Mercat del Born

Honoring the past of Catalonia! This is a cultural history center, where you can lay eyes on the ruins of the past Catalonia. Here, there's ancient walls, streets, houses, cisterns, and all kinds of archaeological finds. The building is an old looking building that has been lovingly placed over the ruins, and built around it. It's pretty amazing how the building is held up by pieces of wood that can be moved around and under, if need be. The audience of pedestrians walk around these elevated walkways over the open ruin excavations, but under an enclosed roof. You can rent earpieces that talk you through what's going on here, or I think they had an app. When I went during the pandemic, they were pretty vigilant about wearing masks. Even if sitting off on our own taking it all in, we were reminded to wear masks. I wish they could have had little placards along the way to let you know in more detail what's going on in the ruins, but I suppose that if you're really interested, you can take the audio tour or download the app. The whole thing is free! It's in close proximity to the park and the Picasso Museum, and the Arc de Triomph.

An amazing old completely restored market that instead of holding the 1990's planned Library is now a fully enclosed archeological site. It tells the story of the Catalan people, it's culture and ultimate demise in the 1700's. You see streets, the remains of Catalan nobility homes, as well as a sense of the way of life in Catalonia in the 1700's. There is also a lovely cafe for coffee and sandwiches inside. It is definitely worth a trip while touring around El Born.

Nice discovery! As we were waiting for our timed entry into the Picasso Museum, we found the Mercat del Born was open so peeked in to see what it was all about. This culture center houses an archaeological dig, which has unearthed an ancient city. You can see dwellings, a marketplace, & a roadway & the excavation is still going on. There was a tour of school children while we were there & the Mr & I were jealous that they were allowed among the ruins - we were relegated to staying upstairs, looking down Shops surround the ruins on the upper floor & makes for a very cool environment!

This was a surprise discovery for us. We were just wandering through the El Born area looking for somewhere to have a cafe con leche, when this giant building appeared round a corner. The Mercat Del Born is now a free museum - with excavated ruins sub street level. The ruins show how the merchants of Born, used to live and work. And there's lots of historical facts about civil wars and effects of the city etc dotted all around. There's also a cafe and some work rooms at the far end of the building. Well worth a visit - and it's all lit up at night, and surrounded by some awesome bars and restaurants.

Absolute Gem of a place, again always finding something new in Barca to do. I fluke found this building when i decided to go for a random no general destination kind of walk. I almost did not go in but i needed a washroom and i was like WOW, the whole inside is an archaeological site. Being a fan of history I ended up spending 2 hours in here. Walking around the ruins you can read all about the history of the area and the building. So much to learn! If I remember there is a cafe and shop within the larger building. It was quiet when i went which is perfect, no selfie sticks in site. Not sure if they charge for a tour or anything. This should be on everyone's must visit list when in Barcelona.

This thing is amazing! I just saw it for the first time while on a business trip. They're still doing work around it, but what a structure. I peeked inside at the old ruins that will be a new city museum. It was an old market in Barcelona, but it closed down years ago. Now, it's going to be a cultural center for the neighborhood and a museum. Plus, the area and buildings around it will be a huge plaza. Seriously awesome work, even though Spain is having such trouble now. Love the attention to history!