Ciutat Vella

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Ciutat Vella means "old city" in Catalan. The term refers to the oldest neighborhoods in the city of Barcelona, Spain. These neighborhoods include Raval and Barri Gòtic (Gothic Quarter.) Ciutat Vella is nestled between the Mediterranean Sea and the neighborhood called l'Eixample (the Extension.)

[edit] Les Rambles

Running down the center of the Ciutat Vella (dividing the Raval and Barri Gòtic) are the boulevards Les Rambles, popularly known as La Rambla (in singular) since they are continuous, like a single street. Les Rambles stretches from Plaça Catalunya to the Mediterranean Sea and, since the 1990s, now extends out over the sea into one of Barcelona's newest centers of entertainment, Maremagnum. Each of Les Rambles has its own specialty. La Rambla de les Flors (The Flowers Rambla) is devoted to flower stands, another Rambla to animal vendors (selling mainly birds), and the lowest Rambla hosts temporary art fairs. El Mercat de Sant Josep (more commonly known as La Boqueria) and Gran Teatre del Liceu (the Opera House) are both located here. Les Rambles are among the most frequently travelled streets by pedestrians in Barcelona.

At the bottom, there is the Museu Marítim (naval museum), which chronicles the history of life on the Mediterranean, including a full-scale model of a galley. The museum is housed in the medieval Drassanes (shipyards), where the ships that made Catalonia a great sea power in the Mediterranean were built.

[edit] Raval

This portion of the city is often referred to as el Barri Xinès, or China town. It acquired this name not due to there being residents of Chinese origin, but because it was how a Chinese city was imagined to be. Due to its previous reputation as a dangerous area, the local government has put a lot of time and work into the neighborhood, including the creation of a walkway to the sea, the Rambla del Raval and new building development, including the new Filmoteca de Catalunya. It has become one of the most dynamic areas of the city. Many smaller ethnic restaurants may be found in Raval and several fashionable restaurants and cafés have been opening up in recent years. The Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (Contemporary Art Museum of Barcelona) can also be found in this neighborhood.

[edit] Barri Gotic

On the other side of Les Rambles, is el Barri Gòtic. This neighborhood houses the Cathedral of Barcelona, la Generalitat (the Catalan government hall), and l'Ajuntament (Barcelona city hall). Tourists commonly visit this neighborhood to see Plaça Reial (a Spanish-style plaza) and to shop in one of the many tourist shops along Carrer Ferran. El Museu Picasso (the Picasso Museum) can be found in the area known as el Born, within the Barri Gotic, in addition to the historic restaurant Els Quatre Gats (the Four Cats), which was a popular hang-out for artists, including Pablo Picasso.

To the north of the Gothic Quarter lie the Jardins de Fonseré i Mestre which contain modernist buildings housing zoological and geological collections. The adjacent Parc de la Ciutadella includes both the Parlament de Catalunya (Catalan Parliament) and the Parc Zoològic de Barcelona (zoo) whose most famous resident was an albino gorilla - Floquet de Neu ("Snowflake") - who died in 2003 of skin cancer.

 

Barcelona districts Ciutat Vella | Eixample | Gràcia | Horta - Guinardó | Les Corts | Nou Barris | Sant Andreu | Sant Martí | Sants - Montjuïc | Sarrià-Sant Gervasi