{"id":24009,"date":"2015-01-09T14:00:41","date_gmt":"2015-01-09T13:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/?p=24009"},"modified":"2020-07-03T00:54:41","modified_gmt":"2020-07-02T22:54:41","slug":"placa-catalunya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/placa-catalunya\/","title":{"rendered":"Pla\u00e7a de Catalunya &#8211; the centre of Barcelona"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A large plaza hugged by huge buildings, <strong>Pla\u00e7a de Catalunya<\/strong> is the largest and busiest <strong>square<\/strong> in the city. It&#8217;s the absolute centre of gravity for <strong>shoppers, transportation<\/strong> and pigeons.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_17 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-grey\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class=\"ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1\"><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/placa-catalunya\/#Where_is_Placa_de_Catalunya\" title=\"Where is Pla\u00e7a de Catalunya?\">Where is Pla\u00e7a de Catalunya?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/placa-catalunya\/#A_little_bit_of_history\" title=\"A little bit of history\">A little bit of history<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_is_Placa_de_Catalunya\"><\/span>Where is Pla\u00e7a de Catalunya?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_83290\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-83290\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-83290\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/279677433_4cc822f9b4_o-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-83290\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo by J.Salmoral via Visual hunt<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Located between the old town and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/dreta-de-leixample\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">middle-classed Eixample district<\/a> it is also the point at which the city\u2019s most <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/barcelona-neighborhoods\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">famous<\/a> streets collide. Las Rambla starts at <strong>Pla\u00e7a de Catalunya<\/strong> and heads towards the port; whilst Passeig de Gr\u00e0cia \u2013 a huge and impressive avenue that contains two of Gaudi\u2019s most beautiful designs, along with a plethora of breathtaking modernist architecture \u2013 joins at <strong>Pla\u00e7a de Catalunya<\/strong> and then heads up towards trendy Gracia.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Related article:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/discover-placa-despanya\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Discover Pla\u00e7a d\u2019Espanya<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_little_bit_of_history\"><\/span>A little bit of history<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Surprisingly, up until the middle of the nineteenth century, <strong>Pla\u00e7a de Catalunya<\/strong> was a rural area beyond the city\u2019s walls. After Spain\u2019s central government agreed that the city\u2019s defensive walls could be demolished, in 1858, it then became part of the city and construction outside of the old city began.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Nowadays, the benches in the square are ideal for people watching. The square contains fountains and during the winter, an ice-skating rink. The square also contains a number of interesting sculptures. The most prominent of these is the Monument a Francesc Maci\u00e0, which was built to honor the former president of the Catalan government. Commissioned in 1991, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/a-nice-bit-of-sculpture-art-in-barcelona\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sculptor<\/a> involved in its creation was Josep Subirachs, a local man\u00a0who has also worked on the Passion Facade of the\u00a0<span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/www.aviewoncities.com\/barcelona\/sagradafamilia.htm\">Sagrada Fam\u00edlia<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Elsewhere in the square you will find the sculpture of a female figure, which was created by Josep Clara. This statue is set within a pool and is called La Deessa o l&#8217;Enigma (which translates to The Goddess or the Enigma).<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/placa-catalunya.jpeg\"><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Related article:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/small-plazas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Small plazas to grab a beer and snack<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_83289\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-83289\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-83289\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/5764478901_2e4c390320_b-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-83289\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Photo by Fotomovimiento via Visual hunt<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">These days <strong>Pla\u00e7a de Catalunya<\/strong> functions mainly as the industrious <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/dhub-the-barcelona-design-museum\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">hub<\/a> for the city&#8217;s public transportation system. Hidden below the square is a metro station with links all over the city; a train station with links to various destinations beyond the city itself; and above ground there are many bus stops\u00a0and a\u00a0taxi\u00a0rank.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">To the east of <strong>Pla\u00e7a de Catalunya<\/strong> you will see a large and imposing white building \u2013 the\u00a0El Corte Ingles. \u00a0The massive department <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/mar-de-cava-barcelona-a-store-like-no-other\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">store<\/a>\u00a0is part of a chain\u00a0that has branches all over the country. To see amazing views of the city, take the elevator to the cafeteria on the top floor. It\u2019s a great place to have a pit stop and enjoy the\u00a0enchanting view.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Looking for a flat to rent during your stay in Barcelona?\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?hl=en&amp;q=https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1484057742029000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGel0R_bR20K8VBr0GA3tO9Wl1Pgg\">ShBarcelona<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is the answer.<\/em><\/p>\n<div style=\"display: none;\"\n    class=\"kk-star-ratings kksr-valign-bottom kksr-align-left \"\n    data-id=\"24009\"\n    data-slug=\"\">\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars\">\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars-inactive\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"1\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"2\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"3\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"4\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"5\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars-active\" style=\"width: 150px;\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n    <div class=\"kksr-legend\">\n            <strong class=\"kksr-score\">5<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">\/<\/span>\n        <strong>5<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">(<\/span>\n        <strong class=\"kksr-count\">1<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">\n            vote        <\/span>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A large plaza hugged by huge buildings, Pla\u00e7a de Catalunya is the largest and busiest square in the city. It&#8217;s the absolute centre of gravity for shoppers, transportation and pigeons. Table of Contents Where is Pla\u00e7a de Catalunya?A little bit of history Where is Pla\u00e7a de Catalunya? Located between the old town and the middle-classed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":101488,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4346],"tags":[176,1622,94,1623,1626,114,1624,1625,1620,1649,1621,661,1650],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24009"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24009"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103118,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24009\/revisions\/103118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}