On Wednesday afternoon, after our visit to La Fabrica del Sol, we met at the Parc de la Ciutadella after lunch for a brief tour through some of the historic sites in Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter.
We started at Centre Cultural del Born. It is an impressive 19th century glass and ironwork building which used to be Barcelona’s central market. At the end of the 20th century, it was decided to turn it into a big library. To everyone’s surprise, the works for the library unearthed the well-preserved remains of the city as it was in 1714, when it was attacked and destroyed by the Spanish troops. Today it is an open-air museum and a place of remembrance of the loss of Catalan freedom.
On our way, we passed the Fossar de les Moreres, a mass grave for the heroes who died defending the city, where an eternal flame burns in their memory. Just facing it we can see Santa Maria del Mar, one of the most beautiful Gothic churches in the world.
Our next stop was Plaça Sant Jaume, the centre of power in the city ever since the Romans established a camp here more than two thousand years ago. We can see the City Hall and the Catalan Government facing each other at both ends of the square. This is a place of political decision, public celebration, grief and protest.
A narrow winding street takes us to Plaça Sant Felip Neri, one of the quaintest spots in the city, which we miraculously found empty of tourists (the good side of not being completely out of the pandemic yet!). Its peaceful atmosphere makes it difficult to picture the tragedy which Franco and his fascist allies unfolded in the city. In January 1938, Barcelona was massively bombed and one of those bombs fell on this very square, which at that time hosted a school. More than 40 people died, most of them schoolchildren. You can still see the walls pockmarked by the shrapnel from the bombs. After the war, the Fascists circulated a false version of the story which many people believe to this day. Fake news is nothing new.
We stopped at the Cathedral and took a beautiful group photo. Then walked to Plaça Universitat, where the buses would collect us two hours later, just across the beautiful University historical building, to get back to l’Ametlla.
(by Joan Canal Oliveiras)
Diving into the history of Barcelona
Discovering “El Barri Gòtic”, the gothic quarter, Plaça Sant Felip Neri
The Parliamemt of Catalonia – seeing the importance of standing united, Plaça Sant Jaume
