Plaça Sant Jaume: The Epicenter of Catalan Governance
Why is it significant?
Stand in the middle of Plaça Sant Jaume and look across the open cobblestones: you are standing at the exact intersection of the cardo and decumanus maximus of the Roman colony founded by Augustus in fifteen BC.
Key Facts
| Place | Plaça Sant Jaume: The Epicenter of Catalan Governance |
|---|---|
| Address | Plaça de Sant Jaume, 08002 Barcelona |
| Geo Coordinates | 41.38280, 2.17700 |
| Part of Walk | Barcelona Gothic & Seaside: Roman Walls, Picasso's Youth, and the Old Port |
| Generated | Generated |
Stand in the middle of Plaça Sant Jaume and look across the open cobblestones: you are standing at the exact intersection of the cardo and decumanus maximus of the Roman colony founded by Augustus in fifteen BC. Today, this square is the political arena of Catalonia, where power has resided for over two millennia.
On the north side stands the Palau de la Generalitat, seat of the Catalan regional presidency, with its elegant Renaissance facade sculpted with Saint George and the dragon. Directly facing it on the south side is the Casa de la Ciutat, Barcelona's historic City Hall, with its neoclassical front masking the fourteenth-century Gothic Saló de Cent banqueting council.
This square has echoed with the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in nineteen thirty-one, the return of exiled President Josep Tarradellas in nineteen seventy-seven with his iconic cry Ciutadans de Catalunya, ja sóc aquí, and the breathtaking human towers of the castellers soaring eight stories high on festival days.
Head east down Carrer de Jaume I and enter the bohemian streets of El Born.