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Photo: Manel Zaera, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
One of the most romantic squares in Barcelona, it hides a dark history in that it was built over the city's old cemetery. Barcelona's most famous architect, Antonio Gaudi, was on his way to visit the church there when he was run over and killed in 1928. There is a baroque church (Sant Felip Neri), a 14th-century palace and a fountain in the middle. To arrive, take the narrow street next to the cathedral cloister. The palace was moved from its original location in the street Via Laietana during the 1920s. If you look the front of the church, you can see some holes made by a civil war bomb. If you go out the square through the other street, you'll arrive to the street Baixada de Santa Eulàlia, where is said that the Barcelona's protector was tormented.
Plaça de Sant Felip Neri is a small square in the Gothic Quarter in the district of Ciutat Vella in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The square takes its name from the Church of Saint Philip Neri, which presides over the square. To the right of the church is the School of Saint Felip Neri which uses the square as a playground. To the left of the church is a house used by the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri. In the centre of the square is an octagonal fountain, dedicated as a symbol of life. The architecture surrounding the square includes buildings of Renaissance and Baroque style.
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Sinagoga Major
They open during the morning. It is the re-discovered synagogue from the Jewish quarter, called call. This building, not very spectacular, is important since it has been here since the Roman era, and stayed as a synagogue until the Jewish exodus in the 15th century. The guide explains all the facts from the place in several languages.
Barcelona Cathedral
The main Gothic church in Barcelona. The cloister is maybe the most interesting part.
This square next to La Rambla is one of the prettiest parts of the quarter. It has a pine tree in the middle (Pi mines pine tree), the church of Santa Maria del Pi, which is a very pretty Gothic church with a huge rose window. Many concerts are held here. The Pi square and its twin square, called Sant Josep Oriol, have several bars and artisans, painters, musicians, who are there to sell their products. Entrance into the church costs €6.50/person, or €8/person if you want a tour to the top of the church with plenty of uninterrupted views across Barcelona.
This narrow street, that starts in the Plaça del Pi has a very special atmosphere. It is famous because of its chocolate shops, where you can drink a hot chocolate since the 18th century. It has also very important art galleries (Sala Parés, the place where Picasso made a dedicated exposition for the first time). You can enter for free and see, if you are lucky, nice expositions. The street is decorated with flagstones that represent scenes of a modernist book called L'auca del senyor Esteve, by Santiago Rusiñol, which is a critic to the bourgeois society of that time and that he had to live.
2,000 years of history that remounts to the days when Barcelona was a Roman enclave, uncover charming squares and hidden gems where the locals hang out these days.
This square has been the political hub since the Roman era. It has been witness to some of the most important events in modern Catalan history, such as the proclamation of the Catalan State in 1931. At one end, there is the Palace of the Generalitat (the one with two flags on the top, the government of the Autonomous Community of Catalunya) and on the other stands the City Hall (three flags). Both are Gothic buildings, although their fronts are newer (the Generalitat's is the best example of Barcelona's Renaissance art). But if you can go inside, both are very important civil Gothic buildings. The two buildings have guides.