Behind Locked Gates: Courtyards of the Gothic Quarter

Push open the doors — Barcelona's oldest secrets hide inside

Barcelona · 13 stops · 1.7 km · ~0.9 h · Generated

  1. 1. Plaça Reial — Palms, Parrots & a Young Gaudí

    Plaça Reial, Barcelona

    Plaça Reial — Palms, Parrots & a Young Gaudí

    Take a look around you. Tall palm trees, elegant arcades, a gentle fountain at the center... This is Pla-sa ray-AL, one of Barcelona's most enchanting hidden courtyards. But the ground you're standing on has led a remarkable double life.

    In the Middle Ages, this exact spot housed the Viladàlls brothel... the Only one that could legally operate in the city. From a brothel to a place of prayer. After the brothel and the glass foundry that replaced it were gone, Caputchin monks were offered the land, having lost their home in the Spanish War of Succession. They built a convent here that stood for over a century.

    Then came the upheavals of eighteen thirty-five. Many of Barcelona's religious buildings disappeared as a result of the confiscation of Church properties, and the former Caputchin convent was demolished, leaving a huge vacant plot behind. The city had grand plans. Architect Fransesc Molina designed a luxurious square with the aim of extolling the monarchy, and King Ferdinand the Seventh was to be immortalized as a statue on horseback right in the center. But that statue... never happened. In its place stands the fountain of the Three Graces, cast in Paris by the house of Durenne.

    Now, look carefully at the two ornate lampposts flanking that fountain. Those are the work of a twenty-six-year-old Antoni Gaudí! They were his First commission for the city of Barcelona. The City Council commissioned Gaudí in eighteen seventy-eight, he presented his plans in January of eighteen seventy-nine, and the lampposts were installed by September of that year. Look at the top of each post. The most original element is a Caduceus with two snakes and a winged helmet, symbols of Mercury, the Roman god of commerce... an activity with which Barcelona identified, thanks to its busy port nearby. Even as a young architect, Gaudí was already bold. He didn't propose a fixed payment for the project, as was common at the time, but rather the total price After installing the lampposts... clearly convinced he would spend less than the proposed quote of three thousand six hundred and five pesetas.

    And those palm trees swaying above you? They were planted in eighteen eighty-three to fulfill the ideals of the local bourgeoisie, who wanted an exotic, distinguished atmosphere. Today, they serve another purpose entirely. Listen... can you hear that chattering? Those bright green birds are monk parakeets. They originated from South America and were brought to Europe as pets. The first of these parakeets found living wild in Barcelona was recorded in nineteen seventy-five. Escaped pets that built an empire! In the wild, their colonies can become quite large, with pairs occupying separate apartments in composite nests that can reach the size of a small automobile.

    So here you are... in a courtyard that was once a brothel, then a convent, then almost a theater, and finally a royal square... with Gaudí's very first city masterwork glowing beside you, and South American parakeets screaming overhead. Only in Barcelona.

  2. 2. Carrer de Marlet — The Oldest Alley & Hebrew Inscription

    Carrer de Marlet, Barcelona

  3. 3. Sinagoga Major — One of Europe's Oldest Synagogues

    Carrer de Marlet 5, Barcelona

  4. 4. Plaça de Sant Jaume — Political Heart of Catalonia

    Plaça de Sant Jaume 1, Barcelona

  5. 5. Pont del Bisbe — The Bridge with a Hidden Skull

    Carrer del Bisbe, Barcelona

  6. 6. Palau de la Generalitat — Orange Trees Courtyard

    Plaça de Sant Jaume 4, Barcelona

  7. 7. Roman Aqueduct Fragment on Carrer del Bisbe

    Carrer de la Pietat 2, Barcelona

  8. 8. Temple d'August — Roman Columns in a Medieval Courtyard

    Carrer del Paradís 10, Barcelona

  9. 9. Plaça del Rei — The Royal Courtyard

    Plaça del Rei, Barcelona

  10. 10. Palau del Lloctinent — Lieutenant's Palace Courtyard

    Carrer dels Comtes 2, Barcelona

  11. 11. Casa de l'Ardiaca — The Courtyard with Barcelona's Oldest Palm

    Carrer de Santa Llúcia 1, Barcelona

  12. 12. Barcelona Cathedral Cloister — The 13 Geese

    Pla de la Seu, Barcelona

  13. 13. Plaça de Sant Felip Neri — Civil War Bomb Scars

    Plaça de Sant Felip Neri, Barcelona