Day 18_Barcelona_Barri Gotic

Barri Gotic is the Gothic Quarter and contains buildings and walls from the Roman era to mainly 16th Century development.  This is the oldest part of Barcelona and it was appropriate to begin at the Cathedral.  Originally constructed in the 14th Century, its Neo-Gothic style overlay was constructed in the 19th Century, when Barcelona was at a peak in wealth due to industrial endeavors.  Following the ambulatory around the interior edges of the cathedral we stopped at the gilded guild-built chapels from the 1300s - 1800s.  Christopher Columbus brought back Native Americans from his sail to America and they were supposedly baptized here.  The Deacon's House next door is a wonderful example of a Renaissance nobleman's palace with a small open-air  interior courtyard.  Some of his exterior walls are the remains of the original Roman walls--no need to build twice around here.  Spatially on the map, the old portion of the city is easy to see.  The streets which are called "Ronda" this and that follow the original city walls from the Roman era.

We walked along along the road out of the old city called Avignuda Portal de l'Angel to Placa de Cataluyna which is a 19th Century plaza just outside the original city walls.  Spoked off of this huge plaza, we headed back down the road called La Rambla, "stream" in Arabic as this used to be the drainage channel along the outside Medieval wall of Barri Gothic.  Today this wide promenade has tiles which resemble waves and feel like they are actually moving through the funny perspective. 

Tucked inside this road is an interesting anomaly.  While doing some digging in this area, construction workers came across a Roman necropolis or a tomb lined road.  The tombs can be seen from a plaza above.  A contemporary interpretive take in landscape architecture, corten steel gates and walls contrast with the simple beauty of the Roman site.

Starved, as we had been on the road for an hour, we stopped at La Boqueria, a marketplace since the Middle Ages.  This was my personal cultural experience for the day as I gazed in wonder and awe at a butcher's stall of meat that is usually thrown away.  This cornucopia contained cow heart, brains, kidneys, tripe, baby goat's heads with their eyeballs still on the skull, and bull testicles.  Two male students with me thought the vein design on the testicles was pretty and I would have to agree with its 1960s groovy doodles...honestly.  (I didn't take a picture as I didn't want to be rude since I wasn't buying).  You can see how beautiful the stalls are in color and form, from fruit and vegetables to fish and meat, to chocolate and breads, the scene is fabulous.

To end the way, I went to the City History Museum, Museu d'Historia de la Ciutat, and it made the day complete with my theme.  Taking an elevator down 65 feet, you see the real Roman remains of the city under the existing Medieval plaza above by the museum entry.  Homes with their mosaic tile floors; a cold water dipping pool; a laundry which supposedly bought urine to use to whiten clothes (think ammonia); and a wine producing factory were among some of the remnant buildings in the city.  Small re-creations on interpretive signs help visualize this old city from the 4th - 6th Century.  Walking up a flight of stairs, you are at the Medieval part of the city again which was built on top of the Roman part.  The cathedral, with its stained glass and vaulted ceilings, is a strong contrast from the floor below.  Workman from the Medieval days used old Roman blocks to fit into the walls which still have their Roman words on them.  A wooden model at the end of the museum shows the evolution of the city with its original Roman walls, then a succession of additional walls, providing a clear understanding of the way we had walked in the morning and how it looked eons ago.  Unfortunately, no photography was allowed.