Unique Places in Barcelona

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The remains of the convent is to be found under the Santa Caterina Market. When the excavations carried out beneath the Market it revealed the archaeological remains of the former Convent dels Predicadors (Convent of the Preachers), which was later renamed the Convent de Santa Caterina.

Other religious buildings and a late-Roman necropolis were also unearthed, the latter containing amphora, tegulae and formae tombs (made with building materials). Part of the site has been preserved and is open to visitors. Plans are underway to create a visitor centre to provide key information about the site and its evolution from prehistoric times until it became a market.

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After seeing so many modernism buildings I didn’t expect to be surprised with another Gaudi’s work, but I did! This church crypt was build by Gaudi in 1914 (begun in 1899) in basaltic stone bricks while some mosaics give an “archaic” touch! Gaudi tried here several styles (and that is the amazing thing about) so to get ready for the construction of Sagrada Familia. I was walking for minutes between the five aisles, checking the columns, the porch (columns made of terracotta bricks) the roof etc

E.Guell, a rich man of his era wanted to create a new factory area at this grounds (that era away from Barcelona) that would provide a nice, healthy and family friendly environment for the workers of the textile factory. Have in mind that the famous Guell Park (the most of the tourists visit anyway) hadn’t been created yet. So, he asked Gaudi to design the area for the community. Gaudi build the church while other architects created buildings for other cultural activities etc

Actually Gaudi didn’t manage to complete the whole church (that was supposed to be over the crypt) and that’s why we see only the crypt now.

We took several photos of the exterior too and then we walked on the roof of it.

The crypt is open daily 10.00-19.00(weekends till 15.00). From November to April 10.00-15.00. The entrance fee is 4 euro but for some strange reason you cant find tickets near the Crypt but you have to walk down the road at another building!

The crypt is located at Colonia Guell, at Santa Coloma.
You can take the train(S4, S7, S8) from Plaza Espanya to Colonia Guell. There is a train every 15’ and the ride will take about 25’.

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The Torre Agbar is a unique skyscraper situated at Plaça de les Glòries at Barcelona. It was designed by French architect Jean Nouvel and built by Dragados and opened to public in September 2005. It is named after its owners, the Agbar Group

While walking down the streets I came across this beautiful house which is not a Gaudi creation. Well as I already said, i have no idea about architecture whatsoever, but this house looked very appealing to my eyes. It was built in 1906 by architect Lluis Domenechi Montaner, a contemporary of Gaudi and stand one house next to Casa Batllo.

On the 9th floor of the big shopping centre at Catalunya, there is a restaurant, a cafe and a self service canteen. From there you can have an amazing bird eye's view of the city, take in many beautiful architectures.

I had a choc cream cake - it was too sweet for me though...

very popular with locals at lunch time, and the window seats are taken most of the time. Avoid weekend.

I know this tip will be not everyone's taste... but for the ones who think of death as part of the life, and how to cope with death as part of every human culture, a visit to a local cemetery may be a very interesting experience. Not to say if the cemetery is loaded with artworks!

Barcelona has a few cemeteries, but the most interesting are Cementiri de Montjuic (the best known, and the one you may have seen in many films) and the smaller, but very interesting, and even more "Gothic", Cementiri de Poble Nou

Both are open to the public daily from 8:00 to 18:00.
Some tombs are great artworks and there are even guided tours sometimes (you may ask at the tourist offices for schedule if interested)

We got the Barcelona card which cost us 34 EUR for 4 days and including all metro and bus rides for the duration of our trip as well as free entry into quite a few museums and also a boat ride from the port. The Barcelona card also gave discounts from other tourist attractions and restaurants as well as a 10% discount on the Aerobus that takes you on the 30min ride into the city centre (placa de Catalunya), so we paid 3,20EUR, not bad!

If you can try seeking out this card online , you need to book it a minimum of 24 hrs before you are due to arrive in Barcelona and it can be retrieved from the Tourist Office in terminal B of EL PRAT airport as well as in the town centre.

Situated in the Ciutad Vella areas, this marked have been renewed by architects Muralles e Tagliabue in the past few years.
The 5,500 square metre roof is builded by 200.000 small ceramic parts in 67 different colors.