Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
views of the cathedral towers and surrounding Gothic buildings and spires. It's by no means
the highest view in town, but nowhere else do you feel so at the heart of medieval Barcelona.
A WALK AROUND THE ROMAN WALLS
The Barri Gòtic was once entirely enclosed by
Roman walls and towers
, dating from the
fourth century AD, though they were largely pulled down in the nineteenth century to cre-
atemorespacefortheexpandingcity.PartsofRomanBarcelonastillexist,however,easily
seenonanhour-longstroll-thecitycouncilhaspostedbrowninformationboardsshowing
the route at various points.
Outside the cathedral, in Plaça Nova, block metal letters a metre high spell out the word
“Barcino” (the name of the Roman city), underneath a restored tower and a reconstructed
partoftheRoman
aqueduct
.There'smoreoftheaqueductondisplaynorthofhereonc/de
Duran i Bas (set into the facade of a building), while over on
Plaça de la Vila de Madrid
is a line of sunken Roman tombs. The line of the wall itself runs past the cathedral and the
Museu Diocesà, with the next surviving section visible at
Plaça de Ramon Berenguer El
Gran
(at Via Laietana). Some of the walls and towers here are over 13m high, and back
onto the Capella de Santa Agata on Plaça del Rei. There's more wall to see down
c/del
Sots-TinentNavarro
,whilethemostromanticsectionisthetruncatedRomantowerinthe
sunken
Plaça dels Traginers
, planted with a solitary olive tree. Along nearby
c/del Cor-
reu Vell
part of the wall and defence towers were incorporated into a medieval palace -
you can see this section in the courtyard of a civic centre (through a gate, opposite c/d'en
Groc).
Arightturnafterhere,upc/delRegomir,leadstothe
CentreCivicPatiLlimona
(usually
Mon-Fri 9am-1pm, Tues & Thurs 4-6pm; free), where lie the remains of one of the ori-
ginal gates through the Roman wall into inner Barcino. This and other remains are visible
through a glass window from c/del Regomir, and if the centre is open you'll be able to
go inside for a closer look. Then head up c/de Ciutat and cross Plaça de Sant Jaume for
the
Temple d'August
on c/Paradis, where four impressive
Roman columns
and the ar-
chitraveofatemplearepreservedintheinteriorcourtyardofthe
CentreExcursionistade
Catalunya
(c/Paradís 10; Sun & Mon 10am-2pm, Tues-Sat 10am-7pm, hols 10am-3pm;
free). From here you're just a short walk from the cathedral again, though no Roman en-
thusiast should miss the nearby
Museu d'Història de Barcelona
, which features the un-
derground excavations of Barcino itself.
The interior
Inside the church, all eyes lead to the raised altar, beneath which steps descend to the gated
crypt
containing the venerated
tombofSantaEulàlia
- each year on her saint's day, Febru-
ary 12, the crypt is open for visits and a choir sings in her honour. La Seu is also known for
