Visiting Barcelona Weblog

The most distant origins of the Cathedral of Barcelona correspond to a basilica with three naves which was destroyed by Al -Mansur (925). The remains of this basilica can be seen in the City History Museum . Around 1046, a new cathedral was commenced at the initiative of Bishop Guislabert. We have few references to this building: it is believed to have occupied a part of the Gothic building, but some of its Romanesque elements remain.

Construction began in 1298, during the bishopric of Bernat Pelegrí and the reign of King Jaume II, known as “the Just”. The work on the present-day façade of the Cathedral remained unfinished until the end of the last century, being completed by the architects Josep Oriol Mestres and August Font i Carreras, taking inspiration from a drawing from the 15th century by Mestre Carlí. Source: Bcn

Until 1860, the year in which Barcelona finally broke out from behind its city walls, the city extended no further than the hexagon of the 15th century enclosure ( the present-day Casc Antic) that lies between these streets: the Rondes de Sant Pau, de Sant Antoni, d’Universitat, and de Sant Pere, the Passeig de Lluís Companys, the Avinguda Marquès de l’Argentera, which continues as the Passeig Colom, and the Avinguda del Parallel.

The only wide street at the heart of the city was La Rambla, an old stream whose name derives from the Arabic “ramla” meaning “sandy ground”. Source: Bcn

According to legend, Our Lady of Mercy appeared in dreams to Pere Nolasc, calling on him to set up a monastic order dedicated to saving the numerous Christian captives who had fallen into the hands of the North African pirates in the Mediterranean. This he did, with the help of Ramon de Penyafort and support from King Jaume I.

And so the Order of Mercy was born. Their first church was constructed in 1267, on the same site as the present-day basilica. It was reformed during the 14th and 15th centuries, and in 1775 the architect Josep Mas began the final renovation of the church, which is as it stands today. Source: Bcn

The construction of the National Theatre of Catalonia , which is owned by the Department of Culture of the Government of Catalonia, commenced on 8th November 1991 on lands ceded by the Barcelona City Council. It began its activity on 12th November 1996 in the workshop building.

The building of the National Theatre of Catalonia, designed by the architectural workshop of Ricard Bofill, has a floor area of 20,000 m2, covered by a double-slope metallic roof supported on 26 columns of 12 metres in height. The glazed exterior allows the interior spaces to be seen from the street. The foyer - beneath which is the small hall - the main auditorium and the stagehouse are the three principal spaces, which form a single body. Source: Bcn

With the opening of the city to the sea, a project first undertaken in the 1980s, the redeveloped seafront, from the Moll de la Fusta and the area around the Palau de Mar to the Rambla de Mar and the Olympic Port area, has become one of Barcelona’s most popular spaces for recreation and leisure. In addition, the beaches of Sant Sebastià, La Barceloneta, Nova Icària, Bogatell, Mar Bella and Nova Mar Bella, stretching more than four kilometres overall, receive annually nearly seven million visitors, and have all the facilities and services necessary for these people to enjoy a pleasant and safe day at the beach.

Moreover, with the development of the shoreline around the river Besòs, Barcelona will gain new areas for leisure located on sites taken from the sea. These include a new marine wildlife park, two green areas with a variety of uses and a new bathing area, the latter different from usual beaches in its being designed to create an area of calm waters. Source: bcn