Ciutat Vella (, meaning in English "Old City") is a

district of Barcelona Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain is divided into 10 districts. These are administrated by a councillor designated by the main city council, and each of them have some powers relating to issues such as urbanism or infrastructure in their area. The ...

, numbered District 1. The name means "old city" in

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid ...

and refers to the oldest neighborhoods in the city of

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...

, Spain. ''Ciutat Vella'' is nestled between the Mediterranean Sea and the neighborhood called ''l' Eixample'' ("the Extension"). There are four administrative neighborhoods (some of them include former or traditional neighborhoods): *

La Barceloneta La Barceloneta () is a neighborhood in the Ciutat Vella district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The neighborhood was constructed during the 18th century for the residents of the Ribera neighborhood who had been displaced by the constructi ...

* El Gòtic *

El Raval El Raval () is a neighborhood in the ''Ciutat Vella'' district of Barcelona, the capital city of Catalonia. The neighborhood, especially the part closest to the old port, was formerly (informally) known as ''Barri Xinès'' or ''Barrio Chino'', mea ...

* Sant Pere, Santa Caterina i la Ribera: **Sant Pere **Santa Caterina ** La Ribera

Les Rambles

Running down the center of the ''Ciutat Vella'' (dividing the ''Raval'' and ''Barri Gòtic'') are the boulevards ''Les Rambles'', popularly known as '' La Rambla'' (in singular) since they are continuous, like a single street. ''Les Rambles'' stretches from '' Plaça Catalunya'' to the Mediterranean Sea and, since the 1990s, now extends out over the sea into one of Barcelona's newest centers of entertainment, '' Maremàgnum''. Each of ''Les Rambles'' has its own specialty. ''La Rambla de les Flors'' (The Flowers ''Rambla'') is devoted to flower stands, another ''Rambla'' to animal vendors (selling mainly birds), and the lowest ''Rambla'' hosts temporary art fairs. ''El Mercat de Sant Josep'' (more commonly known as '' La Boqueria'') and ''Gran Teatre del Liceu'' (Barcelona's Opera House) are both located here. ''Les Rambles'' are among the most frequently travelled streets by pedestrians in Barcelona. At the bottom, there is the ''Museu Marítim'' (naval museum), which chronicles the history of life on the Mediterranean, including a full-scale model of a

galley A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be used ...

. The museum is housed in the medieval ''Drassanes'' (shipyards), where the ships that made

a great sea power in the Mediterranean were built.

Raval

This portion of the city is often referred to as ''el Barri Xinès'', or ''

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

''. The '' Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona'' (Contemporary Art Museum of Barcelona), the ''Rambla del Raval'' (a walkway to the sea) and the ''

Filmoteca de Catalunya The Filmoteca de Catalunya is a film archive located in Catalunya, Spain, aiming at the preservation of film and the dissemination of audiovisual and film culture. The head office and public rooms (cinemas, exhibition rooms, library) are locat ...

'' are in this neighborhood.

Barri Gòtic

On the other side of ''Les Rambles'', is '. This neighborhood houses the Cathedral of Barcelona, the

Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya The Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya is a historic palace in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It houses the offices of the Presidency of the Generalitat de Catalunya. It is one of the few buildings of medieval origin in Europe that still fun ...

, and lAjuntament de Barcelona'' (Barcelona city hall). Tourists visit this neighborhood to see ' (a Spanish-style plaza) and to shop in one of the tourist shops along '. The

Museu Picasso The Museu Picasso (, "Picasso Museum") is an art museum in Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain. It houses an extensive collection of artworks by the twentieth-century Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, with a total of 4251 of his works. It is housed ...

can be found in the area known as ''el Born'', within the Barri Gótic, in addition to the historic restaurant ''

Els Quatre Gats Els Quatre Gats (; ) is a café in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain that famously became a popular meeting place for famous artists throughout the modernist period in Catalonia, known as ''Modernisme''. The café opened on 12 June 1897 in the famous Ca ...

'' (The Four Cats), which was a popular hang-out for artists, including Pablo Picasso. To the north of the Gothic Quarter lie the ''Jardins de Fonseré i Mestre'' which contain modernist buildings housing zoological and geological collections. The adjacent ' includes both the ' (Catalan Parliament) and the (zoo) whose most famous resident was an

albino Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albino. Varied use and interpretation of the term ...

gorilla,

Floquet de Neu Snowflake ( ca, Floquet de Neu, es, Copito de Nieve, french: Flocon de Neige; – 24 November 2003) was the world's only known albino gorilla to date. He was a western lowland gorilla. He was kept at Barcelona Zoo in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spai ...

("Snowflake"), who died in 2003 of skin cancer.

La Ribera and El Born

La Barceloneta

External links