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Sagrat Cor

Montjuïc Stairs

University of Barcelona

This photo was taken from Tibidabo, a mountain rising to the north-west of Barcelona. At the top there is an old amusement park, a telecommunications tower called the Torre de Collserola and the Temple de Sagrat Cor church. The attractions can be reached by funicular railway, bus or car.

In Latin the name Tibidabo means ‘I will give you’ and is a reference to the Bible – the phrase said to Jesus by the devil as they looked down from ‘an exceedingly high mountain upon all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them.’

Surfing is a popular activity in Barcelona and goes on even when the weather becomes quite cold. The surfers pictured here are on the beach in Barceloneta.

This white marble sculpture, called La Diosa (the goddess), was made by Josep Clarà i Ayats and is located in Plaça de Catalunya.

This photo is of the passage to the historic Plaça Sant Felip Neri, located in the heart of the Gothic Quarter. The plaça is named after an Italian Jesuit preacher who was made a saint.

The baroque church that forms one side of the plaça was built in 1752, sitting on the grounds of a medieval cemetery called Montjuïc del Bisbe. Antoni Gaudí was on his way to this church on the day he died after being hit by a tram on Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes.

The façade of the church is heavily pockmarked as a result of a bombing raid that took place during the Spanish Civil War on the 30th of January 1938. The bombing killed 42 people, mostly children. It is also said that summary executions took place here after the fall of Barcelona to the Nationalists in 1939, with bullet holes in the wall of the church still visible.

Plaça de la Virreina is one of several beautiful squares in the Vila de Gràcia neighborhood.

The Monastery of Pedralbes is a Gothic monastery founded in 1326, currently serving as a museum housing collections from the City of Barcelona History Museum.

Porxos d’en Xifré is a neoclassical arcaded building dating back to 1835.

Afternoon sun in the Gothic Quarter.

Torre Agbar, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel in the foreground and Antoni Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia in the distance. The picture was taken from the terrace of Hotel Silken Diagonal.

Mediterranean sunlight flooding through an entrance to Plaça-Reial.

Dating back to 1820 Bar Marsella is said to be Barcelona’s first bar and has been frequented by the likes of Picasso and Hemingway. Located in the seedy heart of El Raval the bar is known for its absinthe and tattered antique interior, which appears to not have changed for at least 100 years.

Plaça Reial is a square in the Gothic Quarter, next to La Rambla. The square was designed by Francesc Daniel Molina i Casamajó in the 19th century and its lanterns were designed by Antoni Gaudí.

A quiet winter morning in Barceloneta.

One of a number of Olympic sculptures that were commissioned for the 1992 Games.

El Turó de la Rovira offers some of the best views of Barcelona. In the picture you can see the remains of anti-aircraft gun emplacements that were built to defend the city against Franco’s airforce during the Spanish Civil War.