Nearby Attractions
The starting point is our apartment in the raval and from here we will show and mark the different tourist attractions that will be within your reach near the apartment where you will reside during your stay.
Mercat de Sant Antoni
During the week, you can find in this market of Barcelona's Eixample Esquerra stalls outside selling all kinds of goods, from clothes and shoes to homewares … and, inside, gleaming displays of vegetables, fruit, fish and meat. On Sundays, second-hand books and stamps for collectors captivate the visitors to the historic Mercat de Sant Antoni which retains the architecture, vibrancy and charm of its origins.
The Mercat de Sant Antoni was designed by Antoni Rovira i Trias in 1882. Welcoming us inside, above the main entrance, is the Barcelona coat of arms, crowned by a bat, and a plaque showing the year the market was built. The metal structure, so typical of the markets built at the time, spans an interior that covers an entire block in Cerdà's Eixample district: an area large enough to contain the stalls that supply the neighbourhood of Sant Antoni.
One of the most beautiful and original elements is the gallery around the perimeter of the Mercat de Sant Antoni. Green tarpaulins provide walls and ceilings protecting the circular corridor where traders sell clothes and other goods throughout the week, while on Sundays shoppers fill their bags with books, stamps, comics and magazines. A walk around the market, especially on Sundays, is a long-established ritual among the locals and visitors who come to Sant Antoni, in search of a literary relic, to swap stamps or just to browse. At night, when the stallholders shut up shop, they put their goods into wooden drawers and the Mercat de Sant Antoni falls silent.
Moritz factory
In 2011 we decided to open the doors of the Moritz Barcelona Brewery in Sant Antoni to the public, recently remodelled by Jean Nouvel, to show off how proud we are of doing what we do and, above all, to see you really enjoy yourselves.
While you stuff your face with some of the dishes from the menu prepared by Jordi Vilà, one floor below are the tanks where we brew all the varieties of beer you can toast with at the Moritz Brewery. What's more, our beer comes directly from the tanks to the tap handles, with no nonsense or strange processes.
Hops, barley, water, yeast and true passion, that's all there is to it. Well, yes, of course there is more, there's the experience and care of Albert and Germán, our master brewers, who spend countless hours down there supervising the whole process from start to finish. Moreover, although it's not proven, we like to think that brewing our beer in the same place for over 160 years gives it that unique taste and character
MORITZ BEER LAB
Sometimes we come up with new recipes, some more common and others less so, but they are all created at the Moritz Beer Lab, our R+D+I centre at the Moritz Factory, where our master brewers let their imagination run wild to brew new beers, such as the Moritz Red IPA, the Moritz Blat, the Moritz Citrus, the Moritz Scottish, the Moritz Black, the Moritz Fum Fum Fum, the Moritz "The Beast", the Moritz Sour and those that are yet to come. All fresh (you know, unpasteurised) and available at our beer shop and at the Moritz Store. By the way, all these beers are brewed with seasonal products and are limited editions that can be enjoyed for a maximum of 3 or 4 months, so be on your guard or you'll miss them, and we don't want that to happen, do we?
La boqueria
Our market sells food and fresh produce of the highest quality. This, together with the fact that we market products from all over the world,has always been our main mission, as we believe this allows us to stand out from otherfood establishments in this city. If you are unable to find what you are looking for, leave it to us and we will get it for you, as we have always done.
La Boqueria is an open market and a name of reference in Barcelona. We are the beating heart of the city, and our customers include local customers, people from Barcelona in general and people from other parts of Catalonia.What’s more, as we are right in the city centre, on theRambla, many tourists who visit Barcelona have the opportunity to visit us and sample the food on offer in our bars and restaurants, prepared with products fresh from the market. Our doors are always open to all those who want to come in and buy our products, with the same respect and consideration for the market as we have always had.
Not only do we pride ourselves on the quality of the products we sell, we take pride in the professionalism of our traders. You can rely on us to provide you with whatever you need. We know our products well, and can advise you about your purchases, as we have done for many years.
Over time, the interest expressed by the citizens of Barcelona and all those who visit our city in our market, the market of Boqueria-Sant Josep, have converted it into a symbol that has put Barcelona on the map of the world. We have made every effort to make shopping in our market an exceptional experience. Please make yourselves at home and enjoy all that we have to offer you.
Palau Guell
The Palau Güell was designed by the young Gaudí and is a wonderful blend of medieval opulence and the architect's unique exuberant style. Completed in 1890, the building was the private residence of Gaudí's patron, Count Güell. The Palau Güell is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The wealthy industrialist, landowner and politician Eusebi Güell i Bacigalupi (Barcelona, 1846-1918) was Gaudí's main patron. In 1885, when the architect was still unknown, Count Güell commissioned him to design his private residence. Gaudíwas aware that Güell wanted to show off his wealth to his friends and acquaintances (the house was to be used for exhibitions, concerts and other events) and he created an unusual, bold architectural project. He made innovative use of traditional building techniques, as well a wide variety of materials, with particular emphasis on more expensive ones such as marble. Gaudí combined the typical square structure of Catalan medieval palazzos and exquisite wooden coffered ceilings with innovations such as the parabolic arch which became a hallmark of his work. However, Gaudí didn't just create a palazzo, he created a metaphor too, as the building rises up, like Güell, from poor beginnings, represented by the austerity of the basement and ground floor, to wealth, as embodied by the riot of colour on the roof. Indeed, the ground floor, with its simple grey marble, contrasts magically with the interplay of colours and forms of the 20 sculptural chimneys on the roof, which are covered in broken pieces of ceramic tile, marble and stained glass and are the iconic symbols of the Palau Güell.
El Gato Botero
It is a symbol of Barcelona and the Raval neighborhood. It seems that at the end of the Rambla in this neighborhood, El Gato is comfortable, after spending no more and no less than 15 years looking for a house. Botero's Cat is received by everyone with a smile on his lips. It only has one competitor: the Horse by the same author.
Fernando Botero's Gato was acquired by the Barcelona City Council in 1987. From then until 2003, the sculpture wandered the streets of the city in search of a definitive location. He first found it in the Ciutadella Park, near his companions at the Barcelona Zoo. They then took him to the Olympic Stadium and a few years later he was placed in a small square behind the Drassanes (Atarazanas) in Barcelona. Finally in 2003 the decision was made to place it permanently at the end of the young Rambla del Raval. And perhaps because cats have seven lives, it stands out there with special intensity. Everyone recognizes the figure of the cat, big and fat, made in bronze, with a child's face and a long tail. A meeting point and one of the most daring ones, that climb on top to take photos, the sculpture has been fully integrated into one of the most remodeled surroundings in Barcelona.
The Botero monument represents an element of our daily life but with excessive proportions. The same style defines the Colombian author's Horse, placed in Terminal 2 of Barcelona airport since 1992, and which has become a meeting point for passengers at El Prat airport.
