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An idiosyncratic and devout Modernista architect, Gaudí was responsible for Barcelona’s most famous monuments.

A shiny newcomer located near the Teatre Nacional, this large auditorium is home to the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona. Acoustics and visibility are excellent and, in addition to classical music, it hosts regular jazz concerts.

Soaring over the Barri Gòtic is Barcelona’s mighty Cathedral dating from 1298. See Barcelona Cathedral

The first thing locals will say when you ask about the Barri Xinès is that it no longer exists; the second is that the name has no real connection with the Chinese (Xinès ). Both statements are true. This barrio, unfolding south from Carrer Sant Pau towards Drassanes, was once one of Europe’s most infamous neighbourhoods, inhabited by the poor and working-class and rife with prostitutes, pimps, strippers and drug dealers. Today, due to enthusiastic clean-up efforts, mere vestiges remain of the barrio’s previous life (though some alleys still hint at illicit activity). As for the name, the area has nothing to do with the Chinese, but was named in the barrio’s early-1900s heyday as a general reference to its large immigrant population. Today you can browse in cheap thrift shops and small grocery stores by day and bar-hop your way through the area by night.

Barcino, as the city was first known, was founded in the 3rd century BC by Carthaginian Hamilcar Barca. It was taken by the Romans in 218 BC, but played second fiddle in the region to the provincial capital of Tarragona.

A four-screen cinema showing mainly European films.

The Fundació La Caixa’s impressive collection of contemporary art is housed in a former textile factory, designed by Modernista architect Puig i Cadafalch. The collection began in 1985 and assembles some 800 works by Spanish and foreign artists, which are shown in rotation along with temporary international exhibitions.

In the first half of the 19th century, El Raval’s main street was a notorious strip of cabarets, brothels and other nocturnal dens. Today it still bustles with transactions, but of a different sort. Frayed-at-the-edge local eateries, ethnic grocery stores, and discount clothing and shoe shops dot the street. And nightspots, such as the atmospheric London Bar (Bars & Clubs), which have conserved their age-old identity and fixtures, lure partying visitors.

An old style, two-screen, cinema, which has retained its character.