Barcelona Design Museum – DHUB

Barcelona Design Museum

The new Barcelona Design Museum opened during December 2014. The museum explores the role of design in our daily lives through 4 permanent exhibitions which were previously housed in the Museum of Decorative Arts, the Ceramics Museum, the Barcelona Textile Museum and the Cabinet of Graphic Arts. The museum occupies 4 floors of the futuristic…

Plaça d’Espanya

View of Plaça d'Espanya from the Les Arenes shopping centre

Plaça d’Espanya was built for the 1929 International Exhibition and was originally flanked by purpose-built hotels designed to house people visiting the exhibition. Only one of the hotels remains and nowadays the square is basically a large roundabout with an impressive fountain in the middle and magnificent views of the Palau Nacional and Montjuïc. The…

El Fossar de les Moreres

El Fossar de les Moreres - The grave of the mulberry trees

In the heart of the Ribera district, the Fossar de Les Moreres is a sombre reminder of Barcelona’s turbulent history. The site has been a burial ground since medieval times and in 1714 citizens who died defending the city during the siege of Barcelona were buried here in a mass grave. Because of this the…

The Encants Vells Flea Market

The Encants Vells' ultra modern canopy was built in 2013

Barcelona’s Encants Vells, also known as the Mercat de Bellcaire, is one of the oldest flea markets in Europe and dates back to the 14th Century. In 2013 Els Encants relocated to a stunning new purpose built 3 story structure opposite the Agbar Tower. The emblematic mirrored canopy houses 500 stalls; a mixture of junk shop, antiques…

Monument to Doctor Trueta

The Doctor Trueta Monument on the Rambla de Poblenou

Josep Trueta Raspall was born in the Poblenou neighbourhood of Barcelona in 1897. He studied medicine at the University of Barcelona and in 1921 started working as an assistant surgeon in the Hospital de la Santa Creus I Sant Pau. By the onset of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 Dr. Trueta had already started…

Barcelona Cable Cars

Barcelona Port Cable Car

Barcelona has two cable cars that offer visitors fantastic aerial views of the city and provide easy access to the castle and other attractions on Montjuïc. Barcelona Port Cable Car The Transbordador Aeri del Port (Port Cable Car) was built for the 1929 Barcelona Universal Exposition and links the Barceloneta beach to Montjuïc. The red…

Statue of Pau Claris

Monument to Pau Claris,Passeig Lluis Companys, Barcelona

This bronze statue of Pau Claris was inaugurated in 1880 and originally stood on what is now Via Laietana. It was withdrawn from public display during the Spanish Civil War, as were other monuments to famous Catalan figures such as Dr Bartomeu Robert and Rafael Casanova. In 1977 the statues were restored and reinstated in…

Sir Winston Churchill Monument

Detail of the Winston Churchill Monument, Barcelona

Sir Winston Churchill and Barcelona Winston Churchill was undoubtedly one of the most important figures of the 20th Century. His leadership inspired the British people to stand up for freedom during the second world war. Hitler backed Franco and used the Spanish Civil War to perfect techniques which were later used by the Nazis in…

Fernando Botero’s Fat Animal Sculptures

Botero's Cat

Two of Barcelona’s most photographed sculptures bear the unmistakable hallmark of Colombian artist Fernando Botero.  According to Wikipedia the artist’s trademark style is called Boterism and depicts people and animals in “exaggerated volume”. The Cat from the Raval Known locally as either “El Gato del Raval” or “El Gato de Botero” this over-nourished alley-cat was…

Monument to Francesc Macià

Portrait of Francesc Masia

Francesc Macià i Llussà was President of the Generalitat de Catalunya from 1932 until his death in 1933. Born in September 1859, Macià grew up in Vilanova i la Geltrú (a medium-sized town approximately 50 kilometres south of Barcelona). After a spell in the Spanish army, he fought for Catalan independence and formed the political…

Joan Miró Welcomes You to Barcelona

Miro's Pla de l'Os mosaic on Barcelona's famous La Rambla

In 1968 Joan Miró was commissioned to create a giant mural to welcome visitors arriving at Barcelona airport. The Barcelona-born artist liked the idea so much that he decided to donate 3 works of art to the city welcoming visitors arriving by air, land and sea. Joan Mirós Mural at Barcelona Airport The giant mural…

Rafael Casanova Monument

The Rafael Casanova Monument by Rossend Nobas

Rafael Casanova was the Councillor in Chief of Barcelona during the war of the Spanish succession. He is a Catalan national hero and was wounded defending the city when it fell to Bourbon troops on September 11th 1714. Catalan politicians and public figures lay floral tributes in front of the statute as part of the…

Barcelona Motorcycle Museum

Vintage Bultaco and Montesa motorcycles

Unfortunately the Barcelona Motorcycle Museum is no longer open to the public. The museum closed in 2018 and the collection was moved to the museum’s other location in Basella (Lleida). More information here. This small museum in the heart of Barcelona’s Gothic quarter houses a collection of approximately 70 classic motorbikes. The museum’s collection is…

The Born Cultural Centre

The Born Cultural Centre

Designed by Antoni Rovira i Trias and inaugurated in 1876, the “Mercat del Born” was Barcelona’s first cast-iron covered market and is the largest of it’s kind in Europe. It was the city’s central food market right up-until 1971 when the new Mercabarna wholesale market opened in the Zona Franca. The abandoned market building fell…

Poblenou Cemetery

The Cemetery of Poblenou

Poblenou’s Cemetery (Cementiri de Poblenou / Cementiri de l’Este) was built in the mid 18th Century and then rebuilt and extended during the 19th Century. It is divided into 3 sections. The first of which is a labyrinth of 7 story high burial niches typical of Spanish cemeteries. The second section is full of extravagant…

Frank Gehry’s Golden Fish Sculpture

The Fish Sculpture Designed by Frank Gehryy for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics

The 52m long golden fish sculpture El Peix is one of the best known and most striking landmarks on Barcelona’s seafront. It’s gold coloured stainless steel surface shines under the Mediterranean sun and changes appearance depending on the angle of the sun and the current weather conditions. The fish statue was built for the 1992 Barcelona…

The Caixa Forum

Caixa Forum Barcelona

More than just a modern art museum, the Caixa Forum is billed as a Cultural Centre and stages temporary exhibitions as well as concerts, arts related educational workshops and films. There are 3 main exhibition halls, a cinema and a dedicated children’s activity area called Caixa Forum Kids. There is just one permanent exhibit; Joseph…

Museum of Catalan Modernism

Museum of Catalan Modernism, Barcelona

The Museum of Catalan Modernism opened in 2010 and contains furniture, paintings and sculptures from two private collections exhibited in a modernist building on Carrer Balmes. The museum includes works by most of the major exponents of the genre including Antoni Gaudi, Joan Busquets, Eusbei Arnau, Josep Llimona and others. The museum occupies 2 floors…

Monestir de Pedralbes – One of Barcelona’s Best Kept Secrets!

The Monestir de Pedralbes, Barcelona

The Monestir de Pedralbes is a beautiful gothic monastery which was built in 1326 by Queen Elisenda in an effort to be forgiven for her sins. Some of the most famous architects of the time worked on the project including Ramon Despuig and Berenguer de Montagut who also designed the Bascilica de Santa Maria del…

The Roman Temple of Augustus

The Roman Temple of Augustus

Tucked away inside a medieval building in the Gothic quarter of Barcelona, these 9m high Corinthian style columns are nearly as old as the city itself. The Temple of Augustus dates back to the first century BC and was part of the Forum, at the centre of the Roman city of Barcino. Unlike the majority…