One of the most easily recognisable landmarks on Barcelona’s iconic Las Ramblas boulevard, Casa Bruno Cuadros is located half-way between Plaça de Catalunya and the Columbus Monument. Better known as The Umbrella House (Catalan: Casa dels Paraigües) due to the brightly coloured umbrellas which decorate the façade. The building dates back to 1858 and was …
Many of Barcelona’s civic centres and local council offices are located in historic buildings, many of which originally belonged to private individuals or the church. One such building is the Citizen Services Office (Seu del Districte de Ciutat Vella) located at Plaça de Viçenc Martorell in Barcelona’s El Raval neighbourhood. The building dates back to the …
One of my favourite walking routes in Barcelona is around the historic Port Vell harbour from the Christopher Columbus monument to the Barceloneta beach. Along the way you can enjoy views of the harbour filled with yachts and historic tall ships, take a look at the classic architecture and admire the diverse collection of contemporary sculptures …
Located in Plaça de Sant Miquel behind Barcelona’s City Hall, this unusual 26.5m high stainless steel tower by Antoni Llena i Font was unveiled in 2012 during the Feast of Santa Eulalia. The statue is titled Homenatge als Castellers and is a tribute to the emblematic human towers which are a traditional feature of public …
This life size bronze equestrian statue of Ramon Berenguer III was sculpted by Frederic Marès and inaugerated in 1950. Located in Plaça Ramon Berenguer el Gran, the monument is a replica of an earlier statue which was created by Josep Llimona for the Barcelona Universal Exposition of 1888. The Count, who ruled Barcelona from 1097 …
Tucked away beside the north entrance to Barcelona cathedral there is a small stone sculpture of an extremely hairy knight fighting what looks like a griffin. The knight is Wilfred the Hairy (Guifré el Pilòs) who was Count of Barcelona from 878 until his death in 897. Wilfred the Hairy was born in 840 in Prades …
Each December Christmas takes to the streets and plazas of Barcelona in the form of markets, lights, trees and pessebres (nativity scenes). The word pessebre means crib in Catalan and most of the nativity scenes which can be seen in Barcelona follow the traditional format of stable, manger, 3 kings, cows, shepherds etc… One notable …
Possibly Barcelona’s smallest museum, El Museu del Calçat (Literally: the footware museum) occupies 2 small rooms in a 16th century renaissance style building which was previously the headquarters of the Shoemakers Guild. The museum houses a small collection of shoes from around the world as well as historic documents and other articles related to shoemaking. …
Approaching the kiss of freedom mural in Plaça d’Isidre Nonell you’d be forgiven for assuming that it’s a large graffiti. As you get closer you’ll realise that it is in fact a mosaic made up of thousands of tiny ceramic tiles. Each individual tile is printed with a photo of a person, a place, a …
The Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar was built during the 14th century on a site which was once occupied by a Roman Amphitheatre. The church took 55 years to build and is a rare example of pure Catalan Gothic architecture (most churches and cathedrals are a combination of styles). The simplicity of design and …
Read moreSanta Maria del Mar – Barcelona’s Cathedral of the Sea