Rambla dels Caputxins

The Rambla dels Caputxins, also known as Rambla del Centre, stretches from the area called Pla de la Boqueria - between Carrer de l'Hospital, the Liceu opera house and Carrer de la Boqueria - to Plaça del Teatre. This section of the Rambla was the first to be converted into a promenade where the well-off used to meet for a chat and a stroll. For this reason, and because the ground here is higher, people started to call it the “Terrat”, or terrace, and the name stuck. A popular song of the time talks of a giant dancing there:
"El gegant del Pi ara balla, ara balla
el gegant del Pi ara balla pel Terrat."

(The giant of Pi is dancing, dancing / the giant of Pi is dancing on the terrace). On opera nights the street would be transformed by elegant middle-class Catalans coming out of the Liceu.

Starting from the Pla de la Boqueria, you will see the paving decorated by the artist Joan Miró. On the right is the new Teatre del Liceu, opera house, rebuilt faithfully on the model of the old theatre burnt down on 31 January, 1994, and, on the other side of Carrer Unió, is the Oriente Hotel. Dating from 1882, its architects, Eduard Fontseré‚ and Juli Mariscal, made use of the old Saint Bonaventura School, built by Pere Serra in the 17th century. A few yards down Carrer Nou de la Rambla you will find Palau Güell, designed by Antoni Gaudí and built between 1885 and 1889. The façade is made from white stone with Modernista features, while the interior is worthy of a special mention for the massive marble staircase which takes you to the upper hall. The stairwell cuts right through the building, making a kind of covered courtyard lit by the natural light coming through the high dome and across from the windows through a screen of columns. The palace has been declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO.

A bit further up, on the other side of the Rambla, is the Café de l'Òpera, which still retains its Noucentista decor with its old mirrors and wrought iron columns. Nearby is Carrer de la Boqueria, well-known for its old shops specialising in traditional goods. The next street down is Carrer Ferran, the most aristocratic in the nineteenth century, which leads to Plaça Sant Jaume. On the corner of the Rambla and Carrer de Ferran there is a building with a very elegantly structured façade.

Next you will come to the entrance to Plaça Reial, which like most public areas here, such as the squares and markets, was previously the site of a religious institution. This square, on the site of an old Franciscan Capuchin convent, was built in 1848 by the architect and town planner Francesc Daniel Molina. At the end of the 19th century the Three Graces iron fountain was added and in the centre there are two lampposts designed by the young Gaudí. Some palm trees also contribute to the special atmosphere of the square, which has undergone a number of changes, the last in 1983.

It still has some of its original 19th-century establishments and, on the corner of Carrer del Vidre and Carrer de les Heures, you will find a really old herbalist's, the Herboristeria del Rei. Leading out from the southern corner of the square back to the Rambla is the romantic Passatge Bacardí, dating from 1856, spanned by an iron bridge that originally had its windows painted with tropical landscapes. Under the porticos of the northern side is popular for having a drink outside.

Going back to the Rambla and continuing a little further down, you will come to the Plaça del Teatre. Here begins the last section of the Rambla, the Rambla de Santa Mònica.