Plaça Catalunya stop
Barcelona’s nerve centre, transport hub and confluence of the city’s most important streets, from where you can explore Barcelona’s oldest areas and the Eixample district.
Nexus of the Old Town and the Eixample district
Plaça de Catalunya is the start and end of both the Red Route and the Blue Route of Barcelona Bus Turístic.
Plaça de Catalunya is the point where the old walled districts of the Old Town meet the new Eixample district. Plaça de Catalunya is the confluence of some of the city’s main thoroughfares, like La Rambla, Rambla de Catalunya and the elegant Passeig de Gràcia, and at the neighbouring Plaça d’Urquinaona and Plaça de la Universitat, you will find Via Laietana and Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, respectively.
From Plaça de Catalunya you can take a stroll along Passeig de Gràcia or La Rambla, where you can find the historic La Boqueria Market and the emblematic Gran Teatre del Liceu, in addition to the Palau de la Virreina and the Erotic Museum. From Plaça d’Urquinaona you can walk down Via Laietana to find the Palau de la Música Catalana, one of the most spectacular examples of Modernisme.
What to see
- Urquinaona - Catalunya - Universitat - Squares and streets
The nerve centre and transport hub of Barcelona is made up of three squares and a series of streets forming a ring that separates the Old Town from the Eixample district.
- La Rambla
La Rambla is undeniably Barcelona’s best-known street.
- La Boqueria Market
La Boqueria is not simply a market, it is a monument to gastronomy, an explosion of colours, aromas and sounds. It was inaugurated in 1840, but its origins date back to the 13th century.
- Palau de la Virreina
This late 18th-century paradigm of Catalan civil architecture is a construction that combines French classicism decorative elements with Catalan baroque components, such as the twelve large urns atop the balustrade crowning the facade that overlooks La Rambla.
- Erotic Museum of Barcelona
Do you want to visit the only museum of its kind in Spain? Marilyn Monroe sporting her famous white dress is waiting on the balcony of the Erotic Museum of Barcelona to lead you on a journey through the world of erotica.
- Palau de la Música Catalana
A unique Modernista concert hall that integrates all the applied arts: sculpture, mosaic, stained glass and ironwork.
- Gran Teatre del Liceu
The Gran Teatre del Liceu, known locally as El Liceu, is considered to be one of the world’s most important opera houses.
- Eixample Block Interiors
Public spaces designed by Cerdà to be gardens where residents could socialise which have been progressively recovered.
- Central Antituberculosis Clinic
An L-shaped set of three cement buildings constitutes one of the milestones of Rationalist architecture in Catalonia.
- Historic University of Barcelona Building
In addition to being a fine example of neo-Gothic architecture, the University of Barcelona building represents a symbol of the return of higher education to the city after a century of absence.
- Palau Castell de Pons
In the Gothic Quarter you can find an imposing Neoclassical palace with wrought iron balconies and wide exposed brick arches on the ground floor premises.
- Palau Castanyer
A Neoclassical palace with a distinguished courtyard and a raised garden. If you follow the Carrer de la Portaferrissa shopping street to its end, you will reach Carrer dels Boters, which is home to a number of interesting buildings, including Palau Castanyer.
- Palau Maldà
A large residential building with a stone facade bore witness to the writing of one of the most popular diaries written in Catalan. Palau Maldà, the home of barons in the 17th century, is now home to Barcelona’s oldest shopping centre.
- Passatge de Sert
Hidden in the Sant Pere district, this passage goes unnoticed by many visitors, making it one of Barcelona’s best-kept secrets. Passatge de Sert was the path that ran through one of Barcelona’s largest textile factories, which was owned by the Sert family.
- Casa de la Seda
A house with more than 300 years of history bears witness to the importance of Barcelona’s professional guilds in the 18th century.
- Ganiveteria Roca
Plaça del Pi is home to one of Barcelona’s oldest establishments, a knife shop that has preserved its Viennese-style windows.
