appartamenti a Barcellona, Barcellona appartamenti

The Craftspeople’s district

Take a wander down around this maze of narrow, winding, car-free alleyways, where clothing is hung out by towering arches and magnificent porticos. In your own tme, discover the treasures in hidden corners such as quaint little shops, cfaftspeople’s workshops and fashionable restaurants, which give life to the friendly hustle and bustle of medieval streets. Wander round Barra d Ferro, Cotoners, Esquirol, Carassa, Mirallers, Grunyi, Brosolí and Banys Vells, until you come out opposite the Santa María del Mar church at Calle Sombrerers, where you will find the delightful E&A Gispert shop window (Sombrerers, No. 23) with an ancient Roman style antique wood fired oven; a museum piece still used every day to toast the speciality dried fruits sold in the shop. If you go inside the shop, you will find dried fruits, spices, vinegars, oils, chocolates and delicatessen specialities for gifts. (If the access ramp is not in place over the stairs, just ask and they will kindly arrange this for you).

Passeig del Born

The nearby Passeig del Born is  the size of a plaza. In medieval times, this was the setting for tournaments, jousts and processions and is still home to ancient mansions reminiscent of the splendour of bygone times. The Passeig del Born is still a a large open air area for the district, with a vibrant European atmosphere in the heart of the district and crammed with shops and terraces.. The Born Market is at the back. This is a metallic structure created by the architect Joseph Fontseré, where the Barcelona produce market was situated between 1876 and 1971. It will soon be transformed into a museum and cultural centre where visitors can also see some of the remains of the city destroyed by Felipe V’s troops during the siege of Barcelona in 1714.

The shopping route

The area has become a well known paradise for fashion victims, full of alternative shops with the very latest fashions and a lot of character. Many of them are accessible and practical, and their window displays are works of art, exquisitely decorated with fashionable clothing and accessories, designer furniture and culinary delights you can try whilst you wander. As you explore the side streets of the Passeig del Born, you will come to the narrow and winding Calle dels Flassaders, which in times gone by had a high concentration of the city’s brothels. It is now packed with shops including the well known Café de la Princesa as well as many others. We recommend Mia Zia (Flasseders, 42) and Iguapop Gallery (Comerç, 15). The lower part of Passeig del Born is a maze of pedestrianised lanes crammed with young people’s avant-garde shops.The old Calle Antic de Sant Joan and especially “The Rec” are not to be missed. Head down Calle Vidrería, Rera Palau and Donaire, and in the Plaça de les Olles you will find Custo BCN (Pl. de les Olles, 6-13), with Barcelona’s own designer T-Shirts and other garments, which are desirable items around the world.

El Pla de Palau

Head towards the Pla de Palau; an area that was first built on in 1820 with the aim of making it the biggest plaza in the city. It is surrounded by enormous neoclassical buildings including the inspiring Llotja or la Aduana (currently the Provincial Government offices) and the Font del Geni Català fountain in the centre, which is the work of the artist Francesc Daniel Molina and the sculptor Fausto Baratta, inaugurated in 1856. On the Calle Consolat de Mar you can take a seat on the terrace at the Pisamorena (Consolat de Mar, 37-41) by the medieval Voltes dels Encants and Voltes dels Pintors, with views of the neoclassical Llotja building. The building has been refurbished inside with a lovely patio and two gothic rooms, which are only open to the public on special occasions.

Porxos d'en Xifré (Passeig d'Isabel II, 8-14)

Cross the Passeig d'Isabel II and almost opposite the Llotja are the five Romanesque houses with porticoes, which were the built on the initiative of Joseph Xifré, an “Indian” born in Arenys de Mar who became rich in America thanks to trade in leather and agricultural products. The building project was completed in 1837 by Josep Boixareu and Francesc Vila. The neoclassical inspired buildings, with classical porticoes on the lower parts, have interesting sculptured reliefs on the facade. The Café de les 7 Portes has been on the ground floor since 1837 and became a restaurant in 1929; a much-loved institution which has been impeccably maintained and has become famous for its rice dishes throughout the region.

The Port Bazaars

Turning out of Calle Llauder, there is a crossroads of three pedestrianised streets, which gained a reputation as a port bazaar in the post war period. Here, thanks to contraband, the black market and rogue traders, one could buy cigars, tobacco, nylon tights, pens and other luxury items in times of scarcity, and later jeans, anoraks, gold by weight and dubious photographic material. Today, the contraband is gone along with this era in history but the successors to those street vendors are established as a prosperous group of businesses and still presume to be the cheapest throughout the city for anything you can imagine from the most kitsch giftware to jewellery, watches, small electrical appliances, televisions and high tech electronic gadgets. The area also has two historic zones dedicated to dining: Carballeira (Reina Cristina, 3), a classic for seafood and Galician cuisine, adapted for disabled people, and the Can Paisano (Reina Cristina, 7); a noisy and uncomfortable but very popular bar with a great atmosphere and thousands of different fried, hot or grilled sandwiches, accompanied by sparkling wine or the house cava.

Estació de França

The final stop on the route is the historic Estació de França, to the right of the Pla de Palau on the Avenida Marqués de Argentera. There is a ramp on the side that permits access to its spectacular hallway, which was completed in 1929 for the International Exhibition. Decorated by the architect Raimon Duran Reynals, it has two halls with a 47 metre span, 29 metres high and 195 metres long. Take a walk around the platforms, which are now silent and have been the setting for fiestas and exhibitions since 1992, but the railway activities will be temporarily restored while the Sants Station is being adapted for the AVE high speed train.