Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
best places in the city to shop for food, and its market restaurant and bar are definitely worth
a visit in any case. During the renovation work, the foundations of a medieval convent were
discovered here - the excavations are visible at the rear of the market.
Plaça de Sant Agusti Vell and around
Jaume I
The pretty, tree-shaded
Plaça de Sant Agusti Vell
sits at the centre of Sant Pere's most
ambitious regeneration project, which has transformed previously crowded alleys into land-
scaped boulevards. To the north locals tend organic allotments in the middle of the
Pou de
la Figuera
rambla
, while south down
Carrer de l'Allada Vermell
are overarching trees, a
children'splaygroundandaseriesofoutdoorcafésandbars.Meanwhile,runningdownfrom
PlaçadeSantAgustiVell,
CarrerdelsCarders
-once“ropemakers'street”-isnowafunky
retail quarter mixing grocery stores and cafés with shops selling streetwear, African and Asi-
an arts and crafts and contemporary jewellery. The little Romanesque chapel at the end of
the street is the
Capella d'en Marcus
(usually locked), dating back to the twelfth century,
though otherwise stripped of interest during the Civil War.
Centre Cívic Convent de Sant Agustí
C/delComerç36,entranceonc/d'enTantarantana•Mon-Fri9am-10pm,Sat10am-2pm&4-9pm•Admission
charges vary, some events free • 932 565 000,
bcn.cat/centrecivicsantagusti
• Jaume I/Arc de Triomf
Driving many of the neighbourhood improvements in Sant Pere is the community centre
installed inside the revamped
Convent de Sant Agustí
, whose thirteenth-century cloister
provides a unique performance space. There's a full cultural programme here, from work-
shops to concerts, with a particular emphasis on electronic and experimental music and art,
and don't miss the excellent convent café, with seats in the cloister, which is a good lunch
destination if you're touring the neighbourhood (see
Bar del Convent
)
.
Museu de la Xocolata
C/del Comerç 36 • Mon-Sat 10am-7pm (mid-June-mid-Sept till 8pm), Sun 10am-3pm • €5, under-7s free •
932 687 878,
museuxocolata.cat
• Jaume I/Arc de Triomf
Another part of the Convent de Sant Agustí houses the city's
Museu de la Xocolata
, which
presents a rather uninspiring plod through the history of chocolate all the way back to its
origins as a sacred and medicinal product of prehistoric Central America. It's a topic with
some local relevance, in that the Bourbon army, which was once quartered in this building,
demanded the provision of chocolate for its sweet-toothed troops. Whether you go in or not
