LA RIBERA

Description

Essentials about La Ribera in brief

La Ribera is one of the most charming neighborhoods of Barcelona and therefore definitely worth a visit. It is very centrally located between the Gothic old town Barri Gòtic, the Parc de la Ciutadella, the La Barceloneta neighborhood and the old port Port Vell. The special charm of La Ribera is its medieval streets and squares, where there are plenty of trendy bars, cafes and restaurants to discover. La Ribera is also home to the Picasso Museum and the Gothic Church of Santa Maria del Mar, two of Barcelona’s most important sights.

The history of La Ribera

La Ribera’s central boulevard, Carrer de Montcada, unusually did not come into being over time through gradual population growth, but rather the street and surrounding land were a gift from Count Ramon Berenguer IV to the merchant Guillem Ramon de Montcada in 1148. In the following decades, people began to settle in the new settlement of Vilanove de Mar just outside the city walls of Barcelona.

La Ribera developed into the richest part of the city in the early 13th century and flourished until the 15th century. Carrer de Montcada was the residence of many wealthy artisans and businessmen who conducted a lively trade with the entire then known world. Gothic and Baroque villas still stand in this once noblest street. The Picasso Museum is now located in one of these palaces. At the beginning of this period of prosperity in 1392, the first commercial exchange in Europe was also founded in La Ribera.

Absolutely worth seeing in La Ribera is the Gothic church of Santa Maria del Mar. Built in the 14th century, the church is an outstanding example of Catalan Gothic, with a purity and uniformity of style rather unusual for large medieval buildings.

In the 18th century, part of La Ribera had to give way to the citadel, and the commercial center shifted to Port Vell. La Ribera experienced decades of decline until the early 1990s. Today, La Ribera is once again a gentrified neighborhood with many trendy pubs, restaurants, bars, galleries and boutiques.