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Eixample Esquerra - The Cradle of "Modern Barcelona" |
Eixample Dreta (right) and Eixample Esquerra (left) are like Siamese twins sharing the same body yet developing distinctive personalities. The ”siblings” are a product of Barcelona’s extension (eixample) plan of 1859, when the city decided to move beyond the boundaries of the Roman Walls, and one architect (Ildefons Cerdà) sat down with his ruler and planned the new district. Naturally, the two halves share several traits like: interesting architecture, good shopping and a vivid night-scene. The “Golden Mile” (part of the so-called “Barcelona Shopping Line”) stretches from the right through Pg. de Gràcia, and goes south on Av. Diagonal into Eixample left. A place to start exploring is the Rambla de Catalunya, which is roughly where this side of the district begins, and shouldn’t be overlooked even though situated next to Passeig de Gràcia and above the famous Las Ramblas. Like any self-respecting Catalan rambla, it has its share of shops, cafes, restaurants and a couple of nightspots to boot.
The area is officially parted into three barrios. The first, L’Antiga Esquerra, was urbanised in the first half of the 20th century with the advent of a market (Mercat del Nino) and a the Hospital Clínic. Delineated by the large avenues of Gran Via (bottom) and the Av.Diagonal (top), the area is central to the gay night-scene with numerous “gay-friendly” bars, business and nightclubs. The outer region of Eixample Esquerra: La Nova Esquerra, (stretching to Plaça Espanya - gateway to both commercial and cultural Barcelona -) is home to the Parc de Joan Miró, the Escola Industrial (with Gaudí responsible for its 1904 transformation from factory to educational institution), and the stately Casa Golferichs (1901) civic-centre. East of La Nova, the St. Antoni neighbourhood is the place for daily purchases with seemingly a bakery for every other inhabitant, and the Mercat de Sant Antoni – one of the original iron structure markets in the city-. The original medieval route out of Barcelona, the Av.Mistral, is now a pedestrian street to take a time-out enjoying an ice cream or an orxata (nutty, local drink). Plaça Espanya being the location of the event halls and the congressional centre, this is a very convenient location for travellers in Barcelona on business.
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