Sant Antoni is a neighborhood in the ''

Eixample The Eixample (; ) is a district of Barcelona between the old city (Ciutat Vella) and what were once surrounding small towns (Sants, Gràcia, Sant Andreu, etc.), constructed in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its population was 262,000 at t ...

'' district 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 ci ...

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 north ...

(

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

). Its non-official centre, the

marketplace A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a '' souk'' (from the Arabic), ' ...

of the same name—designed by

Antoni Rovira i Trias Antoni Rovira i Trias (1816 in Barcelona – 1889 in Barcelona) was a Catalan architect, urban planner and founder of several associations, among them Societat Filomàtica de Barcelona. He is known as the architect of several buildings in Barcelo ...

and built between 1872 and 1882—is one of the oldest and most popular in the city, especially with the secondhand book stalls that surround the building Sunday mornings. It is bordered by the neighbourhoods of the

L'Antiga Esquerra de l'Eixample L'Antiga Esquerra de l'Eixample is a neighborhood in the ''Eixample'' district of Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain). Originally formed a single unit, called Esquerra de l'Eixample, with the current neighborhood la Nova Esquerra de l'Eixample La Nova ...

(on the other side of

Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes Gran may refer to: People *Grandmother, affectionately known as "gran" * Gran (name) Places * Gran, the historical German name for Esztergom, a city and the primatial metropolitan see of Hungary * Gran, Norway, a municipality in Innlandet coun ...

), the Raval (on the other side of Ronda de Sant Antoni), and Poble Sec (on the other side of

Avinguda del Paral·lel Avinguda del Paral·lel (; en, Avenue of the Parallel) is one of the main streets of the city of Barcelona, dividing Ciutat Vella, Eixample and Sants-Montjuïc districts. It receives this name because it is (unlike any other street in Barcelona) ...

). The streets of Sant Antoni follow the grid pattern prevalent in all of Eixample, except for a central thoroughfare, the Avinguda de Mistral, built on the site of an important medieval road which led out of Barcelona. Another well-known landmark of Sant Antoni is the bar called ''Els Tres Tombs'', right next to the market.

History

Although its origins are tied to the now-disappeared Church of Saint Anthony (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 #1 ...

: ''Sant Antoni'') in the Raval, the development of the neighbourhood dates from the 1880s onwards, as Barcelona expanded beyond its former medieval walls. Very few houses stood around the market when it was built, and most buildings visible today in Sant Antoni date of the 1920s and 1930s, when major urban changes occurred in the city on the occasion of the 1929 International Exposition. A working-class area during most of the 20th century, it has undergone important changes in the last decades. As with many other neighbourhoods in central Barcelona, some gentrification has taken place in Sant Antoni since the 1980s and

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

has mostly relocated since. Nowadays it is one of the quietest areas in the city centre, with 37,878 inhabitants in the 2005 census. The Mercat de Sant Antoni has been refurbished recently. In the meantime, this Ronda Sant Antoni has become pedestrianised.

Places of worship

Catholic

* Sant Ferran (

- Vilamarí) * Preciossíssima Sang de Nostre Senyor Jesucrist ( Viladomat - Floridablanca) * Maria Auxiliadora i Sant Josep ( Sepúlveda - Calàbria)

Evangelist

* Evangelist Church of Sant Antoni (

Mistral Mistral may refer to: * Mistral (wind) in southern France and Sardinia Automobiles * Maserati Mistral, a Maserati grand tourer produced from 1963 until 1970 * Nissan Mistral, or Terrano II, a Nissan 4×4 produced from 1993 until 2006 * Microp ...

)

Jehovah's Witnesses

* Sant Antoni Kingdom Hall ( Passatge de Sant Antoni)

Transport

Barcelona Metro The Barcelona Metro (Catalan and Spanish: ) is an extensive network of rapid transit electrified railway lines that run mostly underground in central Barcelona and into the city's suburbs. It is part of the larger public transport sys ...

stations Sant Antoni (on L2),

Urgell Modern-day Urgell (), also known as ''Baix Urgell'' (''baix'' meaning "lower", by contrast with Alt Urgell "Higher Urgell"), is a ''comarca'' (county) in Catalonia, Spain, forming only a borderland portion of the region historically known as Ur ...

(on L1), and Poble Sec (on L3).

External links

City council website (BCN.cat)the Neighborhood association website