Plaça de Catalunya (, meaning in English "Catalonia Square"; sometimes referred to as Plaza de Cataluña, its Spanish name) is a large square in central

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

that is generally considered to be both its

city centre A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...

and the place where the old city (see Barri Gòtic and Raval, in

Ciutat Vella Ciutat Vella (, meaning in English "Old City") is a district of Barcelona, numbered District 1. The name means "old city" in Catalan and refers to the oldest neighborhoods in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. ''Ciutat Vella'' is nest ...

) and the 19th century-built

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 ...

meet. Some of the city's most important streets and avenues meet at Plaça Catalunya:

Passeig de Gràcia Passeig de Gràcia () is one of the major avenues in Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) and one of its most important shopping and business areas, containing several of the city's most celebrated pieces of architecture. It is located in the central pa ...

Rambla de Catalunya Rambla de Catalunya (; ) is a major street in the ''Eixample'' district of central Barcelona, Spain. It is one of the city's trendiest streets, with many international fashion shops, and is lined with lime trees. The street stretches from Pla ...

, La Rambla, and Portal de l'Àngel, in addition to Ronda de Sant Pere, Carrer de Vergara, and Carrer de Pelai. The plaza occupies an area of about 50,000 square metres. It is especially known for its fountains and statues, its proximity to some of Barcelona's most popular attractions, and the flocks of

pigeon Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...

s that gather in the centre. The square played a significant part in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, in particular as a site of key events of the

May Days The May Days (, ), sometimes also called May Events (, ), were a series of clashes between 3 and 8 May 1937 during which factions on the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republican side of the Spanish Civil War engaged one another in str ...

History

After the medieval city walls were demolished in the 19th century, ambitious designs for the city's public spaces were conceived under the guidance of notable

urban planners An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, tow ...

. Plaça Catalunya was conceived as part of ''pla Rovira'' in 1859, but no official permission from the government was given until the 1888 Universal Exposition. It was urbanised for the first time in 1902 and was further modified in 1929, on the occasion of the

1929 Barcelona International Exposition The 1929 Barcelona International Exposition (also 1929 Barcelona Universal Exposition, or Expo 1929, officially in Spanish language, Spanish: ''Exposición Internacional de Barcelona 1929'') was the second World's fair, World Fair to be held in ...

, which also included the construction of a metro station. Architect Francesc de Paula Nebot designed the changes made in 1929. In May 2011 Plaça Catalunya was the main location where anti-government protests and sit ins were held in Barcelona, mirroring the events in other Spanish cities.

Art

Sculpture

Plaça Catalunya is the site of several notable public sculptures and monuments representative of

Noucentisme Noucentisme (, ''noucentista'' being its adjective) was a Catalan cultural movement of the early 20th century that originated largely as a reaction against Modernisme, both in art and ideology, and was, simultaneously, a perception of art almos ...

Neo-Classicism Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...

and different

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

movements. *''Deessa'', by

Josep Clarà Josep Clarà i Ayats (16 December 1878 – 4 November 1958) was a Spaniards, Spanish sculptor. His work was part of the Art competitions at the 1924 Summer Olympics#Sculpture, sculpture event in the Art competitions at the 1924 Summer Olympic ...

. *''Pastor de Pau'', by Pablo Gargallo. * Francesc Macià monument. The inscription reads: "Catalunya a Francesc Macià". * Josep Llimona's sculptures.

Decorative arts

The Barcelona Telephone Exchange (Edificio Telefónica) has four stained glass windows, designed in 1991, installed in the tower lantern. Commissioned from the artist

Brian Clarke Sir Brian Clarke (born 2 July 1953) is a British Painting, painter, architectural artist, designer and Printmaking, printmaker, known for his large-scale stained glass and mosaic projects, symbolist paintings, set designs, and collaborations w ...

to commemorate the 1992 Olympic Games hosted by the city, the artworks were fabricated by the local Fundació Centre del Vidre, and conceived to function as a coloured beacon overlooking the square. The

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

s that decorate the walls of the underground part of Plaça Catalunya were designed by pupils of Escola Massana.

Culture

Theatre

A few theatres have been established in Plaça Catalunya since its construction, none of which are extant. *Teatre del Bon Retir (1876-1885) *Circ Eqüestre Alegria (1879-1895) *Eldorado Concert (1887-1929) *Teatre Barcelona (1923-198-) There still are, however, other theatres in the nearby area, located in other streets or squares.

Cafés and restaurants

Similarly, most of the cafés and restaurants where writers and artists would meet in the city haven't survived, with the notable exception of Café Zurich, where Fabiola of Belgium's brother worked as a pianist. The following ones disappeared with the

: *Maison Dorée *Café Colón *La Lluna *Cafè Suís

Other services

Shopping centres

El Corte Inglés El Corte Inglés S.A. is a Spanish department store chain founded in 1940 by Ramón Areces and César Rodríguez. It is the last such remaining in Spain and Portugal, and has been a member of the International Association of Department Stores s ...

