The Església de Santa Anna wears a mismatched face. Its front is a severe, arched doorway tucked into a quiet street, but the roof is topped by a heavy, square bell tower that looks like a fortress. This church belonged to the Order of the…
Shadow of the Wind Landmarks
Walk the atmospheric streets of mid-century Barcelona to trace the footsteps of Daniel Sempere, Fermín Romero de Torres, and Julián Carax from Carlos Ruiz Zafón's beloved novel.
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1. Carrer de Santa Anna
2. Els 4 Gats
The heavy, wrought-iron lanterns hanging beside the arched entrance of Els Quatre Gats are replicas of the ones Pere Romeu once commissioned for his tavern. Romeu opened this spot in eighteen ninety-seven, modeling it after the Le Chat…
3. Ateneu Barcelonès
The Ateneu Barcelonès stands out for its yellow facade covered in ornate, wrought-iron balconies overlooking the street. This building functions as a private cultural association and library, founded in the nineteenth century to foster…
4. Plaça de Sant Felip Neri
The walls of the church fronting the square are pockmarked with hundreds of small, jagged indentations. These scars are from an aerial bomb dropped during the Spanish Civil War in nineteen thirty-eight. Most of the people gathered in the…
5. Plaça Reial
The iron lampposts in the center of the square feature intricate winged helmets and snakes wrapped around the shafts. These were designed by a young Antoni Gaudí in eighteen seventy-nine. Before this plaza became an elegant residential…
6. Carrer de l'Arc del Teatre
Carrer de l'Arc del Teatre narrows into a cramped, stone-walled tunnel where the street passes directly beneath a residential building. This passageway survives as the only remaining trace of the original medieval city wall that once…