Eixample
Modern Barcelona was born with the Eixample, a district stretching from the Plaça d’Espanya almost as far as the river Besòs. Its continuous grid layout connected the old town (the present-day district of Ciutat Vella) with the other towns and villages on the Barcelona plain (Gràcia, Sants, Sant Martí de Provençals, Sant Andreu, Sarrià, etc.), which later became Barcelona neighbourhoods.
The Eixample is the result of one of the most splendid periods in the city’s history: a time when it was establishing its position as the economic powerhouse of Catalonia and Spain in the mid-19th century. This economic growth was reflected in the expansion of the city when the Madrid government lifted the ban it had imposed since 1714 on building outside the city walls, following the victory of the Bourbon dynasty in the War of the Spanish Succession (Barcelona had supported the House of Hapsburg).
The Eixample project was the brainchild of the engineer and town planner Ildefons Cerdà, who designed an egalitarian city with uniform neighbourhoods and evenly distributed public services. Its grid-like layout and blocks with chamfered corners have made it an iconic symbol of Barcelona and the subject of study around the world as a paradigm of the birth of modern rational urban planning. The Plan was approved in 1860, but it wasn’t implemented until several decades later, tying in with the greatest creative expression of the “modernista” architectural style, which permeates the entire district and makes the Eixample a peerless ensemble in Europe.
During this period, under the reign of the church of the Sagrada Família, Barcelona’s thriving bourgeoisie vied with each other in terms of aesthetic refinement and hired the services of the foremost architects of the time, including Gaudí, Domènech i Montanerand Puig i Cadafalch, to build their homes in “modernista” buildings – La Pedrera, Casa Batlló, Casa Lleó Morera, Casa Amatller – with their interiors and façades lavishly decorated with a wide variety of materials: wood, stone, ceramic, leaded glass and wrought iron.
Keep your eyes peeled as you stroll around the neighbourhood and admire the legacy of the finest Catalan architecture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. You’ll explore iconic streets like Passeig de Gràcia and Rambla de Catalunya, which are home to the top fashion boutiques selling leading local and international brands, countless restaurants serving Catalan haute-cuisine and an endless array of cafés and bars, which have made the area the favourite shopping place for many locals and visitors to the city.
Source: Barcelona Tourism
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Colorful Fort Pienc is home to Mercat Fira de Bellcaire Els Encants, a rowdy flea market for antiques and kitschy curios under a modernist mirrored roof. The National Theater stages modern and classic plays and the city symphony orchestra plays at neighboring L’Auditori. Art nouveau bullring La Monumental hosts pop shows and food trucks. The dining scene mixes midrange Catalan, Asian, and Latin American restaurants.
The area known as Poblet was once a neighbourhood of fields and low-rise houses. During the 19th century, factories were set up here, fostering the growth of the area. It was here, in 1881, that building work commenced on the church of atonement for the citizens of this expanding city.
In 1882, the original Sagrada Família Gothic church project, designed by Francesc de Paula Villar, was taken over by the young Antoni Gaudí, who transformed it into the most fascinating church of all time. An architectural bible called the Sagrada Famíliawhich has become a Barcelona icon. The building, which is still under construction, has lent its name to the area and made it world famous. After all, the Sagrada Família is a vibrant neighbourhood with its own unique personality.
The Avinguda Gaudí, a delightful pedestrianised boulevard, links the basilica with the Sant Pau Recinte Modernista, the most representative civil building from the modernista period, designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner. Both these outstanding modernista landmarks have been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Source: Barcelona Tourisme
Art nouveau apartment buildings line the wide avenues of affluent Dreta de l’Eixample – a neighborhood defined by landmark Antoni Gaudí architecture such as La Sagrada Familia, Casa Batlló and La Pedrera. Chic international boutiques and upmarket restaurants cluster along the Passeig de Gràcia and Rambla de Catalunya, while department stores and al fresco cafes ring busy transit hub, Plaça de Catalunya.
The Avinguda de Roma links two sections of the left side of Barcelona’s Eixample. To the south, we find the oldest part of the district, built at the end of the 19th century at the same time as the neo-Romanesque Barcelona University building, in the Plaça de la Universitat. Nearby, is the section known as the Ninot, which takes its name from an old inn which had a carving of a small child (the ninot) outside. The carving now stands above the market entrance. As you walk through the neighbourhood, you’ll be surprised by the bustle and activity of the shopping streets, and the ones around the busy Mercat de Sant Antoni.
The area between the Ronda Sant Antoni and the Ronda Universitat is known as the “Gaixample“, where Barcelona’s gay community have opened bars and restaurants.
Further west, the most modern part of the left side of the Eixample consists of buildings in different architectural styles built from the 1930s onwards. However, the landmarks are two older buildings: the old Batlló factory, now the home of the technical college, the Escola Industrial, and the former municipal slaughterhouse, now the site of the modernista style Parc de Joan Miró, with the artist’s monumental sculpture Dona i Ocell (Women and Bird) rising up in the centre.
Source: Barcelona Tourism
Multicultural La Nova Esquerra de l’Eixample is home to palm-fringed Joan Miró Park, named for the artist who made its striking central “Woman and Bird” sculpture. Modernist-Gothic mansion Casa Golferichs hosts chamber music and photo exhibits, while Penitenciari La Model is a notorious men’s prison from 1904, now a museum. Dining options include hip brunch cafes and stylish Indian and Japanese restaurants
Located in Barcelona’s Eixample district, the neighborhood of Sant Antoni is known for the 19th-century Sant Antoni Market designed by Antoni Rovira i Trias, an example of the city’s wrought-iron architecture. At the Sunday book market, stalls offer antique volumes, rare stamps, and vintage postcards. To the north, Plaça de la Universitat draws skaters, while vermouth bars line Carrer del Parlament to the south.