Barceloneta / Beaches: an Old Fishermen District

Barceloneta / Beaches
After the Olympic Port I walked along the Passeig Maritim de la Barceloneta watching the beach of Barceloneta but when I passed the park de la Barceloneta I was surprised of this old fishermen district which is full of narrow streets. Since 1753 fishermen and workers were living here. First I started to walk along with no direction getting lost in the small streets having only the aroma of the sea as a guide. The beach was full of people and at Placa de la Barceloneta I saw the church Sant Miquel del Port. If you walk down to Torre Sant Sebastia you can take the teleferic that takes you up to Montjuic park. At Moll d’Espanya is the Aquarium of Barcelona, one of the biggest in the world with more than 11.000 creatures of the sea world. It is open 9.30-21.00 daily.

Then I headed back towards the center so I passed from the museum of history of Catalunya that faces Marina Port Veil. There were a dozen of people outside at the café but the museum was empty. It is opened 10.00-19.00 (closed on Mondays) and you can see the history of the area from the ancient times till the medieval period and then at the third floor the modern era. The entrance fee is 4 euros. By the way Port veil has a walkway that will lead you to the Aquarium or the IMAX cinema.

Finally, I visited the Monument of Columbus(Monument a Colom) at Placa del Portal de la Pau(Gate Of Peace) which is at the end of Las Ramblas. The monument (made by Gaieta Buigas in 1888) goes up to 60meters on an iron column with a stone base and obviously the statue (made by Rafael Arke) points to the sea but not towards America! At this site Columbus arrived in 1493 after his famous trip to America. He was born in Genoa but some local guides and books claim that he is from Catalonia! There is an elevator that goes to the top(daily 9.00-20.30) but I didn’t use it but I regret it because a good view of Las Ramblas as other travelers told me.

A few steps west of the monument is the Maritime Museum (daily 10.00-20:00, entrance fee 6,50euro) that is located at Drassanes Reals, a nice gothic building that used to be the Royal Shipyards. What you can see here is a collection of ships, things from ships like maps etc and some nice dioramas and paintings. The model of Santa Maria de la Victoria is my personal favorite but probably because I have read so many things about it. Don’t miss Austria’s Lepanto Galera

  • Directions: by metro get out at Barceloneta stop or Drassanes if you want to start from Columbus Monument

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