II.

Barcelona and Its Surrounding Area

Barcelona is the hub of a large and densely settled metropolitan area. Its downtown is divided into two zones. The center, the Ciutat Vella (Old City), faces the sea. Barcelona’s principal historical buildings are located here. They include the cathedral, known as La Seu, and numerous other churches and monasteries, many in Gothic style. Buildings of medieval origin include the former royal and viceregal palaces; the Capella de Santa Agata (Chapel of Saint Agatha); the Ajuntament (city hall), and the Palau de la Generalitat, the Catalan regional government building located on the Plaça de Sant Jaume (Saint James's Square). The Ramblas, a famous series of boulevards full of pedestrians and vendors, divide the city center in half. The Ramblas extend from the harbor to the Plaça de Catalunya (Plaza of Catalonia), which is considered the city’s focal point.

The Old City is nearly surrounded by the Eixample, a series of neighborhoods created by inland expansion after the old city walls were torn down beginning in 1854. The Eixample was laid out according to the Cerdà Plan, which was named after engineer Ildefons Cerdà, one of the first modern city planners. An elegant and spacious residential area, the Eixample houses most of Barcelona's “modernist,” or art nouveau, architecture. Especially notable are the buildings of Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. Gaudí’s most prominent building is the famous Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Família (Church of the Holy Family), which was begun in 1884 and is still unfinished. Outside the Eixample lies Barcelona's former industrial belt, where old factories and traditionally working-class housing are being converted to residential and other uses.

The city of Barcelona itself is relatively small. It occupies roughly 100 sq km (about 40 sq mi), and the industrial area around the city adds about another 500 sq km (200 sq mi) to the metropolitan area. In the late 20th century, numerous suburbs emerged on the city’s outskirts, spreading up the mountainsides that form Barcelona’s northern and northwestern boundaries. The largest of these are Badalona, Hospitalet, Mataró, Sabadell, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, and Terrasa. Expansion southwest toward the Llobregat River had to bypass Montjuïc, a great hill rising 174 m (571 ft) out of the sea.