11 Best Sights in El Raval, Barcelona

Founded in the 10th century, one of Europe's earliest medical complexes contains some of Barcelona's most impressive Gothic architecture. The buildings that survive today date from mainly to the 15th and 16th centuries; the first stone for the hospital was laid by King Martí el Humà (Martin the Humane) in 1401.

From the entrance on Carrer del Carme, the first building on the left is the 18th-century Reial Acadèmia de Medicina de Catalunya (Royal Academy of Medicine); the surgical amphitheater is kept just as it was in the days when students learned by observing dissections. (One assumes that the paupers' hospital next door was always ready to oblige with cadavers.) The Academy is open to the public for guided tours on Wednesday and Saturday mornings.

Across the way on the right is the gateway into the patio of the Casa de la Convalescència, where patients who survived their treatment in the hospital were moved for recuperation. It now houses the Institute for Catalan Studies. The walls of the forecourt are covered with brightly decorated scenes of the life of St. Paul in blue and yellow ceramic tiles. The story begins with the image to the left of the door to the inner courtyard, recounting the moment of the saint's conversion: Savle, Savle, quid me persegueris? ("Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?").

The ceramicist, Llorenç Passolas, also designed the late-17th-century tiles around the inner patio. The image of St. Paul in the center of the pillared courtyard, over what was once a well, pays homage to the building's first benefactor, Pau Ferran. Look for the horseshoes, two of them around the keyholes, on the double wooden doors in the entryway: tokens of good luck for the afflicted who came here to recover—again, in reference to benefactor Ferran, from ferro (iron), as in ferradura (horseshoe).

Through a gate to the left of the Casa de Convalescència is the garden-courtyard of the hospital complex, the Jardins de Rubió i Lluc, centered on a baroque cross and lined with orange trees. On the right is the Biblioteca de Catalunya ( Carrer de l'Hospital 56  93/270–2300  www.bnc.cat  Closed Sun.), Catalonia's national library and—with some 2 million volumes in its collection—second only to Madrid's Biblioteca Nacional. The stairway under the arch, leading up to the library, was built in the 16th century. The Gothic well to the left of the arch is from the 15th century, as is the little Romeo-and-Juliet balcony in the corner to the left of the doors to the Escola Massana academy of design. The library itself is spectacular: two parallel halls—once the core of the hospital—230 feet long, with towering Gothic arches and vaulted ceilings, designed in the 15th century by the architect of the church of Santa Maria del Pi, Guillem Abiell. This was the hospital where Antoni Gaudí was taken, unrecognized and assumed to be a pauper, after he was struck by a trolley on June 7, 1926.

Among the library's collections are archives recording Gaudí's admittance and photographs of the infirmary and the private room where he died. The staggering antiquarian resources here go back to the earliest history of printing, and range from silver medieval book covers to illuminated manuscripts from the Llibre Vermell (Red Book) of medieval Catalonian liturgical music, to rare editions of Cervantes. 

Leave the complex through the heavy wooden doors to Carrer Hospital, and turn left toward La Rambla. The next set of doors leads to the Capella (Chapel) of the hospital, an interesting art space well worth a visit. Built in the early 15th century, on the site of what had been the old Hospital de Colom (founded in 1219), it is now a showcase for promising young artists, chosen by a jury of prominent museum directors and given this impressive space, with its Romanesque tunnel vault and medieval arches, to exhibit their work.

Designed by American architect Richard Meier in 1992, this gleaming explosion of light and geometry in El Raval houses a permanent collection of contemporary art, and also regularly mounts special temporary exhibitions. Meier gives a nod to Gaudí (with the Pedrera-like wave on one end of the main facade), but his minimalist building otherwise looks unfinished. That said, the MACBA is unarguably an important addition to the cultural capital of this once-shabby neighborhood. Skateboarders weave in and out around Basque sculptor Jorge Oteiza's massive sculpture, La Ola (The Wave), in the courtyard; the late Eduardo Chillida's Barcelona covers half the wall in the little square off Calle Ferlandina, on the left of the museum, in the sculptor's signature primitive black geometrical patterns.

