Ciutat Vella (Old City)

The Gothic Quarter winds through the church and Plaça of the church of Santa Maria del Pi, the Roman Barcelona around the cathedral, Plaçà del Rei, past the city's administrative centers at Plaça Sant Jaume with the Jewish Quarter tucked in beside it, and through the Sant Just neighborhood northeast of Plaça Sant Jaume. Across Via Laietana is the Barri de la Ribera, or Ribera-Born, once the waterfront district around the basilica of Santa Maria del Mar. Ribera-Born includes the Picasso Museum and Carrer Montcada, Barcelona's most aristocratic street in the 14th and 15th centuries. Much of the Barri de la Ribera was torn down in 1714 by the victorious Spanish and French army of Felipe V to create a glacis, an open no-man's land outside the walls of the occupying stronghold, La Ciutadella fortress.

On the eastern edge of this area, Barcelona's old textile neighborhood, around the church of Sant Pere, includes the flagship of the city's Moderniste architecture: the Palau de la Música Catalana, and the Mercat de Santa Caterina, a produce market with several dining options.