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The cosmopolitan capital of Spain’s Catalonia region

Barcelona (pop. 1,62M), Spain's second largest city, lies on the north-east Mediterranean coast of the Iberian peninsula. It is the Capital of the Catalonian Region where two official languages are spoken: Catalan and Spanish.

Barcelona possesses a modern, efficient underground system, with 5 lines, which allows you easy access to Barcelona´s most famous areas. Barcelona´s bus network runs from 5:30am to 11pm and also offers a lower frecuency night service.

Barcelona is easily accessible from all major international cities and from other places in Spain. Daily direct flights connect Barcelona with all leading European cities as well as other cities farther afield including New York and Los Angeles.

Barcelona offers a comprehensive international and national bus service. International: Barcelona is connected to other European destinations by regular bus services offered by Juliá Vía and Iberbus. The majority of these buses depart from the old Estació del Nord with some leaving from the Estació de Sants.

Not to be missed

Sagrada Familia Church - Antoni Gaudí took charge of work on the Sagrada Familia in 1883, when work had already commenced on the crypt, and gradually he worked on the project more and more untill he devoted himself entirely to the work in his last years. The church, which relates architecture to liturgy, was the result of constant meditation, calculation and trials which not only sought to produce innovation in building but also some form of far-reachig wisdom. Gaudí only lived to see the completion of the crypt, part of the apse and, particularly, the impressive facade of the Nacimiento (1903-1926) with its three doors of Faith, Hope and Charity, and part of the four belltowers. His assistants and disciples completed the tops of these towers, and work has continued with the construction of the facade of the Passion. This is despite criticisms of the idea of finishing the church, because of the lack of plans, or models which might give a clear indication of what the general and detailed plans of the architect were.

Palau Real -I t is supposed that on this site, was, first the Pretorium of the Roman colony Barcinum and, later, the palace of Ataulfo, as headquarters of the capital of his Visigothic empire. What is indeed certain is that here was the old castle of the Condes de Barcelona in 10 and 11C, since remains of the facade overlooking the Plaza del Rey are preserved. The building was renovated and extended by Pedro el Grande, with Romanesque-style rooms between the two towers of the Roman wall. At the end of 13 and the beginning of 14C the Palatine Chapel, or Chapel of Santa Agueda, was built, and the palace was extended in the direction of the present day Condes de Barcelona Street. But the great construction which characterises the Palacio Mayor was the Sala Grande or "Cámara de Parlamentos", Known as Salón del Tinell. Above the palace is the watchtower, or Mirador del Rey Martín, dating from 1555, made up of galleries of superimposed arches.

Generalitat Palace - Opposite the City Hall, the palace of the Cortes, or Catalonian government, called the Generalitat, was built between 1418 and 1425. It is a group of buildings, the oldest of which is a Gothic palace, between San Honorato and Obispo Streets, with others added on by the builder Marc Safont, who was also reponsible for the Gothic facade of Obispo Street and the Capilla de San Jorge. The large staircase, surrounded by a raised gallery, was also built around 1430. A century later, the Cambra Daurada (Golden Chamber) was built on a house and towards the middle of 15C the Patio de los Naranjos (similar to the one in the City Hall) was built, surrounded by buildings, on the main floor of the building. The main body of the building, which looks onto Sant Jaume Square, as well as its facade were built by Pere Baly at the end of 16C, and constitute the only completely Renaissance building in Barcelona.

Anta María Del Mar Basilica - This is undoubtedly the best church in the city, in the setting of a district which is redolent of age. The first church was called Santa María de las Arenes, in 10C, whereas the present one was constructed after 1329, with the collaboration of the district corporations who, as a result, are represented on the bronze embossed work of the door and in some of the church´s capitals. Its architect was Berenguer de Montagut, and it was constructed fairly quickly, thanks to which it has a great purity of style and is perfectly rounded off. It is in the best Catalonian Gothic style, with a predominance of horizontal lines, as a result of the lack of empty spaces and his preference for surfaces devoid of ornamentation. It has a terraced roof, devoid of flying buttresses, and has, on the other hand, stout pillars. The present rose windows is 15C, the towers are original, though the north one dates drom 1496 and the south one from 1902, the apse door dates from the middle of 16C. The three inner naves are almost the same, and this gives the church a very pure shape, as a result of the minimal inner suports. The columns are twelve metres apart from each other, something almost unique in the world of Gothic. The stained-glass windows and some pieces of treasure are also worthy of note.

