Barcelona Barri Gòtic And Las Ramblas

Barri Gòtic is not the place for contemporary art or halls full of the old masters; instead, it is home to a smattering of quirky collections and historical exhibitions.

Museu D’Història De La Ciutat. Buried some 20m below a seemingly innocuous old plaça lies one of the two components of the Museu d’Història de la Ciutat: the subterranean excavations of the Roman city of Barcino. This archaeological exhibit displays incredibly well-preserved AD first- to sixth-century ruins; through glass sections, you can see huge ceramic wine casks, intricate Roman floor mosaics, and the reused cornerstones that form part of the Roman walls. The fourth-century wall fresco depicting a man on horseback is a particularly beautiful and well-preserved relic. Also accessible through the museum is the Palau Reial Major, which was built on top of the fourth-century ruins and served as the residence of the Catalan-Aragonese monarchs. The Gothic Saló de Tinell (Throne Room) is supposedly the place where Fernando and Isabel received Columbus after his journey to America, and now hosts exhibitions about contemporary Barcelona. (Pl. del Rei. Jaume I. ☎932 56 21 00; www.museuhistoria.bcn.cat. Wheelchair-accessible. Open Apr.-Sept. Tu-Sa 10am-8pm, Su 10am-3pm; Oct.-Mar. Tu-Sa 10am-2pm and 4-7pm, Su 10am-3pm. Free multilingual audio guides. Pamphlets available in English. Museum €6, students €4. Exhibition €1.80/1.10. Museum and exhibition €6.80/5.10. Under 16 free.)

Centre D’Art De Santa Mónica. Once a convent, this museum now houses temporary exhibitions and hosts artistic events. The provocative installations housed here are often interactive and tend to be quite elaborate. In April 2009, the museum turned heads by staging an “itinerant musical action” whereby a man played piano while being paraded down Las Ramblas with a man and a woman having passionate simulated sex atop his instrument. There are significant rebuilding phases between shows, so call and make sure the galleries are open before you visit. Just in front of the Museum is the Punt d’Informació Cultural, which has all the art-related programs and flyers you could ever want. (La Rambla, 7. Drassanes. ☎933 16 28 10; www.artsantamonica.cat. Open Tu-Sa noon-10pm. Free. Punt d’Informació Cultural open M-F 9:30am-2pm and 3:30-7:30pm, Sa 10am-2pm.)

Museu De L’Eròtica. This stimulating museum has an odd assortment of pictures, artwork, and artifacts that spans human history and depicts a variety of sexual acrobatics that seem to defy the limits of human flexibility. The 7 ft. wooden phallus is a classic photo-op. Be sure to catch the 1926 porno flick said to have been secretly commissioned by King Alfonso XIII. (La Rambla, 96. Liceu, L1/3. ☎933 18 98 65; www.erotica-museum.com. Open daily 10am-9pm. €9, students €8.)

Museu De Cera (Wax Museum) . Over 300 wax figures form an endless parade of celebrities, fictional characters, and rather obscure European historical figures. The most recognizable ones have distinctive facial hair, like Fidel Castro and Chewbacca from Star Wars. If the celebrities upstairs are too banal, downstairs you’ll find more gruesome depictions of famous martyrs, murderers, and monsters. For those dying to have their picture taken with a wax sculpture of Picasso mid-brush stroke, this is the place to go. (La Rambla, 4-6 or Pg. de la Banca, 7. Drassanes. ☎933 17 26 49, www.museocerabcn.com. Open July-Sept. daily 10am-10pm; Oct.-June M-F 10am-1:30pm and 4-7:30pm, Sa-Su and holidays 11am-2pm and 4:30-8:30pm. Last entrance 30min. before closing. €10, ages 5-11 and seniors €6, under 5 free. Audioguide €3.50.)

