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The Gothic Quarter, situated in the
Ciutat Vella district, is the oldest part of the city and, for this reason, it holds the most significant buildings in history of Barcelona, even Catalonia: el
Palau de la Generalitat (Parliament Palace), the headquarters of Ayuntamiento (City Council), The Cathedral of Barcelona, la
Iglesia del Pino (Pine Church), el
Palau Reial Major (Major Royal Palace).
The Gothic It probably occupies the most centric part of the city, between
Las Ramblas, Via Layetana,
Plaça Catalunya and the
Paseo Colón. Apart from the aforementioned previously, some of the places of interest in the Gothic are, the
Sant Felip Neri square, la
muralla romana (the Roman mural), the
Plaça del Rei, the
Casa dels Canonges and the
Casa Ardiaca,
Els Quatre Gats or the
Palau de Requessens.
The Roman origin of the city is still conserved in this district still has some its footprints. The old
cardo y
decumanus, that came out of Mont Tàber, correspond today with the current layout of the Bishop (Carrer del Bisbe) and Call street, that come out from
Plaza de Sant Jaume. One can also appreciate the columns of
Templo de Augusto, in Paraíso street.
Even though, during the XVIII Century, the high demographic density obliged to subdivide the big buildings in small apartments and abolish the markets, the original structure of the Gothic maintained in tact until the XIX Century. From 1800, however, the cemeteries transformed in to squares, some of the buildings were demolished and others were modified and occupied by the public institutions. The demolition of the murals of the city also presumed an important change in the structure of the neighbourhood.
With the construction of Eixample in the beginning of XX Century, the wealthy families till that moment, lived in the Gothic and then moved to the new suburb of the city and in 1929, was the commencement of a remodeling project. The perspective had changed; now the most important thing was the profitability of the owners taking their properties and start to form the idea of the historic importance of the Gothic. Between the improvements carried out emphasising the opening of the avenue of the Cathedral, which took the discovery of part of the
muralla romana (Roman mural).
During the ´50´s, its proximity to the port made it favourable to construct in this area for logistic buildings and shipping companies, and also the appearance of numerous venues of fun and prostitution frequented by the sailors around
calle Escudellers. As well , the district was also converted in to a place of reception for the migrants that arrived alone, which quickly spread the opening of small hostels.
Coinciding with the return of the democracy, the Gothic took a new course based on rehabilitation and conservation. Presently it is one of the most busiest and tourist areas of the city, at the same time, concentrates a great part of the political and institutional activity of Barcelona.