- Can Culleretes
A restaurant with a Modernista atmosphere that has been serving meals for more than 200 years. Can Culleretes, which specialises in Catalan cuisine and products, is Barcelona’s oldest restaurant.
- Rambla de Catalunya
Rambla de Catalunya is one of Barcelona’s most welcoming streets. Even though it is a natural prolongation of La Rambla, it actually starts at Plaça de Catalunya and ends at Avinguda Diagonal.
- Barcelona Cathedral
Eight centuries of history are contained in the stones of a great Gothic cathedral with an interior full of secrets waiting to be discovered. It is home to relics of Saint Eulalia, Barcelona’s patron saint, and one of Catalan Gothic’s most beautiful cloisters.
- Plaça del Rei Monumental Site
Plaça del Rei, the centre of power in medieval Barcelona, is home to some of the city’s most important civil Gothic buildings.
- MUHBA – Barcelona City History Museum
In addition to its main site in the Gothic Quarter, Barcelona City History Museum (MUHBA) has heritage centres distributed throughout the city.
- Plaça de Sant Jaume
Located at the crossroads of the Cardo Maximus and Decumanus Maximus, the main streets of Roman Barcelona, Plaça de Sant Jaume is home to the Government of Catalonia and Barcelona City Council.
- Columns of the Temple of Augustus
A courtyard of a medieval building hides the remains of Barcino, the Roman settlement that gave rise to the current city of Barcelona.
- Plaça Reial
Just off La Rambla is one of the city’s few porticoed squares, which still conserves the elegance and liveliness of the 19th century.
- Museum of World Cultures of Barcelona
Two medieval palaces on Carrer de Montcada are home to a museum that disseminates knowledge of other cultures.
- Carrer de Montcada
Its Gothic, Catalan Renaissance and even baroque palaces make this street the city’s most important civil architecture site.
- Gothic Quarter
The Roman settlement that is the origin of the modern city, Barcino, is Barcelona’s most historic district.
- Jewish Quarter
The Jewish Quarter of medieval Barcelona is home to one of Europe’s oldest synagogues, which has been restored and opened to the public. From the 9th century to the 14th century Barcelona had a large Jewish community that is thought to have numbered around 4,000 people.
- Basílica dels Sants Màrtirs Just i Pastor
While from the outside it appears to be a simple Gothic church, inside it is full of surprises and offers unbeatable views of the city centre.
- Plaça del Pi – Plaça Sant Josep Oriol – Basílica de Santa Maria del Pi
A Gothic basilica and the two picturesque squares that surround it form one of the most enchanting corners of the Gothic Quarter. The old cemeteries that surrounded the 14th-century church are now small squares where painters and artisans exhibit their works.
- Roman Wall
Barcelona has preserved towers, gates and fragments of the city walls that the Romans erected in the 3rd century to ward off invaders.
- Plaça de Sant Felip Neri
Visitors are moved by this square hidden among the streets of the Gothic Quarter due to its serene beauty and its tragic history. Plaça de Sant Felip Neri is a jewel that is well worth the effort of finding.
- Carrer de Ferran
The only straight street that connects La Rambla to Plaça de Sant Jaume is one of the Gothic Quarter’s main shopping streets. Designed in 1824 to link the main arteries of medieval Barcelona, Carrer de Ferran transformed the urban layout of the city.
- Frederic Marès Museum
A medieval royal palace is home to the works and collection of a sculptor who was passionate about art from the Romanesque period to the 19th century.
- Diocese Museum
A Gothic building with a Catalan Renaissance structure exhibits more than 3,000 works of religious art. Two steel doors featuring abstract forms in Barcelona’s Pia Almoina building welcome you to the Diocese Museum.
- Cereria Subirà
Crossing the threshold takes you 200 years back in time to when the city’s oldest candle maker was established in the centre of Barcelona. Cereria Subirà, an emblematic Barcelona business, has preserved its original lavish decoration.