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Placa del Rei Review

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Plaça del Rei

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Category: Squares
Location: Ciutat Vella (Old City)

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Fodor's Review:

As chronicled in legend, song, and painting, this austere medieval square has long been believed to be the scene of Columbus's triumphal return from his first voyage to the New World, with Ferdinand and Isabella receiving "the discoverer" on the stairs. (It turns out, the king and queen were actually at a summer palace outside of town.) The Palau Reial Major was the Catholic Monarchs' official residence in Barcelona. Its main room is the Saló del Tinell, a banquet hall built in 1362. Also around the square, as you face the stairway, are: the dark 15th-century Torre Mirador del Rei Martí (King Martin's Watchtower) above the Saló del Tinell; to the left, the 16th-century Palau del Lloctinent (Lieutenant's Palace) and archive of the Corona d'Aragó with its gorgeous patio, a coffered ceiling in the shape of an inverted boat over the stairway, a Josep Maria Subirachs sculpted bronze door, and a display on the life of Jaume I, founder of the Catalan nation. The 14th-century Capilla Reial de Santa Àgueda (Royal Chapel of Saint Agatha) is to the right of the stairway; and, moving back out Carrer Veguer, the Palau Clariana-Padellàs (Clariana-Padellàs Palace), moved here stone by stone from Carrer Mercaders in the early 20th century is the entrance to the Museu d'Història de la Ciutat. The hulking bronze sculpture, Topos (Greek for "Place") by Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida (1924-2002) is a nod to modernity, blending gracefully with the historic setting and the resonating notes from the classical guitarist usually performing in the square.