Paris1972-Versailles2003

As I come here, do not know why but always start and end here it has become symbolic omg ! Barcelona has a lot to offer and you need several days to enjoy it or as me come several times to see bits of it each time. By now done that…

Montjuif is different. It is like a miniature city within it and you can easly spend days here not only sightseeing but shopping and eating/drinking your heart out. The place to be seen with wonderful museums. I love it!

A bit on what is here my favorites:

Montjuic is a hill in Barcelona with a height of 173 meters above sea level, which houses a homonymous district, in the district of Sants-Montjuic. There are remains of an Iberian settlement from the 3C BC and the 2C BC have been found.   In 1751 the present castle was built.

The mountain or actually meaning Jewish Mountain is internationally known for having served as reference for the estimation of the first definition of the meter!. They measured the length of arc of the meridian that passes through France, from Dunkerque to Montjuic Barcelona, between 1792 and 1798; The measurement results were used to establish the decimal metric system! Amazing!.  On the occasion of the International Exhibition of Barcelona of 1929, the urbanization of some areas of the mountain was completed, why the different pavilions that rise up by the slopes of the mountain would be built . On both sides of the promenade that leads from the Plaça d’Espanya, in the district of Sants-Montjuic, and from where you can enjoy great views.

The Jewish cemetery of Montjuic is located in a small field located on the north-eastern slope of the mountain of Montjuich, about 100 meters above sea level, from where the whole medieval city of Barcelona was dominated, in whose interior the Jewish quarter was located. The first written news about the Jewish necropolis in Barcelona dates back to the 11C (1091), This necropolis lasted until the end of the Jewish Quarter in the year 1391AD , when it suffers its devastation and the plundering of funerary tombstones. When it was recorded the first archaeological performance carried out within the enclosure, in a more or less controlled way. This made it possible to confirm that the necropolis stretched on both sides of the road leading to the castle of Montjuic, which corresponds to the current road of the Castilla. The archaeological excavation works of the years 1945 and 2001 have allowed to document a part of the necropolis with more than 700 graves. It is, by its characteristics, the largest, most significant and most representative ensemble of the memory and culture of the Jewish community during medieval times in the area of Catalonia and, most likely, of the western Mediterranean.

In the mountain, there are several Olympic facilities that hosted the Barcelona Olympic Games 1992. In Montjuic are also places of tourist interest like the Pueblo Español or Poble Espanyol or Spanish town , an enclosure built for the exhibition of 1929 and that collects streets, squares and places characteristic of all Spain, as you can see in its entrance with the towers of Avila , or a typical Andalusian patio, with its streets full of flowers, besides being populated of restaurants, bars and places of entertainment and spectacle, here are   the Theater Lliure, the Mercat de les Flors (flower market), the Greek theater, the Joan Miró foundation, the cultural center CaixaForum , the MNAC (museum of national arts of Catalunya), the Ethnological Museum of Barcelona and the Museum of Archaeology of Catalunya. Crown the mountain the castle of Montjuic, former fortress and military museum.

In the Avinguda María Cristina, main entrance to the hill of Montjuich from the Plaça d’Espanya (Spain square), there are several pavilions built on the occasion of the International Exhibition of 1929, the majority of which are now part of the Fira Barcelona Congress hall , which It organises some of the most important salons, exhibitions and exhibits in Spain. The itinerary of the avenue is marking of water columns on both sides of it, culminating in the magic fountain and the waterfalls of Montjuic, which on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays show a unique spectacle in the world of water, light, music and color.

The large extensions of gardens, and the spectacular views offered by the city of Barcelona from it. Among the first, the historical Botanical Garden which has a unique collection of cactus, and the new Botanical Garden of Barcelona specializing in the flora of the Mediterranean areas of the world. The Hispano-árabic-style gardens of the Laribal, which through a series of terraces with pergolas, squares and fountains (such as the famous Font del Gat) lead to the Greek theater, an open-air theater inspired by the ancient Greek theatres, especially in the Epidaurus. The gardens of the Umbraculum., and finally, the gardens of Miramar were located on the hill seafront view. Also in the 1920’s was located in the northwest slope of the hill the nursery of three Pins, where plants were cultivated to supply the gardens of the city; In its grounds was installed in 1993 the garden of Petra Kelly, in homage to this German ecologist.

Transports with originality to reach Montjuic are the cable car or funicular of Montjuic that connects the hill with the district of Pueblo Seco and the cable car or funicular de Montjuic that runs on the north superior side of the hill and as well the aerial cable car that connects the Port of Barcelona. Also, by metro such as Paral-le line 2 and 3, plaça d’Espanya lines 1, 3, and 8, the Fira 1 MNAC line 2 and the newest INEFC line 2.

More info from the tourist office of Barcelona: Tourist office of Barcelona on Montjuic

Enjoy it , worth the detour indeed and I stayed by the area too each time! And remember, happy travels, good health,and many cheers to all !!!