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stay in Barcelona offers to the tourist
a city full of artistic sights. A
tipical example is the old city (Ciutat
Vella), where we can find the Barri
Gotic, a gothic quarter full
of attractions.The first halting place
to be seen is the highest part of
the Barri where there is the Cathedral,
a fourteenth century gothic building
finished in the nineteenth century;
in its inside there are the precious
Blessed Sacrament dome and the crypt
with St.Eulalia’s sarcophagus
who is the patron Saint of the city,
and its contiguous gothic Cloister.
A few steps further you can reach
Palau Reial Maior,
a group of several important buildings,
which once were seat of the Inquisition
and residence of Aragon and Castile
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dynasty,
where you can admire the great “Tinell”,
a medieval hall 35 metres wide. In
the close Barri de la Ribera
you can visit the beautiful St.Maria
Del Mar church, builded in gothic
catalan style and the Palau de Musica,
a modernist building with a dome covered
by decorated glasses.You don’t
have absolutely to miss the opportunity
to walk along the famous Ramblas,
heart of the daily and nightlife of
the city. The five wooded boulevards
which create a single street more
than one kilometer long, end on a
small square where there is the Cristopher
Columbus’statue just in front
of the sea. It is also advisable to
see nearby the port, the pictoresque
Barceloneta, an old
fishermen quarter, and the Vila
olimpica (olympic city),
which is an area that was reconstructed
in 1992 in occasion of the olympic
games, with the renewal of the beach
and the creation of some hotels, bars
and restaurants. The Eixample,
an area builded in 1854 to collect
the expansion (translated by a catalan
word “eixample”) of the
city outside the knocked down medieval
walls, has also a remarkable importance.
This part of the city, builded with
a regular structure, has become during
early nineteenth century the favourite
place of the modernist architects
who have left there an incredible
artistic production. It’s interesting
to see the 150 modernist houses of
the “Golden Square”
and the masterpieces of Antoni Gaudì,
who has left there some important
witnesses of his particular artistic
genius. The work of this artist is
the stately and absurd Sagrada
Familia, now symbol of Barcelona.
The building, started in 1882 and
not yet finished, contains the mortal
remains of the artist and it is silhouetted
against the sky with very high needleful
towers. A place, particularly dear
to the inhabitants of Barcelona is
Montjuic’s hill, where adults
and children spend pleasant days visiting
prestigious museums and important
foundations and relax themselves in
parks and theaters. The hill has also
been the principal seat in 1992 of
the olympic games.
Here below the main expositive areas
of the city: |