Don't miss Keith Haring's public mural on the wall that links Carrer de Ferlandina to Plaça Joan Coromines. The MACBA's 20th-century art collection (Calder, Rauschenberg, Oteiza, Chillida, Tàpies) is excellent, as is the free app, which provides a useful introduction to the philosophical foundations of contemporary art as well as the pieces themselves. The museum also offers wonderful workshops and activities for kids. Group tours (for a minimum of 15 people) are available in English and must be booked at least a week in advance.

Barcelona's oldest monastic church was originally outside the city walls (del camp means "in the fields") and was a Roman cemetery as far back as the 2nd century, according to archaeological evidence. A Visigothic belt buckle found in the 20th century confirmed that Visigoths used the site as a cemetery between the 2nd and 7th centuries. What you see now was built in 1127 and is the earliest Romanesque structure in Barcelona. Elements of the church—the classical marble capitals atop the columns in the main entry—are thought to be from the 6th and 7th centuries. Sant Pau is bulky and solid, featureless (except for what may be the smallest stained-glass window in Europe, high on the facade facing Carrer Sant Pau), with stone walls 3 feet thick or more; medieval Catalan churches and monasteries were built to be refuges for the body as well as the soul, bulwarks of last resort against Moorish invasions—or marauders of any persuasion. Check local events listings for musical performances here; the church is an acoustical gem. The tiny cloister is Sant Pau del Camp's best feature, and one of Barcelona's hidden treasures. Look carefully at the capitals that support the Moorish-influenced Mudejar arches, carved with biblical scenes and exhortations to prayer. This penumbral sanctuary, barely a block from the heavily trafficked Avinguda del Paral·lel, is a gift from time.

This house occupies what were once the grounds and buildings of a 14th-century Carthusian convent—though the convent itself is long gone. The present building dates to 1749; it was renovated in 1929 in Catalan Moderniste style, abandoned for a time, and then remodeled in 1980 as part of a large-scale urban improvement project for El Raval, with much of the impressive tile work, brick vaulted arches and stone pillars preserved intact. It now houses the Centre d'Estudis i Recursos Culturals de la Diputació (Center for Cultural Studies and Resources of the Provincial Council) and the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB: the Centre for Contemporary Culture), in the Pati Manning Espai Cultural—a two-story cloister around a central courtyard (pati means patio or courtyard) with lovely Tuscan arches. The Pati Manning (named for a benefactor of the one-time almshouse) includes a library, a lecture hall and auditorium, and exhibition galleries, and organizes a wide range of cultural and artistic initiatives.

With its charming ivy-covered and palm-shaded courtyard, this property was once a vocational school and a home for the children of the destitute. Founded in 1581 by theologian Don Diego Pérez de Valdivia, it functioned throughout the 19th and much of the 20th century as an orphanage for girls. The excellent bookstore La Central del Raval, next door at Carrer Elisabets 6, was formerly the institution's chapel. Around the corner (or through the bookstore) on Carrer dels Ramelleres at No. 17, a ring of wood in the wall just above waist level is all that remains of the ancient torno, or turntable, standard in early orphanages and cloistered convents. Alms, groceries, and unwanted babies alike were placed in this opening slot, to be spun anonymously into the hands of the convent staff. The building now houses an archive of historical documents—the oldest of which date to the 14th century.

Next door to the MACBA, this multidisciplinary gallery, lecture hall, and concert and exhibition space offers a year-round program of cultural events and projects. The center also has a remarkable film archive of historic shorts and documentaries, free to the public. Housed in the restored and renovated Casa de la Caritat, a former medieval convent and hospital, the CCCB, like the Palau de la Música Catalana, is one of the city's shining examples of contemporary flare added to traditional architecture and design. A smoked-glass wall on the right side of the patio, designed by architects Albert Villaplana and Helio Piñon, reflects out over the rooftops of El Raval to Montjuïc and the Mediterranean beyond.