* El Triangle, containing a three-story

fnac Fnac () is a French multinational retail chain specializing in the sale of entertainment Media (communication), media and consumer electronics. Fnac was founded by André Essel and Max Théret in 1954. Its headquarters is located in ''Le Flavia' ...

shop. *

Sfera SFera is a science fiction society from Zagreb, Croatia. It was founded in 1976, thus marking the beginnings of organized science fiction fandom in the region. SFera is the official organizer of SFeraKon, an annual Croatian science fiction conve ...

Hotels

*H10 Catalunya Plaza *Hotel Monegal *Olivia Plaza Hotel *Hotel Urquinaon
Hotel Urquinaona

Financial institutions

* Banco Español de Crédito (Banesto). *

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (), better known by its initialism BBVA, is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Bilbao, with operative offices in Madrid. It is one of the largest financial institutions in the world, ...

(BBVA). * Banco de España *

Caja Madrid Caja Madrid, formally the Caja de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad de Madrid, headquartered in Madrid,Inicio
." ...

Foreign relations

* Consulate of Canada, Second Floor, 9 Plaça de Catalunya.

Transport

The square is one of Barcelona's most important transport hubs, both above and under ground.

Metro

The original

Barcelona metro The Barcelona Metro (Catalan language, Catalan and Spanish language, Spanish: ) is a rapid transit network that runs mostly underground in central Barcelona and into the city's suburbs. It is part of the larger public transport system ...

line in Barcelona, known as ''Gran Metro'', had Plaça Catalunya as one of its termini. It went to become the current green line, L3, operated by

TMB TMB may refer to: Organizations *Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Limited, India *Texas Medical Board * Thai Military Bank * Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona, Spain Places *Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport near Miami, Florida, US, IATA code *Tsing M ...

. It's also served by two FGC lines. * Catalunya ( L1, L3, L6, L7) *

( L2, L3, L4).

Bus lines

Day bus

*Bus 9 Pl. Catalunya - Pg. Zona Franca *Bus 14 Vil·la Olímpica - Pg. Bonanova *Bus 16 Urquinaona - Pg. Manuel Girona *Bus 17 Barceloneta - Av. Jordà *Bus 24 Av. Paral·lel - Carmel *Bus 28 Pl. Catalunya - Carmel *Bus 41 Pl. Francesc Macià - Diagonal Mar *Bus 42 Pl. Catalunya - Santa Coloma *Bus 55 Parc de Montjuïc - Plaça Catalana *Bus 58 Pl. Catalunya - Av. Tibidabo *Bus 59 Pg. Marítim - Plaça Reina Maria Cristina *Bus 66 Pl. Catalunya - Sarrià *Bus 67 Pl. Catalunya - Cornellà *Bus 68 Pl. Catalunya - Cornellà *Bus 141 Av. Mistral - Barri del Besòs *Aerobus *Liyver

Nitbus

Barcelona's night bus is known as and most of its lines serve Plaça Catalunya: *N1 Zona Franca (Mercabarna) - Pl. Catalunya - Roquetes (Aiguablava) *N2 Av. Carrilet - Pl. Catalunya - Badalona (Montigalà) *N3 Collblanc - Montcada i Reixac *N4 Via Favència - Pl. Catalunya - Gran Vista *N5 Pl. Catalunya - Gran Vista *N6 Barcelona (Roquetes) - Santa Coloma (Oliveres) *N7 Pl. Pedralbes - Pl. Llevant (Fòrum) *N8 Can Caralleu - Santa Coloma (Can Franquesa) *N9 Pl. Portal de la Pau - Tiana (Edith Llaurador) *N11 Barcelona (Pl. Catalunya) - H. Can Ruti *N12 *N13 *N14 *N15 *N16 *N17 *N18 *N20 *N28

Guided tours

Train

* Barcelona Plaça Catalunya railway station

In popular culture

Plaça de Catalunya is a featured locale in the 2009 video game '' Wheelman'', published by

Midway Games Midway Games Inc. (formerly Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known simply as Midway) was an American video game company that existed from 1958 to 2010. Midway's franchises included ''Mortal Kombat'', ''Rampage (franchise), Ra ...

References and external links

* ALBAREDA, Joaquim, GUÀRDIA, Manel i altres. Enciclopèdia de Barcelona, Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana, Barcelona, 2006.
City map at Bcn.es

360° panoramic view
{{DEFAULTSORT:Placa de Catalunya, Barcelona Eixample Plazas in Barcelona Central business districts 1929 Barcelona International Exposition World's fair sites in Barcelona