39 places in Barcelona you walk past without knowing the story

This map holds every place in Barcelona we have told a story about: 39 of them, from 4 walks, about 2 hours of listening in all. Most are not the ones on the postcards — a doorway, an alley, a pub, the site of something that is no longer there. The list grows by itself: a place appears here once its story is written, voiced and checked against the map. Last added 11 March 2026.

The 39 newest

• Plaça de la Mercè — Barcelona's Hidden Patron Saint

  Plaça de la Mercè, Barcelona

  The Basilica of La Mercè in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter houses the image of the city's official patron saint, chosen following a 1687 locust plague.

• Bar La Plata — The Last Honest Bar

  Carrer de la Mercè 28, Barcelona

  Bar La Plata is a tiny tapas bar at 28 Carrer de la Mercè in Barcelona that has served the exact same four-dish menu since opening in 1945.

• Carrer d'Avinyó — Picasso's Dangerous Street

  Carrer d'Avinyó, Barcelona

  Carrer d'Avinyó in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter inspired Pablo Picasso's revolutionary masterpiece Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, which launched Cubism.

• La Manual Alpargatera — Handmade Espadrilles Since 1941

  Carrer d'Avinyó 7, Barcelona

  La Manual Alpargatera on Carrer d'Avinyó is the last traditional espadrille workshop in Barcelona, famous for creating the world's first fashion espadrilles in…

• Carrer de l'Arc de Sant Ramon del Call — Street Art in the Medieval City

  Carrer de l'Arc de Sant Ramon del Call, Barcelona

  Carrer de l'Arc de Sant Ramon del Call in Barcelona is an ancient alley along the Roman wall, famous for its carved doorframe traces where Jewish families…

• Baixada de Santa Eulàlia — Street of the Martyr's Descent

  Baixada de Santa Eulàlia, Barcelona

  Baixada de Santa Eulàlia is a narrow, sloping street in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter where legend says a thirteen-year-old Christian martyr was rolled down…

• Plaça de Sant Josep Oriol — Painters' Square

  Plaça de Sant Josep Oriol, Barcelona

  Plaça de Sant Josep Oriol, also known as Painters' Square, is a historic plaza in Barcelona paved over the former main cemetery of the Basílica de Santa María…

• Passatge del Crèdit — Miró's Birthplace Alley

  Passatge del Crèdit 4, Barcelona

  Passatge del Crèdit is a narrow 19th-century passageway off Carrer Ferran in Barcelona, famous as the birthplace and residence of surrealist artist Joan Miró…

• Carrer de Marlet — Oldest Alley Inscription

  Carrer de Marlet, Barcelona

  At number one Carrer de Marlet in Barcelona, a medieval Hebrew inscription replica honors Rabbi Shmuel ha-Sardi, who founded a 13th-century charitable hospital…

• El Call — The Ghost of the Jewish Quarter

  Carrer de Sant Domènec del Call, Barcelona

  El Call is Barcelona's medieval Jewish quarter, where up to 4,000 residents lived before a 1391 massacre, leaving Hebrew gravestone inscriptions still visible…

• Sinagoga Major de Barcelona

  Carrer de Marlet 5, Barcelona

  The Sinagoga Major on Carrer de Marlet in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter is one of Europe's oldest synagogues, dating back to a Roman structure built in the third…

• Plaça de Sant Felip Neri — Scars of the Civil War

  Plaça de Sant Felip Neri, Barcelona

  The Church of Sant Felip Neri in Barcelona's Plaça de Sant Felip Neri bears stone scars from a January 30, 1938 Spanish Civil War bombing that killed 42…

• Pont del Bisbe — The Bridge with a Skull

  Carrer del Bisbe, Barcelona

  The Pont del Bisbe is a neo-Gothic footbridge in Barcelona built in 1928 that conceals a carved human skull pierced by a dagger on its underside.

• Plaça de Sant Jaume — The Ancient Forum

  Plaça de Sant Jaume, Barcelona

  Plaça de Sant Jaume in Barcelona is the city's ancient political center, built atop the Roman forum of Barcino founded between 15 and 13 B.C. on Mont Tàber.

• Plaça de Sant Just — Oldest Fountain in Barcelona

  Plaça de Sant Just, Barcelona

  The Plaça de Sant Just in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter houses the 1367 Font de Sant Just, one of the city's oldest fountains, built near a church with a…

• Plaça dels Traginers — Roman Tower Square

  Plaça dels Traginers, Barcelona

  Plaça dels Traginers in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter features the only surviving circular watchtower from the fourth-century Roman wall of ancient Barcino.

• Baixada de Viladecols — Roman Wall Ramp

  Baixada de Viladecols, Barcelona

  Baixada de Viladecols in Barcelona is a sloping lane that runs alongside a fourth-century Roman defensive wall built to protect the ancient colony of Barcino.

• El Paraigua — The Umbrella Bar

  Carrer del Pas de l'Ensenyança 2, Barcelona

  El Paraigua is a bar in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter constructed from the dismantled 1902 interior of a demolished umbrella shop.

