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Places to Visit |
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You can visit many
beautiful and interesting places in Barcelona. This
chapter
tells you about some of them. You can find these places on any
map. On the last page of this
travel guide you can find two maps
for printing out. |
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The
Gothic
Quarter
Our visit is going to begin at the Cathedral
in the Barri Gòtic.
The inside of the Cathedral is very beautiful. Outside the
Cathedral you can walk round the
Cloister,
which is a covered
walkway. It is quiet and
peaceful. Leave Cathedral Square and walk under Pont
del Sospirs (Bridge of Sighs) to
Plaça de Sant Jaume. You
then come to Palau de la
Generalitat. Inside
there is the attractive Pati
dels Tarongers (Orange Tree Courtyard).
The Old Town Hall is
opposite. Don't forget to look at the wall paintings by Sert.
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Also, go and see the Saló
de Cent.
A
narrow street full of old shops and cafés
leads to
Plaça
del Rei. Here, in Saló del Tinell, Christopher Columbus offered the new lands of America
to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in 1493. Under Plaça del Rei
you can see parts of the
ancient Roman city.
The church of Santa
Maria del Mar (Our Lady of the Sea) is one of the finest
examples of Gothic architecture. It was built in 1329. It is not
far from the Barri Gòtic.
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Les Rambles
Les Rambles is a lively and colourful area. You can listen to the
street musicians, smell the flowers on the
flower stalls and walk past shops selling birds, newspapers and books. There
is excitement everywhere. Local people meet at the Font
de Canaletes. They stand and talk about sport and politics.
Other people like the bars along the new Moll de la Fusta, by the
sea.
There are many interesting buildings along Les Rambles. You can
visit Les Drassanes (Old
Shipyards), the Wax Museum
or El Liceu (Opera House). Then you can go shopping in La Boqueria, a popular big market. Sit under the
palm trees in the
Plaça
Reial. |
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Have a cool
drink and a
snack.
Walk along Carrer Petritxol
and talk to painters in Plaça de Pí on Sundays.
At one end of
Les Rambles is the Plaça del Portal de la Pau. Here you will see
the statue of Columbus on a
high column. At the other end of Les
Rambles is Plaça de Catalunya. You are now leaving the old part
of the city and going into the new.
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The
Modern City
Let's begin our visit to
the modern city. We walk across the Plaça de Catalunya into the Eixample. In 1854, the medieval walls of the city were
pulled down. New
buildings were built outside the old walls.
Ildefons Cerda was a famous architect and engineer. He planned the
new buildings in a very large rectangle.
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The
Eixample is an open air museum of Modernist art which
is a
mixture of architecture, painting and sculpture. In
the Eixample there are many interesting buildings. Some were
designed by
the
world-famous architect, Antoni Gaudí
(1852-1926).
Two houses by Gaudí
are really
amazing:
Casa Milà, known as La Pedrera, and
Casa
Batlló.
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Gaudí designed Parc Güell.
The park is
on a hillside to the north of the city. Here you
will see strange sculptures of monsters and dragons.
He also designed the
Sagrada Familia. This very famous building is popular with
tourists. They come to see the unusual
towers and carvings.
There are more
than one thousand modernist buildings in the Eixample.
Go and see El
Palau de la Música.
This was
designed by the architect Domènech i Montaner.
Also, there is the Casa de les Punxes designed by the architect Puig i Cadafalch. |
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The
New
Architecture
New architecture is the
name given to the 'places dures'. The buildings are made of metal
or
concrete. The squares do not have any grass or trees in them.
You can find examples of
the new architecture by going west along Avinguda del
Paral-lel. You arrive at Plaça dels Països Catalans in front
of the Sants railway station.
Not far from the railway station is Parc
de L'Espanya Industrial. There is a lake in this park with
boats and sculptures. The new Parc
de L'Escorxador is
very near. In this park you can see Joan
Miró's large sculpture, Dona
i
Ocell (Woman and Bird).
Now, return to Plaça de Espanya and to the south, you will find the
site
for the Olympic Games, 1992. Montjuïc is a beautiful
mountain with gardens, parks and museums. Poble Nou is the
Olympic village by the sea. |
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Source:
Ramón Ribé, Neus Serra, Núria Vidal (Heinemann) |
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GLOSSARY |
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chapter: capítulo
for printing out:
para imprimir
Cloister: Claustro
walkway:
sendero
peaceful:
pacífico
Bridge of Sighs: Puente de los Suspiros
Orange Tree Courtyard: Patio de los Naranjos
opposite;
enfrente
narrow street:
calle angosta
leads to:
conduce a
ancient:
antigua
flower stalls:
puestos de flores
Old Shipyards: Antiguos Astilleros |
palm trees:
palmeras
snack:
refrigerio
at one end of:
en un extremo de
high column:
columna elevada
pulled down:
demolidas
mixture:
mezcla
world-famous:
mundialmente famoso
amazing:
sorprendentes
on a hillside:
sobre la ladera de una colina
towers and carvings:
torres y esculturas
concrete:
hormigón
site for:
emplazamiento de |
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BARCELONA TRAVEL
GUIDE
PAGE 3/6 |
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MAS "DESCARGAS - GUIAS DE VIAJE"
FORO
INICIO |