Casa Milá (La Pedrera) - For many people, this house and Güell Park are Antonio Gaudi´s outstanding creations. The Casa Milá, built by the architect between 1906 and 1910, and completed by an assistant two years later, is an appartment house made up of two parts, each with its own entrance, in the Paseo de Gracia and Provenza Street. The most attention-drawing aspect of this gigantic construction is the sweep of the stone of the facade, as if it were a sculpture of a geological cataclysm, and the horizontal sweep that can be found in the surprising terrace, both in the shape ande the floor. The balconies are decorated with iron shapes twisted to look like mountain plants. The entrances, with their quartered-glass doors, look like cave entrances. The whole building looks harmonious, due to its mobile aspect and adaptability, and goes beyond Modernism, entering definitely in the realm of expressionist art.

Casa Lleó Morera - Thanks to the recent restoration of the facade of this house and its main part nowadays we have a better chance of seeing this splendid construction by Domènech i Montaner in the years from 1903 to 1905. It is a six-storey house, with a cellar, very logically arranged, and with perfectly distributed space on the facade, despite the enthusiastic floralist decoration. The figures on the first-floor balcony are preserved, holding objects symbolising industrial progress as well as the mythological animals on the second and third floor. The entrances to the house are excellent, with their discreetly coloured ceramic tiles and scratchwork, as well as the unusual shape of the stairwell. But its greatest attractions are to be found in the main part, occupied by Lleó i Morera, where the ceramics, wood, scratchwork, fireplace logs, etc, are extraordinarily elegant.

Casa Amatller - The so-called block of discord, in the Paseo de Gracia, contains buildings by three of the great Modernisme architects: La Casa Lleó i Morera, by Domènech i Montaner, La Casa Amatller, by Puig i Cadafalch, La Casa Batlló, by Gaudí, as well as La Casa Mulleras, by another important architect of the same period, Enric Sagnier. In the Amatller, Puig i Cadafalch combined the Catalonian Gothic style with the Low Countries tradition, which was an influence on him at that time, since the architect was a keen European traveller. The Casa Amatller, finished in 1990 and recently restored has another atrtraction apart from the already mentioned one. The main part, where the Amatllers lived, can be visited, since the Amatller Institute has its headquarters there.

Casa Batlló - Antoni Gaudí was engaged by the industrialist Josep Batlló to renovate a house in 1877. However, the architect did not just renovate, he also, between 1904 and 1906, produced one of his best works by building new front and rear facades for the ground and main floor, the roof and the terrace. The main facade is the most attractive feature, with its fairytale appearance, perhaps inspired by the opera "Hansel and Gretel", as seen in its bone-shaped columns, which gave rise to its being called the "Houses of Bones", though references can also be noted to carnival in the masks on the upper balconies, and the legend of Saint George and the dragon on the roof. But it is particularly the ceramics and the coloured glass which give this facade unquestionably a marine appearance, as well as the stony waviness of the balconies and the lovely tortoiseshell-shaped roof, with the elegant little tower topped off by a four-armed cross. No less interesting are the staircase, the main room of the Batlló family and the marvellous flat roof with partitioned arches, as well as the use of different arts applied to metal objects, furniture, fire-place logs, mantelpieces, etc. The last three buildings are known as the "block of discord" due to their daring architectural styles.

Palacio Nacional de Montjuic - This palace, built by the architects Cendoya, Catá and Domènech, was constructed in 1929 in order to house the installations for the International Exhibition of that year in Montjuic, and to display a selection of Spanish art. Along with other buildings from the same exhibition it should have been knocked down when the exhibitión ended, but it was preserved and the Catalonia Art Museum, which hitherto had been in the Arsenal building in the Ciudadela park, was housed there. The Italian architect, Gae Aulenti, has renovated it, in order to enhance it as headquarters of this internationally-rated Museum. The main collection is of Romanesque mural painting, with such notable examples as those of Santa María de Taül and Sant Joan de Boi, of the Pyrenees, as well as the collection of Gothic reredos, among which the outstanding ones are those of the Serra brothers, Ferrer Bassa, Lluis Dalmau, Jaime Huguer or Bermejo. The Modernist Eixample: this central metropolitan area of the city, with its modern geometrical grid of streets, is a legacy of the tremendous urban development carried out in the latter part of the 19th century.