The gothic quarter – Academia Barcelona

When talking about Barcelona, we inevitably talk about the famous gothic quarter (barrio Gòtico in Spanish). In fact the gothic quarter represents the city historical center and it’s the soul of the Catalan capital.

The gothic quarter

By day…

The symbol of this quarter is the Cathedral of Barcelona. It’s the Santa Creu and Santa Eulalia Cathedral, who was Barcelona’s patron. You can visit the neogothic Cathedral for free until 12.30 a.m.

To visit the gothic quarter you don’t need maps or guides. The best idea is to walk through the tight streets and always remember to look up to the sky. In this way you won’t miss any beautiful building in the gothic style.

The gothic quarter - Academia Barcelona

Plaça del Rei (King’s square) is not very easy to find because it has only two access points. Moreover it’s surrounded and therefore hidden by beautiful medieval buildings. Some of them are Saint Agata’s Palatine Chapel, King Martì’s Tower and the complex of Palau Major where MUHBA museum is located.

…or by night

If you think the gothic quarter is chaotic during the day, wait until you see it by night! As a matter of fact, a lot of bars become little discos and you will be given a lot of flyers to enter these discos for free. A typical meeting point for tourists is Plaça Reial (Royal square). In the center of this square there is a fountain with two street lights designed by Antoni Gaudì, but young people don’t usually care about this detail if they want to party. In this case I suggest to enter in any of these bars, order something to drink, enjoy the view, the sounds, the laughs etc. Then you can decide if you want to go inside the bar, which will have probably changed into disco, or if you want to discover other bars and drinks.

The gothic quarter - Barcelona

Suggestions

 

Even though this is not a dangerous quarter, it is very crowed and that’s why there are a lot of thieves. But if you watch your backpack and your phone, there is nothing serious to worry about.

Finally, what can I say? The gothic quarter is perfect for anyone who loves both culture and the Spanish “movida”!