September 20th, 2009

Avinguda Diagonal is the forename of one of Barcelona’s most important avenues. It separates the city in two, diagonally from west to east, hence the name. It was initially projected by engineer and urban planner Ildefons Cerda as one of the city’s wide avenues, which along with Avinguda Meridiana would cut the rationalist grid he designed for l’Eixample. Both would meet at Placa de les Glories Catalanes, which Cerda envisioned as the new city centre. On the other hand, Placa Catalunya, occupying a more privileged position in the urban area would finally become the centre. The avenue starts in the Sant Martí district, next to Ronda del Litoral, bordering Sant Adria de Besos, and crosses the city finally meeting the Lleida-Madrid highway and Ronda de Dalt, by Esplugues de Llobregat, in Les Corts. It’s constantly 50 m wide and about 11 km long.

The Pavilion was not only a pioneer for building forms with a fresh, disciplined understanding of space, but also for modeling new opportunities for an exciting association of free art and architecture. Mies placed Georg Kolbe’s Morgen (“Morning”) in the little water basin, leaving the larger one all the more empty. The statue also ties into the highly reflective materials Mies used—he chose the place where these optical effects would have the strongest impact; the building offers multiple views of Morgen “From now on, in the sense of parity for juxtaposing building and visual work, statues were no longer to be applied with hindsight to the building, but rather to be a part of the spatial design, to help define and interpret it. To the day, one of the most eminent examples is the Barcelona Pavilion”.

Barcelona’s attractions and places you should not miss are described in the sections devoted to Visits, Nightlife, Restaurants and Shopping, while other useful information are available in the sections about Events, Excursions, Flights, Transports and Map. In the Hotel over 350 hotels are offered at the best available prices. The best areas of Barcelona for choosing your hotel is Ramblas: the famous tree-lined street of Barcelona goes through the centre of the city from Catalunya square to the sea. Gothic: the good-looking medieval district of Barcelona is an ideal solution for the choice of your hotel because of its situation in the centre of the city. Sea Front: it is good choices for those who want to combine the visit of the city with some relax on the beach, or also just to enjoy the view of the sea. Born: today it is the most stylish district of Barcelona. Strategically situated between the Gothic District and the Sea Front it boasts beautiful medieval buildings, the Picasso museum and a lively nightlife.

The Eixample district was built at the start of the ‘900 during the modernist period, when Barcelona experienced an economic and artistic boom. It is in this district that all Gaudi’s masterpieces, including La Pedrera, Casa Battlo and the Sagrada Familia, are located. Its major street, Passeig de Gracia, is the most popular shopping area of the city.

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