November 28, 2011
Gothic and Roman Barcelona
The itinerary we suggest invites you to explore the perimeter of the antique Roman city walls of Barcelona (third and fourth centuries CE), which can be seen from the street. We recommend a visit to the subsoil of the History Museum of the City of Barcelona (MHCB) to discover the remains of the foundational wall, from the first century BC.
To start our route we can take the metro to the Liceu stop (metro line 3), and take the Mercat de la Boqueria exit. Once we leave we’ll find ourselves in La Rambla and we’ll walk through the streets Portaferrissa - Petritxol - del Pi and Sant Josep Oriol squares– calle de La Palla - Pl. Nova. When we get to this square, we’ll briefly take the street Bisbe to visit the Ca l’Ardiaca courtyard, where we’ll see the modern post box which decorates its entrance. If we have a city map with us, we’ll notice that the streets Bisbe and Ciutat formed decumanus maximus, and the streets Llibreteria and Call formed cardo maximus, two main streets of this antique Roman district. We’ll head back to Pl. Nova through the street Bisbe and we’ll find one of the entrances to the Roman city before us.
We’ll continue through Av. Catedral to street Tapineria - Pl. Ramon Berenguer el Gran - Pl. de l’Àngel. Once we get there, we’ll take the street Llibreteria and we’ll turn right through street Veguer, which leads to the History Museum of the City of Barcelona and to the monumental ensemble of the Pl. del Rei. We’ll get back to Pl. de l’Àngel and we’ll continue through Sots-Tinent Navarro - Pom d’Or - Pl. Traginers (circular tower) - Correu Vell - Regomir (Pati Llimona) - Ciutat - Hercules - Pl. Sant Just - Jaume I – we cross the Via Laietana – we continue down Argenteria - Pl. Sta. Maria - Plta. Montcada - calle Montcada - Barra de ferro - Princesa - Jaume I - Pl. Sant Jaume - Ferran - La Rambla.
If one so wishes, instead of getting off at the Liceu metro station, one may also take line 1, which is located next to the hotel, and get off at Urquinaona. We’d go towards Via Laietana and from there to Av. Catedral and begin the route in Pl. Nova. Depending on your personal preferences and the amount of time that is available to you, we can do either the first or the second sections of the suggested route.
In the days preceding Christmas, Av. Catedral offers a unique atmosphere due to the Feria de Santa Lucía (Fira de Santa Llúcia): http://es.firadesantallucia.cat/.
The suggested itinerary allows us to see the houses and palaces in the street Montcada, Santa Maria del Mar church, The Cathedral, the Pino church and the Justo y Pastor church, as well as a series of buildings of great historical and artistic interest. The itinerary will also take us to lively streets with long-established chocolate shops (La Pallaresa-C/ Petritxol, 11) and unique establishments (CAELUM-C/De la Palla, 8), which will sweeten our tour. If you do the itinerary on a Sunday, it’s worth noting that all these businesses are open. The Pi and Sant Josep Oriol squares also become lively that day of the week thanks to the painters and sellers of handicrafts.
The tour will help us have a view of the city which will be merely an appetizer of what Barcelona offers its inhabitants, and which will leave those who visit us for the first time eager to come back.
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