Some of our favorite things

Some of our favorite things in Barcelona are the many Gothic, and older, sites in the old city, but I realize that I haven't included those in any posts. So here is a sampling.

The Placa del Rey, bordered by the palace of the Counts of Barcelona, the chapel of the palace, and the palace of the Viceroy (the king's representative after Ferdinand and Isabella married, combining the crowns of Aragon and Castile and moved the King of Aragon away). And all of this is built against the old Roman wall and on top of (now subterranean) Roman ruins.A portion of the Roman walls against which the chapel and palace were built.
The area in the back and side of the cathedral adjoins palaces of the Counts of Barcelona and the Viceroy, and is more interesting than the front (added in the 19th century, but now covered for renovation). This area offers views of the cathedral's bell tower, the palaces, and other nearby Gothic buildings.
Sculptures on this side portal show Giufre el Pelos (Wilfred the Hairy), the 9th century figure to whom the concept of Catalan independence is traced. He is the figure on the corner fighting a dragon with a club.

This area also offers good views of gargoyles on the cathedral and other buildings, including this one presumably inspired by Hannibal.









And more dragons on the (presumably more modern) lamp fixtures.

Santa Maria del Mar, our favorite church in Barcelona. Worth stopping in whenever we are nearby (and it is open).
During the Spanish Civil War, anarchists stacked wooden pews, confessionals, and sculptures and started a fire that burned for days, destroying the altar and other accumulations of the centuries. What is left, as Hughes says, are the beautiful bones of the church.

The old city also preserves many Gothic mansions built by the wealthy, generally laid out around interior courtyards. Several along the Carrer de Montcada now house museums, including the Picasso Museum. This courtyard is across the street in the building housing the Museu Barbier-Muller of Pre-Columbian art.
Hidden behind its prosaic 19th century facade, and accessible only on Sundays, are the old Gothic sections of the Adjuntament (town hall), including this arcade.
And the 14th century Salo de Cent, where the governing body of Barcelona met.

A similar design of broad, semi-circular arches supporting a flat roof is found in the Salo del Tinell, also built in the 14th century. Hughes says that these are among the widest unreinforced masonry arches ever built in Europe. [This picture focuses on the upper arches, because the room presently is cluttered with a pretty useless modern exhibit.]

This room was built over part of the royal palace of the Counts of Barcelona and forms one end of the Placa del Rey. The legend is that this is where Ferdinand and Isabella received word that Columbus had "discovered" the New World.