Neighborhoods in Brief

Ciutat Vella (Old Town)

Barri Gòtic Barcelona's golden age was between the 13th and 15th centuries, the Gothic period. The city expanded rapidly in medieval times, so much so that it could no longer be contained within the old Roman walls; new ones were built. They originally ran northward from the port along what was to become La Rambla, down the Ronda Sant Pere to Calle Rec Comtal, and back to the sea again. Except for a few remaining sections along the Vía Laietana, most of them have now been destroyed. But the ensemble of 13th- to 15th-century buildings that remain makes up the most complete Barri Gòtic (Gothic Quarter) on the Continent. These include government buildings, churches (including the main cathedral), and guild houses.

Guilds (gremis) were a forerunner to the trade unions and the backbone of Barcelona medieval life. Many of their shields can be seen on buildings dotted around the Barri Gòtic, which would have denoted the headquarters of each particular trade. Tiny workshops were also enclosed in the area and even now many street names bear the name of the activity that went on there for centuries -- such as Escudellers (shield makers), Assaonadors (tanners), Carders (woolcombers), and Brocaters (brocade makers), to name a few. El Call, the original Jewish ghetto, is also located within the Barri Gòtic. A tiny area around the Carrer del Call and L'Arc de Sant Ramon del Call was the scene of the sacking of the Jews by Christian mobs in the late 1400s.

Apart from the big attractions such as the Cathedral de la Seu, the Plaça Sant Jaume (which contains the two organs of Catalan politics, the Ajuntament and the Generalitat), and the medieval palace of the Plaça del Rei, where Columbus was received after returning from the New World, the Barri Gòtic's charm lies in its details. Smaller squares, such as the Plaça Felip Neri with its central fountain, the oasis-like courtyard of the Frederic Marès Museum, gargoyles peering down from ancient towers and small chapels set into the sides of medieval buildings -- these are what make the area so fascinating. Most of them can only be discovered on foot, ideally at sunset when the fading Mediterranean light lends the stone buildings a warm hue, and musicians, mainly of the classical nature, jostle for performance spaces around the Cathedral.

Some of the sites in the Barri Gòtic are not medieval at all (architecture and history purists argue that the name has remained simply for the sake of tourism) but of no less interest. The most famous of these is the so-called Bridge of Sighs (nothing like the Venetian original) in Carrer del Bisbe, built during the city's Gothic Revival in the 1920s. But even modern additions do nothing to diminish the character of the Barri Gòtic. There is an abundance of specialist shops, from old fan and espadrille makers to more cutting-edge clothes designers, not to mention dozens of outdoor cafes where you can enjoy a coffee or two as you look out onto an ancient edifice.

The sizable Barri Gòtic is hemmed in on one side by the ugly, ever-busy Vía Laietana and on the other by La Rambla.

The most famous promenade in Spain, ranking with Madrid's Paseo del Prado, was once a sewer. These days, street entertainers, flower vendors, newspaper vendors, cafe patrons, and strollers flow along its length. The gradual 1.5km (1-mile) descent toward the sea has often been called a metaphor for life because its bustling action combines cosmopolitanism and crude vitality.

La Rambla actually consists of five sections, each a particular rambla -- Rambla de Canaletes, Rambla dels Estudis, Rambla de Sant Josep, Rambla dels Caputxins, and Rambla de Santa Mónica. The shaded pedestrian esplanade runs from the Plaça de Catalunya to the port -- all the way to the Columbus Monument. Along the way you'll pass the Gran Teatre del Liceu, on Rambla dels Caputxins, one of the most magnificent opera houses in the world, restored to its former glory after a devastating fire in 1994. Watch out for the giant sidewalk mosaic by Miró halfway down at the Plaça de la Boqueria.

El Raval On the opposite side of La Rambla lies El Raval, Barcelona's largest inner-city neighborhood. This is where the ambitious plans for the post-Olympic "New Barcelona" are most evident: Entire blocks of dank apartment buildings were bulldozed to make way for modern edifices, squares, and boulevards. El Raval has been cited as the neighborhood with the greatest multicultural mix in Europe, a fact confirmed by a quick stroll around its maze of streets, where Pakistani fabric merchants and South American spice sellers stand side by side with traditional establishments selling dried cod and local wine. The Adhan (the Muslim call to prayer) wafts from mosques located in ground-floor locales located next to neo-hippie bars, yoga schools, and contemporary-art galleries. The largest of these is the MACBA (Museum of Contemporary Art), a luminous white behemoth designed by the American architect Richard Meir. It fronts a huge concrete square that has, since its opening in 1995, become the neighborhood's most popular playground. At any time of day, the space is inundated by kids playing cricket and soccer, skateboarders cruising the ramps of the museum's forecourt, and housewives on their way to the nearby Boqueria market. Another favorite stamping ground is the Rambla del Raval; a wide, airy pedestrianized avenue dating from 2000 and lined with cafes and multi-national (mainly Asian) eating spots.

