61 / 344
59
single nave and fine Gothic retable, and the romantic Renaissance
Torre del
Rei Martí
, which rises above one corner of the square. There’s currently no
public access to the tower, but the interiors of the hall and chapel can be seen
during a visit to the Museu d’Història de la Ciutat.
Museu d’Història de la Ciutat
The building that closes off the rest of Plaça del Rei houses the splendid city
history museum, the
Museu d’Història de la Ciutat de Barcelona
(MHCB;
April–SeptTues–Sat 10am–8pm, Sun & holidays 10am–3pm;Oct–MarchTues–Sat
10am–2pm & 4–8pm, Sun & holidays 10am–3pm; €6, includes entry to other
MHCB sites;
T
933 151 111,
W
www.museuhistoria.bcn.cat), whose crucial draw
is its underground archeological section – nothing less than the extensive remains
of the Roman city of Barcino.Descending in the lift (the floor indicator shows “12
BC”), you are deposited onto walkways running through excavations that extend
for 4000 square metres, stretching under Plaça del Rei and the surrounding streets
as far as the cathedral. The remains date from the first century BC to the sixth
century AD and reflect the transition from Roman toVisigothic rule – at the end
of the sixth century,a church was erected on top of the old Roman salt-fish factory,
the foundations of which are preserved down here almost in its entirety.Not much
survives above chest height, but explanatory diagrams show the extent of the
streets, walls and buildings – from lookout towers to laundries – while models,
mosaics, murals and displays of excavated goods help flesh out the reality of daily
life in Barcino. Note that your ticket is also valid for the monastery at Pedralbes
and the interpretation centre at Parc Güell.
Museu Frederic Marès
Another extraordinary display greets visitors in the
Museu Frederic Marès
(Tues–Sat 10am–7pm, Sun 10am–3pm; €4.20, Wed afternoon & first Sun of
month free;
T
932 563 500,
W
www.museumares.bcn.es), which occupies a
further wing of the old royal palace, behind Plaça del Rei; the entrance is
through Plaça de Sant Iu, off c/dels Comtes. The large arcaded courtyard,
studded with orange trees, is one of the most romantic in the old town, and the
summer café
here (
Café d’Estiu
, open April–Sept; closed Mon) makes a perfect
place to take a break from sightseeing.
Frederic Marès (1893–1991) was a sculptor, painter and restorer who more or
less single-handedly restored, often not entirely accurately, Catalunya’s decaying
medieval treasures in the early twentieth century. The
ground
and
basement
floors
of the museum consist of his personal collection of medieval sculpture – an
important body of work that includes a comprehensive collection of wooden
crucifixes showing the stylistic development of this form from the twelfth to the
fifteenth century. There are also antiquities, from Roman busts to Hellenistic
terracotta lamps, while the craftsmanship of medieval masons is displayed in a
series of rooms focusing on carved doorways, cloister fragments, sculpted capitals
and alabaster tombs.However, it’s the
upper two floors
, housing Marès’ personal
collectibles, that tend to make jaws drop.These present an incredible retrospective
jumble gathered during fifty years of travel,with entire rooms devoted to keys and
locks, pipes, cigarette cards and snuffboxes, fans, gloves and brooches, playing cards,
draughtsmen’s tools, walking sticks, dolls’ houses, toy theatres, old gramophones
and archaic bicycles, to list just a sample of what’s on show. In the artist’s library
on the second floor, some of Marès’ own reclining nudes, penitent saints and
bridling stags give an insight into his more orthodox work.
BARRI GÒTIC
|
Plaça del
Rei
and around