Museu Frederic Marès. Marès (1893-1991) was one of Spain’s better known sculptors, but he also had an insatiable passion for collecting; as he once said, “I make sculptures so that I may buy sculptures.” In 1946, in a classic example of the bourgeois patronage of the arts so common in Catalunya, he founded this museum and donated his entire private collection and some of his own sculptures. The building itself was originally part of the Palau Reial Major, home to the monarchs of the Aragonese dynasty from the end of the 10th century through the 15th century.

Inside the museum, the lower floors house a huge collection of Spanish and Hispanic sculpture from pre-Roman times through the 19th century. The majority of these floors are dedicated to an almost endless collection of wooden Christ figures and Mary-with-Jesus carvings, which cannot help but become repetitive to even the most patient (and pious) observer. Also overwhelming but with a bit more variety are the upper floors, containing Marès’s “Sentimental Museum,” a vast collection of objects daily life during the Romantic era that features cases upon cases of fans, jewelry, combs, timepieces, scissors, pipes, playing cards, dolls, and floral arrangements.

In addition to these collections is a second-floor library dedicated to Marès’s own sculpture, accessible by appointment only, and a room on the ground floor dedicated to rotating sculpture exhibits. (Pl. de Sant Iu, 5-6 or Pg. de la Banca, 7. Jaume I. ☎932 56 35 00; www.museumares.bcn.cat. Open Tu-Su 10am-7pm, holidays 10am-3pm. €4.20, students and seniors €2.40, under 16 free. Free entry W afternoons and first Su of the month. Free audioguide with deposit of picture ID.)

Museu Diocesà. This small museum tends to be overshadowed by the cathedral next door, but it is a treasure trove for history buffs, as it contains the city’s only intact octagonal defense tower from Roman Barcino. The museum’s collection of religious artifacts covers two main periods, the Romanesque (12th and 13th centuries), and the Gothic (14th and 15th centuries). Highlights include an almost entirely intact church fresco from 1122 as well as a stunning gold, diamond-adorned Custodià del Pi, made in 1587 and originally used in the nearby Santa Maria del Pi church. In Catholicism, the custodià is used to store the Host before and after the rite of communion. Still in perfect condition today, it drips with ornate detail and delicate religious symbolism.

The building itself is of interest as well. The round base at the bottom was built by the Romans during the AD first century, the octagonal base on top of that during the fourth century, the next section during medieval times (look for uniform windows), and the fourth during the Gothic period (look for the higher, more delicate row of windows). From the top floor gallery, you can even see blackened stones from fires started by invading Muslim armies in the Middle Ages. The entrance to the museum leads through the original Roman wall and into a Gothic building that was the city’s oldest homeless shelter/soup kitchen, the Pia Almoina, before being turned into a prison in the 18th century under the dreaded Felipe V. As you reach the top floors, note the prisoner’s etchings still visible near the stairs, and don’t miss the excellent view of the cathedral’s facade next door. The museum also hosts a series of temporary historical and artistic exhibits. (Av. de la Catedral, 4. Jaume I. ☎933 15 22 13. Open M-Sa 10am-2pm and 4-8pm, Su 11-3pm. €6, students and seniors €3, under 7 free.)

Museu Del Calçat (Shoe Museum) . This bizarre collection of footwear is a tribute to the ancient guilds of Barcelona, tracing the existence of master shoemakers to an official document signed by the Bishop of Barcelona in 1203. Even today, a few faithful members tend to the guild’s chapel in the Cathedral de la Sant Creu. Tucked away in the Pl. Sant Felip Neri, the museum includes reproductions of shoes from as far back as the AD first century. The majority of the collection comes form the past three centuries and includes everything from 18th-century men’s sandals to Ronaldinho’s winning soccer cleats. When the Via Laietana was built in 1908, the Shoe Museum was dismantled stone by stone and moved to Felip Neri to make room for the new thoroughfare. (Pl. Sant Felip Neri, 5. Jaume I. ☎933 01 45 33. Open Tu-Su 11am-2pm. €2.50; information pamphlet €1.50.)