Zone: The Old town

A walk through Barcelona's Gothic Quarter is like taking a trip back into the past – from the Ancient Roman settlement of Barcino, through the rule of the barbarian Visigoths, the invasion of the Saracens, the dark period of the Middle Ages, "grey Barcelona" of the Franco era, and finally to our own times. These streets have been paced by dukes and kings... here the Spanish Inquisition held sway and bloodshed reigned... and centuries later Miro and Picasso were drinking the local wine in the tavernas here. Barcelona is the only city in the world to have such a historic centre. It's unique in that the majority of the old town remains unaltered, and has come down to us directly in all its Medieval glory. We can see all this for ourselves, when we take a walk through the historic streets of Barcelona.