This former Augustinian convent directly across from the main entrance to the MACBA, built by Bartolomeu Roig in the middle of the 16th century, has been converted into additional exhibition space for the MACBA, with a performing arts venue and an exhibition hall (El Fòrum dels Àngels) rented out on occasion for special events. The Fòrum dels Àngels is an impressive space, with magnificent Gothic arches and vaulted ceilings.

Just off La Rambla behind the Liceu opera house on Carrer Sant Pau is the Hotel España, remodeled in 1904 by Lluís Domènech i Montaner, architect of the Moderniste flagship Palau de la Música Catalana. Completely refurbished in 2010, the interior is notable for its Art Nouveau decor. The sculpted marble Eusebi Arnau fireplace in the bar, the Ramon Casas undersea murals in the salon (mermaids singing each to each), and the lushly ornate dining room are the hotel's best artistic features. The España is so proud of its place in the cultural history of the city—and justly so—it opens to the public for 40-minute guided tours, usually once a week on Thursdays. Check their website for times. (Note that tours are usually in Spanish or Catalan, but English can be requested.)

A mammoth hangar at the junction of Ronda de Sant Antoni and Comte d'Urgell, designed in 1882 by Antoni Rovira i Trias, the Mercat de Sant Antoni is considered the city's finest example of wrought-iron architecture. The Greek-cross-shaped market covers an entire block on the edge of the Eixample, and some of the best Moderniste stall facades in Barcelona distinguish this exceptional space. Fully functioning as of 2017 after years of painstaking restoration to incorporate medieval archaeological remains underneath, the market is a foodie paradise of fruit, vegetables, fish, cheeses, and more. On Sunday morning, visit Sant Antoni, and wander the outdoor stalls of the weekly flea market full of stamps and coins, comic books and trading cards, VHS, CDs, vinyl, and vintage clothing.

This landmark in medieval Barcelona was the dividing point where ecclesiastical and secular paths parted. The high road, Carrer del Carme, leads to the cathedral and the seat of the bishopric; the low road, Carrer de l'Hospital, heads down to the medieval hospital and the Boqueria market, a clear choice between body and soul. Named for a stone pillar, or pedró (large stone), marking the fork in the road, the square became a cherished landmark for Barcelona Christians after Santa Eulàlia, co-patron of Barcelona, was crucified there in the 4th century after suffering the legendary 13 ordeals designed to persuade her to renounce her faith—which, of course, she heroically refused to do. As the story goes, an overnight snowfall chastely covered her nakedness with virgin snow. The present version of Eulàlia and her cross was sculpted by Barcelona artist Frederic Marès and erected in 1951. The bell tower and vacant alcove at the base of the triangular square belong to the Capella de Sant Llàtzer church, originally built in the open fields in the mid-12th century and used as a leper hospital and place of worship after the 15th century when Sant Llàtzer (St. Lazarus) was officially named patron saint of lepers. Flanked by two ordinary apartment buildings, the Sant Llàtzer chapel has a tiny antique patio and apse visible from the short Carrer de Sant Llàtzer, which cuts behind the church between Carrer del Carme and Carrer Hospital.

This unfinished church is one of Barcelona's most unusual structures, with jagged stone sections projecting down the left side, and the upper part of the front entrance on Plaça Sant Agustí waiting to be covered with a facade. The church has had an unhappy history: originally part of an Augustinian monastery, it was first built between 1349 and 1700. It was later abandoned and rebuilt only to be destroyed in 1714 during the War of the Spanish Succession, rebuilt again, then burned in the antireligious riots of 1825 when the cloisters were demolished. The church was looted and torched once more in the closing days of the Civil War. Sant Agustí comes alive on May 22, feast day of Santa Rita, patron saint of "los imposibles," meaning lost causes. Unhappily married women, unrequited lovers, and all-but-hopeless sufferers of every sort form long lines through the square and down Carrer Hospital. Each carries a rose that will be blessed at the chapel of Santa Rita on the right side of the altar.