Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
inglypreservedruins,whichfortheirsize,conditionanderaareuniqueinEurope.Permanent
exhibitions provide historical context to the findings. Outside the market, a swath of Car-
rer del Comerç has been turned into a pedestrian zone, creating a channel that - during the
centre'sopeninghours-leadsfromPasseigdelBorn,throughthemarket(anddirectlyabove
the ruins) and toward the Parc de la Ciutadella.
Parc de la Ciutadella
Daily 10am-dusk • Park entrance free • park entrances on Pg. de Picasso ( Barceloneta, or a short walk from
La Ribera) and Pg. de Pujades ( Arc de Triomf); use Ciutadella-Vila Olímpica for direct access to the zoo
While you might escape to Montjuïc or the Collserola hills for the air, there's no beating the
city's green lung,
Parc de la Ciutadella
, for a quick break from the downtown bustle. The
park holds a full set of attractions - Catalunya's legislative assembly, the
Parlament
(not
open to the public), plant houses, natural science buildings and zoo (see
Parc Zoològic
)
-
though on lazy summer days there's little incentive to do much more than stroll the garden
paths and pilot rowboats across the ornamental lake. The name of the park recalls the Bour-
bon citadel that once stood here, erected by Felipe V to quell the local population after Bar-
celona'sspiritedresistance duringtheWaroftheSpanishSuccession.AgreatpartofLaRib-
era neighbourhood was brutally destroyed to make way for the fortress, and this symbol of
authoritysurviveduneasilyuntil1869,whenthemilitarymovedbase(theonlysurvivingpor-
tion of the citadel, the much-altered Arsenal, has since 1980 housed the Catalan parliament
building
)
.Thesurroundingareawassubsequently madeintoapark,whichwaschosenasthe
site of the 1888
Universal Exhibition
- from which period dates a series of eye-catching
buildings and monuments by the city's pioneering
modernista
architects.