The signs of gentrification are everywhere, and while this still attracts its fair share of criticism, no one can deny the life-enhancing benefits of the above-mentioned developments for a neighborhood that has been historically deprived of light and breathing space. The neighborhood's former reputation as a seedy inner-city slum is gradually receding, though the area still has its rough edges.

Change is slower to come to the so-called Barri Xinès, or Barrio Chino, the lower half of El Raval between the waterfront and Carrer de l'Hospital. Despite the name, which means Chinese Quarter, this isn't Chinatown. In fact, most attribute its nickname to the writer Francisco Madrid, who in 1926 was influenced by a fellow journalist believing the area resembled New York's Chinatown. During the 1930s, the French writer Jean Genet wrote A Thief's Journal during a stint in one of the area's peseta-a-night whorehouses. In some pockets of the Chino, you would be forgiven for thinking that little has changed; while drug dealing has been largely shipped out to the outer suburbs, prostitution still openly exists, as does the general seediness of many of the streets. But, as with all of the Old City, the times they are a changin' and you may find yourself wandering down here at night to attend the opening of a new bar or club. Petty thieves, prostitutes, drug dealers, and purse-snatchers are just some of the neighborhood "characters," so exercise caution. Although Barri Xinès has a long way to go, an urban renewal program has led to the destruction of some of the rougher parts of the barrio.

La Ribera Another neighborhood that stagnated for years but is now well into a renaissance is La Ribera. Across the noisy artery Vía Laietana and south of Calle Princesa, this small neighborhood is bordered by the Port Vell (Old Port) and the Parc de la Ciutadella. Like the Barrio Chino (above) El Born is La Ribera's "neighborhood within a neighborhood." But far from being a rough diamond, El Born is a polished pastiche of the Old Town, where designer clothing and housewares showcases occupy medieval buildings and workshops. The centerpiece is the imposing Santa María del Mar, a stunningly complete Gothic basilica that was built with funds from the cashed-up merchants that once inhabited the area. Many of them lived in the mansions and palaces along the Carrer de Montcada, today home to a trio of top museums including the Museu Picasso. Most of the mansions in this area were built during one of Barcelona's major maritime expansions, principally in the 1200s and 1300s. During this time, El Born was the city's principal trade area. The recently refurbished La Llotja, the city's first stock exchange, lies on its outer edge on the Plaça Palau; although the facade dates from 1802, the interior is pure Catalan Gothic. The central Passeig del Born got its name from the medieval jousts that used to occur here. At the northern end, the wrought-iron Mercat del Born was the city's principal wholesale market until the mid-1970s. Recent excavation work has revealed entire streets and homes dating back to the 18th century, sealing the edifice's fate as a new museum where these ruins can be viewed via glass flooring and walkways. Behind the Mercat del Born, the Parc de la Ciutadella is a tranquil oasis replete with a man-made lake, wide, leafy walkways, and yet more museums.

More Central Barcelona

Barceloneta, the Beaches & the Harbor Although Barcelona has a long seagoing tradition, its waterfront stood in decay for years. Today, the waterfront promenade, Passeig del Moll de la Fusta, bursts with activity. The best way to get a bird's-eye view of the area is to take an elevator to the top of the Columbus Monument in Plaça Portal de la Pau at the port end of La Rambla.

Near the monument are the Reials Drassanes, or royal shipyards, a booming place during the Middle Ages. Years before Columbus landed in the New World, ships sailed from here, flying the yellow-and-red flag of Catalonia. These days, the Reials Drassanres are home to the excellent Museu Marítim. On the other side of the road, the wooden swing bridge, known as the Rambla del Mar, takes you across the water to the Maremagnum entertainment and shopping complex.

To the east, the glitzy Port Vell (Old Port) was one of the main projects for the city's Olympic renewal scheme. Its chic yachting marina is similar to those of other great Mediterranean ports like Marseilles and Piraeus, and there are large expanses of open recreational areas where people get out and enjoy the sun. It is also home to the city's aquarium. On one side it is flanked by the Passeig Joan de Borbón, the main street of La Barceloneta (Little Barcelona). Formerly a fishing district dating from the 18th century, the neighborhood is full of character and is still one of the best places to eat seafood in the city. The blocks here are long and narrow -- architects planned them that way so that each room in every building fronted a street. The streets end at Barceloneta beach. This, like all the city's beaches, was neglected to the point of nonexistence pre-1992. The harborfront was clogged with industrial buildings -- many of them abandoned -- and shabby but well-patronized chiringuitos (beach bars) until the land was reclaimed, sand trawled in from offshore, and beach culture returned to Barcelona. Today these are some of the finest urban beaches in Europe. From Barceloneta, separated by breakwaters, no less than seven of them sprawl to the north. The Port Olimpic, dominated by a pair of landmark, sea-facing skyscrapers (one accommodating the five-star Hotel Arts and the city's casino) boasts yet another marina and a host of restaurants and bars. Take them all in at your leisure as you stroll along the Passeig Marítim (seafront promenade).

