathering the collection medieval.Subsequently, in 1995, as Museum National d'Art of Catalonia, they are inaugurated the rooms new of art Romanesque and in a way successive it is expanding the public presentation of the money, process that culminates in 2004 with the presentation of a new collection of modern Art.
In addition, the museum hosts temporary exhibitions by great artists and carries out activities within it.
To see all their exhibitions, visit their website museunacional.cat.
12. Paseo de Gracia
He Paseo de Gracia It is one of the main avenues of Barcelona and one of the most famous avenues in Catalonia, due to its tourist importance, commercial areas, businesses and a great showcase of outstanding works of modernist architecture, such as the buildings of the architects Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner, declared a World Heritage Site.
The big brands meet on Paseo de Gracia, the street in Barcelona that houses the largest number of luxury stores, concentrating a large part of the sales of this sector in Spain. Likewise, it is a great national and international showcase for brands, due to the large influx of people who pass through said promenade daily.
It is also characterized by having a significant range of hotels and accommodation for national and international visitors. Its location is privileged for the operation of tourism throughout the year.
13. Sant Pau Modernist Precinct
Sant Pau, the largest modernist complex in the world, is a space to discover. After hosting the facilities of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau for a century, as a result of the transfer of healthcare activities to the new hospital, an ambitious rehabilitation process has allowed the recovery of the heritage and artistic value of the Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site, work of the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner.
Thanks to this transformation, the Modernist Campus has become a new reference space in the city of Barcelona in which history and innovation coexist.
14. Barcelona Cathedral
The Gothic cathedral of Barcelona is the seat of the archbishopric of Barcelona. The cathedral was built during the 13th to 15th centuries in the same place where there had been a Romanesque cathedral, and even before that an early Christian one. The façade, in neo-Gothic style, is modern (19th century). The building is an Asset of Cultural Interest and a National Historic-Artistic Monument.
The cathedral is dedicated to the Holy Cross, its main devotion, and to Saint Eulalia, patron saint of Barcelona, a young virgin who, according to Christian tradition, suffered martyrdom during Roman times. The very unusual dedication of the temple to the Holy Cross is one of the oldest in the Christian world and probably dates back to the mid-7th century. The dedication to Saint Eulalia has been known since 877.
15. CosmoCaixa Barcelona
CosmoCaixa It occupies the facilities of what was the first interactive Science Museum in Spain, inaugurated in 1981. Now, the new CosmoCaixa offers more than 30,000 square meters of facilities dedicated to scientific dissemination.
During the remodeling process, the walls of the old nave were preserved and restored modernist of exposed work, considerably expanding the old facilities, with a new prominence of glass and steel.
Exhibitions, workshops, visits and much more in agenda.obrasocial.lacaixa.es
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