Pl. Nova & Barrio de la Catedral

The Nova Square is a small space but with many elements that show the history and art of Barcelona. To visit Plaça Nova is to face the entrance gate of the most monumental wall of the Roman city of Barcelona, ​​presided over by Saint Roc (holy protector of Barcelona and patron saint of the oldest festivals in the city that began in 1589). There you can also find some contemporary artistic elements such as the Picasso frieze from the College of Architects or the letters of Barcino by Joan Brossa. It is also an impossible memory exercise because of the two urban plans and a major bombardment that made disappear the original shape of the neighborhood, leaving more than two thousand buildings toppled (palaces, convents, churches, houses and shops) and forcing more than ten thousand people to leave.

Currently, the natural line of continuity when passing from Plaça Nova is to walk along the Catedral Avenue, with different historic business as the Colón Hotel, or to continue along del Bisbe Street, where in 1928 Joan Rubió Bellver built the neo-Gothic bridge that joins the Casa de los Canónigos with the Palau de la Generalitat. The decoration is inspired by the forms of the flamboyant Gothic. Despite its modernity, not exempt from controversy at the time, it is one of the most popular stamps and one of the most photographed places in Barcelona. It is also the street where the emblematic Antigua Cerería Lluís Codina (1825-2016) was located. The shop reopened in 2017 as a shoe store with the Mas family and it preserves the furniture from the early 19th century and also the workshop.