• Carrer dels Comtes — Street of Counts

  Carrer dels Comtes, Barcelona

  Carrer dels Comtes is a medieval lane running along the Barcelona Cathedral's eastern wall, famous for its 600-year-old gargoyles and underlying fourth-century…

• Plaça de Ramon Berenguer el Gran — Roman Wall Walk

  Plaça de Ramon Berenguer el Gran, Barcelona

  The Plaça de Ramon Berenguer el Gran in Barcelona features a remarkably preserved section of late third-century Roman city walls constructed partly from looted…

• Plaça del Rei — Where Columbus Met the Crown

  Plaça del Rei, Barcelona

  Plaça del Rei in Barcelona is a medieval Gothic square where King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella reportedly received Christopher Columbus in 1493 following…

• Palau del Lloctinent — Lieutenant's Courtyard

  Carrer dels Comtes 2, Barcelona

  The Palau del Lloctinent in Barcelona is a 16th-century viceroy palace featuring a unique pine ceiling carved like an overturned ship hull.

• Museu Frederic Marès — The Collector's Courtyard

  Plaça de Sant Iu 5, Barcelona

  The Museu Frederic Marès in Barcelona is a museum housed in an eleventh-century royal palace that displays over 50,000 objects collected by sculptor Frederic…

• "El Món Neix en Cada Besada" Mural

  Carrer dels Comtes 10, Barcelona

  The "El Món Neix en Cada Besada" mural in Barcelona is a giant photomosaic of two people kissing, created in 2014 from over 4,000 photographs of freedom…

• Temple d'August — Four Columns in a Courtyard

  Carrer del Paradís 10, Barcelona

  The Temple d'August in Barcelona features four nine-meter-tall Roman sandstone columns preserved inside a fifteenth-century medieval courtyard atop Mont Taber.

• Cathedral of Santa Eulàlia — Cloister of the 13 Geese

  Pla de la Seu, Barcelona

  The Barcelona Cathedral Cloister in Barcelona permanently houses thirteen white geese to honor Saint Eulalia, a thirteen-year-old martyr who endured thirteen…

• Casa de l'Ardiaca — Courtyard with a Secret Mailbox

  Carrer de Santa Llúcia 1, Barcelona

  Casa de l'Ardiaca in Barcelona is a twelfth-century archdeacon's residence built against a two-thousand-year-old Roman wall, famous for its satirical 1895…

• Plaça Nova — Twin Roman Towers

  Plaça Nova, Barcelona

  The Twin Roman Towers at Plaça Nova form Barcelona's oldest gateway, constructed when Emperor Augustus founded the Roman colony of Barcino between 15 and 13 BC.

• Col·legi d'Arquitectes Mural — Picasso's Forgotten Frieze

  Plaça Nova 5, Barcelona

  The Col·legi d'Arquitectes de Catalunya in Barcelona features a 57-meter-long concrete mural designed by Pablo Picasso in 1960 while he was living in exile in…

• Granja La Pallaresa — 1947 Hot Chocolate Ritual

  Carrer de Petritxol 11, Barcelona

  Granja La Pallaresa is a historic family-run café on Carrer de Petritxol in Barcelona, famous for serving traditional thick hot chocolate called suís since…

• Carrer de Petritxol — The Chocolate Street

  Carrer de Petritxol, Barcelona

  Carrer de Petritxol is a historic 129-meter-long lane in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter renowned for its traditional chocolate cafés that date back to the…

• La Sala Parés — Oldest Art Gallery in Barcelona

  Carrer de Petritxol 5, Barcelona

  Sala Parés, located on Carrer de Petritxol in Barcelona, is Spain's oldest art gallery and hosted Pablo Picasso's first commercial exhibition in 1901.

• Plaça del Pi — The Pine Tree Square

  Plaça del Pi, Barcelona

  Plaça del Pi in Barcelona is a historic square dominated by a Gothic basilica featuring a ten-meter rose window, the largest in Catalunya.

• Basílica de Santa Maria del Pi

  Plaça del Pi 7, Barcelona

  The Basílica de Santa Maria del Pi in Barcelona is a 14th-century Catalan Gothic church featuring Catalunya's largest rose window, measuring ten meters across.

• Portal de l'Àngel — The Vanished City Gate

  Avinguda del Portal de l'Àngel, Barcelona

  Portal de l'Àngel in Barcelona is a bustling pedestrian street built over a 13th-century city gate originally named the Gate of the Blind.

• Els Quatre Gats — Picasso's First Stage

  Carrer de Montsió 3, Barcelona

  Els Quatre Gats is a famous Modernista café in Barcelona where a seventeen-year-old Pablo Picasso held his first art exhibition on February 1, 1900.

• Roman Necropolis at Plaça de la Vila de Madrid

  Plaça de la Vila de Madrid, Barcelona

  The Roman Necropolis at Plaça de la Vila de Madrid in Barcelona is an ancient cemetery featuring eighty-five graves along a five-meter-wide burial road…

• Монумент Колумбу

  Mirador de Colom, Plaça del Portal de la Pau, Barcelona

  60-метровый Монумент Колумбу в Барселоне расположен у подножия улицы Рамбла и известен бронзовой статуей мореплавателя, указывающей в сторону Мальорки, а не…

• Монастырь Санта-Ана

  Carrer de Santa Anna, 29, Barcelona

  Монастырь Санта-Ана в Барселоне — это скрытый монастырский комплекс XII века, где в 1493 году король Фернандо II проводил Кортесы Барселоны.