L'Eixample To the north of the Plaça de Catalunya is the large section of Barcelona (known as the Ensanche in Spanish) that grew beyond the old medieval walls. In the mid-1800s, Barcelona was simply bursting at the seams. The, dank, serpentine streets of the old walled city were not only breeding grounds for cholera and typhoid but for habitual mass rioting. Rather than leveling the Old Town, the city's authorities had a sloping sweep of land just outside the walls at their disposal and contracted the socialist engineer Idelfons Cerdà to offer a solution. His Monograph on the Working Class of Barcelona, done in 1865, became the first ever attempt to study the living, breathing landscape of a city: urbanization to you and me, a term Cerdà himself coined in the process.

Cerdà actually visited hundreds of Old City hovels before he drew up plans for Barcelona's New City. Needless to say, his fact-checking led him to the bowels of human suffering; he found out that life expectancy for the proletariat was half that of the bourgeoisie (this, while they paid double per square meter for their decaying hovels) and mortality rates were higher in the narrower streets. Above all, he concluded that air and sunshine were vital to basic well-being.

Today little remains of Cerdà's most radical plans for the Eixample, apart from the rigorous regularity of its 20m-wide (67-ft.) streets and famous chamfered pavements. The modernistas were the neighborhood's earliest architects, filling the blocks with their labored fantasies, such as Gaudí's La Sagrada Família, Casa Milà, and Casa Batlló. L'Eixample is a living, breathing museum piece with an abundance of Art Nouveau architecture and details not found anywhere else in Europe.

In accordance with Cerdà's basic plans, avenues form a grid of perpendicular streets, cut across by a majestic boulevard -- Passeig de Gràcia, a posh shopping street ideal for leisurely promenades. L'Eixample's northern boundary is the Avinguda Diagonal (or simply the Diagonal) which links the expressway and the heart of the city and acts as Barcelona's business and banking hub.

Gràcia This charming neighborhood sprawls to the north of the intersection of the Passeig de Gràcia and Diagonal. Its contained, villagelike ambience stems from the fact that it was once a separate town, only connected to central Barcelona in 1897 with the construction of the Passeig de Gràcia. It has a strong industrial and artisan history and many street-level workshops can still be seen. Rather than in monuments or museums, Gràcia's charm lies in its low-level housing and series of squares -- the Plaça del Sol and Plaça Ruis i Taulet, with its distinctive clock tower, being two of the prettiest. The residents themselves have a strong sense of neighborhood pride and a marked independent spirit, and their annual fiestas are some of the liveliest in the city. For the casual visitor, Gràcia is a place to wander through for a slice of authentic barri life.

Montjuïc & Tibidabo Locals call them "mountains" and while northerly Tibidabo does actually rise to over 488m (1,600 ft.), the port-side bluff of Montjuïc is somewhat lower. Both are great places to go for fine views and cleaner air. The most accessible, Montjuïc (named the "Hill of the Jews" after a Jewish necropolis that once stood there), gained prominence in 1929 as the site of the World's Fair and again in 1992 as the site of the Summer Olympic Games. Its major attractions are the Joan Miró museum, the Olympic installations, and the Poble Espanyol (Spanish Village), a 2-hectare (5-acre) site constructed for the World's Fair. Examples of Spanish art and architecture are on display against the backdrop of a traditional Spanish village. Opposite the village lies the CaixaForum, one of the city's newer contemporary-art showcases housed in a converted moderniste textile factory. In a recent push to raise Montjuïc's status even further, 8,000 sq. m (86,111 sq. ft.) of parkland have been added. At the base of Montjuïc is the working-class neighborhood of Poble Sec and the Ciutat del Teatre; location of the city's theatrical school and a conglomeration of performing-arts spaces. Tibidabo (503m/1,650 ft.) is where you should go for your final look at Barcelona. On a clear day you can see the mountains of Majorca, some 209km (130 miles) away. Reached by train, tram, and cable car, Tibidabo is a popular Sunday destination, with Barcelonese families heading to its Funfair.

Outer Barcelona

Pedralbes At the western edge of El Diagonal, next to the elite districts of Sant Gervasí and Putxet, is this equally posh residential area where wealthy Barcelonans live in either stylish blocks of apartment houses, 19th-century villas behind ornamental fences, or stunning modernista structures. Set in a park, the Palau de Pedralbes, Av. Diagonal 686, was constructed in the 1920s as a gift from the city to Alfonso XIII, the grandfather of King Juan Carlos. Today it has a new life, housing the Ceramic and Decorative Arts Museums. The Finca Güell is also part of the estate, the country home of Gaudí's main patron Eusebi Güell. Although not open to the public, the main gate and gatehouse, both designed by Gaudí, are visible from the street.

Pride of this zone is the 14th-century Gothic church-cum-convent of Monestir de Pedralbes, where you can not only view lovely cloisters and well-preserved kitchens but also take in a world-class art gallery with over 70 works donated by the Madrid-based Thyssen-Bornemizca museum.