Barri Gòtic, Barcelona - gorgeous medieval historical town and gothic cathedral

Today we visit the Barri Gòtic or Barrio Gotico, the oldest part of Barcelona. The Gothic Quarter is characterized by narrow streets and small squares, but also by the mighty La Seu Cathedral.

The Barri Gòtic, northeast of the well-known promenade La Rambla, is the nucleus of Barcelona. The Romans founded 133 BC. a settlement called Barcino. But most of the historic monuments date from the Middle Ages, the Catalan Gothic period and Barcelona's heyday as a naval power.

Even today, many narrow and winding streets determine the cityscape of the Gothic Quarter. The old buildings have been lovingly and painstakingly restored and are used by countless small boutiques, shops and restaurants. Only a few streets are passable by cars. The district is ideal for a walking tour of the city. It's fun to drift through the old town streets.

We start our tour at the level of the Gran Teatre del Liceu opera house and first reach the Plaça Reial, a very beautiful square with palm trees and the central fountain Font de les Tres Gràcies. An ideal place for a coffee or a meal in the surrounding eateries! Then we dive into the narrow streets and walk past the Plaça George Orwell, where the well-known poet lived briefly during the Spanish Civil War, to the Plaça de la Mercè. Here we admire the imposing baroque Basílica de la Mercé as well as the picturesque Fountain of Neptune on the other side of the square.

We continue to wander through the winding streets and visit one of the Roman excavations in Barcelona. Here we see remains of the Roman city wall and relics of a thermal bath.

Then we reach the Gothic church Basílica Sant Just, one of the oldest churches in the city. The interior is also still in the Gothic style and did not fall victim to the baroque style like so many others. Next to the church is the small drinking water fountain Font de Sant Just, whose heads represent child martyrs from the time of the Roman persecution of Christians.

Our next destination is Barcelona City Hall, which today, on the eve of the Sant Jordi festival, is decorated with oversized roses, symbols of the Catalan patron saint. In a side street we see the Gothic-style Pont del Bisbe (Bishop's Bridge) that connects the town hall to the neighboring building. Despite its historical appearance, it does not come from the Gothic period, but was created almost 100 years ago during the Barcelona World Fair.

Then we come to the Church of Santa Maria del Pi, a Gothic church with a magnificent rose window and high bell tower. The Pi in the name has nothing to do with mathematics, but stands for the pine tree that used to be and is still here today. On the elegant square next to the church there is a nice market with agricultural products from the area.

We pass the excavation of the Via Sepulcral, a Roman burial road, and arrive at the impressive Gothic La Seu Cathedral or officially "Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulalia" of Barcelona. The patroness of the church is Saint Eulalia, who is also buried here.
The church building consists of a wide nave with 28 side chapels. The extraordinarily beautiful choir stalls with their carved figures and paintings are remarkable.
The cathedral also has a beautiful idyllic cloister. There we are surprised by the chattering of 13 geese that live inside the cloister. Each goose represents a year in the life of the martyr Santa Eulalia, a young goose maid who was tortured to death by the Romans in the 4th century for her Christian beliefs.
An elevator takes us to the roof of the cathedral, from where we have a fantastic view of the city. We can also see the Sagrada Familia in the distance, the modern counterpart of the Gothic cathedral.

At the end of our tour of the Barri Gòtic we come to the Plaça del Rei. Here is the Palau Reial Major, the palace of the Counts of Barcelona and the Kings of Aragon.

You can find the link to this city walk in Komoot: https://www.komoot.de/tour/1210479647

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Visit in April 2023

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Chapter
00:00 Intro
00:46 Plaça Reial and Plaça de la Mercè
03:09 Roman excavations
03:36 Basilica of Sants Màrtirs Sant Just i Pastor
04:26 City Hall and Pont del Bispe
05:29 Santa Maria del Pi
06:25 La Seu Cathedral
11:24 Cloister of the cathedral
13:18 Roof of the cathedral
14:17 Plaça del Rei
15:38 Outro