octagonal city

how to describe barcelona? we are talking about a mediterranean powerhouse that stepped out of the middle ages with the appearance and energy of a young debutante. with a healthy two milleniums of roman history in her back pocket, the ´92 olympics kick-started a spectacular transformation that saw the dawn of a technological revolution while preserving the treasures of her architectural capital and natural beauty.

two thousand years ago, roman settlers founded barcelona - then called barcino - and evidence of their stay is still very much alive and well. in the old city are ruins everywhere of old palaces and vestiges of the ramparts that made up the fortified wall around the city. as threats to the city diminished with the passage of time, the walls came down and the city grew well beyond them but barcelonians always had the presence of mind to protect and highlight their heritage. consequently, much of the old roman fortifications are highlighted by barcie´s historical society as bona fide ruins.

but well outside of the old town, many new buildings - even if built in concrete - still follow the principles of spanish architecture: curved flowing lines and plenty of flourishes. one really funky feature of the newer (by european standards, that is!) industrial L´Eixemple neighbourhood is that their city blocks are shaped octagonally. in a city where high rises rule, this creates the illusion of space where you would otherwise have felt crowded. i caught an aerial photo of this phenomenon - gorgeous!

while strolling through some of these octagonal blocks, i came across an open air market housed under the fabulous mercat de sant antoni building. though relatively young by barcelonian standards, the building dates back to 1850 and has plenty of charisma.