Rambla de Santa Mònica
During the year 1774 the walls between the Theater Square and the sea were demolished, and almost a century later (1817), a fountain dedicated to Hercules, a mythical founder of the city, was erected, which was demolished at the end of the century. It was named "Theater Square" because it was in front of the Main Theater, one of the oldest in the city; currently in this square there is a monument dedicated to Frederic Soler, known as Serafi Pitarra, the founder of modern Catalan theater. The work is a project by the architect Falques and the sculpture is by Querol.
In the same Theater Square begins the street called d'Escudellers, a name that designates the potters who were located there during the Middle Ages. During the 18th century it was a hotel center and by the mid-19th century it was a meeting place attended by groups of progressive French people. Heir to these ideas was the aforementioned Frederic Soler. Nowadays this street has become popular for its typical restaurants, taverns, and bars, which have contributed to the liveliness of its nightlife. At the end of the street is the square dedicated to George Orwell, where a surrealist monument was installed, the work of Leandre Cristòfol (1991).
Through Theater Square we have access to Pompeu Fabra University, a building partly rehabilitated with some new additions. Behind the University is the new square dedicated to Joaquim Xirau, intended, like other areas in Ciutat Vella, to renew and decongest this part of the city.
We could say that the Rambla de Santa Mònica is the lobby of the port. It still preserves some of its ancient buildings: the house of the photographer Napoleón, the Marc palace, the building of Credit and Docks, at the end of the Bank passage, and the Cannon Foundry, a 17th-century building currently occupied by military facilities.
The Napoleón house currently houses the Colón fronton, recovered in 1992, as part of the Olympic works, as the venue for ball games. In the old marble building of Credit and Docks, built by Elies Rogent in 1882, we can see, added to its classical statues, the two modern figures of Superman and the android from Star Wars, which announce to us, in the same passage, the proximity of the Wax Museum, installed since 1973.
The Marc de Reus Palace preserves its facade of austere late 18th-century classicism. It was commissioned by Francesc March, a great merchant from Reus, and designed by the architect Joan Soler i Faneca (1776-1780). It currently houses the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya. We arrive at the end of this side of the Rambla: past the Cannon Foundry we find Josep Anselm Clavé street, which leads us to the Mercè church, and back to the Rambla, a little further down, we have the Military Government building.
Let's restart our tour by going down the right side of Rambla Santa Mònica and we have first the Main Theater. Its particular history attracts our attention. In 1568, Philip II granted the Santa Cruz Hospital the privilege of building a theater in Barcelona that could sustain this charitable institution with the proceeds from its collections. The lands were donated by Joan Bosch, and in 1603 a wooden theater was built on the same site as the current one. The wooden theater was later replaced by a masonry one that caught fire in 1787. A new building was subsequently constructed where Italian opera was performed for the first time in the country. It had formerly been called Corral de Comedias and, later, Casas de la Ópera. Later it was named Teatro de la Santa Cruz. In 1847 it underwent a significant restoration and received the name Teatro Principal by which it is currently known. It suffered two more fires: one in 1924 and, the last one, in 1933. The facade has a curved and tripartite shape, adorned with four busts of actors and actresses from the past.
A little further down is the street called l'Arc del Teatre, a typical street of the "Chinatown". This street connects Paralelo with the Rambla. We continue down and we have the old convent of the Discalced Augustinians (1626), now converted into the Santa Mònica Art Center, an art gallery of the Generalitat that has preserved the name of the old convent -Santa Mònica- and currently hosts interesting exhibitions. Next to it is the church of Santa Mònica, which houses a notable baroque cloister inside.
At the end of the Rambla we have the Drassanes, which are the largest and most complete medieval shipyards in the world and are perfectly preserved after the careful restoration carried out by the Barcelona Provincial Council. The Drassanes are the most important civil Gothic building in the city. Built between the 13th and 14th centuries, they were recovered after 1939 as a public place and are partly occupied by the Maritime Museum, created during the Civil War (1936-1939) and opened in 1941. The Naval Sector of Catalonia building occupies part of the land of the old Atarazanas Barracks House built in 1792 when the building was transferred to the artillery unit, and later demolished when the building was abandoned.
Punts d'interés
