Barcelona · Spain
Roman Walls of Barcelona
A practical guide to the Roman walls of Barcelona: where to see the best stretches for free, the tower and the chapel of Santa Àgata on Plaça de Ramon Berenguer, what to look for in the stone and a short route.
The most impressive free Roman sight in Barcelona. There's not much to do but look, but in one glance you see two thousand years of city.
The Roman walls of Barcelona are the surviving stretches of the wall of Barcino, the colony founded by Augustus. It once ran 1.3 kilometers, with about 78 two-story towers, and four large stretches can still be seen in the Gothic Quarter, free and from the street. The tallest and longest is on Plaça de Ramon Berenguer el Gran, with the Gothic chapel of Santa Àgata resting on top.
Our experience
We got there around 16:48 on Wednesday, May 27, walking along Carrer de la Tapineria after Caelum, near the end of our walk through the Gothic Quarter. We gave about ten minutes to the Ramon Berenguer stretch, the best one from what we had read, and went on to Plaça del Rei. That day we had already seen the Roman gate at Plaça de l’Àngel and the Temple d’August; the wall completed Barcino’s other face, the defensive one. The full afternoon is in our arrival in Barcelona.
A bit of history
The first wall, from around 10 BC, was modest: plain stone and towers only at the four gates. From the mid-3rd century, Frankish and Alemannic raiders began pushing into Hispania, and Tarragona, the provincial capital, was sacked. Barcino responded with a new wall on top of the old one: two stone faces filled with Roman concrete, towers about 18 meters tall every few meters and a circuit protecting just over 10 hectares. So many towers on such a small circuit earned it the nickname “the crowned city.”
The builders were in a hurry and, instead of quarrying new stone, they took apart the city’s old monuments: tombstones, statues, cornices. Many of those pieces can be seen in the wall today, sideways or upside down.
When the empire fell, the wall was too big to tear down, and the city built on top of it. In 1302 King James II had the chapel of Santa Àgata raised on the Roman base, and the Palau Requesens was set on three towers. Most of the circuit stayed hidden in cellars and courtyards until the cutting of Via Laietana, in 1908, exposed the Sots-Tinent Navarro stretch. Plaça de Ramon Berenguer was opened in the 1940s, when the City Council cleared away the houses hiding the wall.
A short route
If you have 30 or 40 minutes, start at Plaça Nova with the towers of the Porta Praetoria, pass in front of the cathedral, continue to Plaça de Ramon Berenguer and finish on Carrer del Sots-Tinent Navarro. It’s all of the 4th-century wall you can see from the street, and it costs nothing.
What to see, in order
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The tower on Carrer de la Tapineria
One of the best-preserved square Roman towers of Barcino, at the highest point of the Ramon Berenguer stretch.
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The reused tombstones
In the lower courses, look for Latin letters sideways or upside down, like D.M., "to the spirits of the dead." They are tombstones and pieces of monuments stuffed into the wall in a hurry.
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The seam between Roman and medieval
Where the chapel begins, the stone changes: a different color, different joints, a different cut.
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The chapel of Santa Àgata
A royal Gothic chapel from 1302 resting directly on the wall, with a simple apse and a rose window.
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The statue of Ramon Berenguer III
The equestrian statue of the Count of Barcelona, by Josep Llimona in 1888, in the middle of the square. From there you get the photo of wall, tower and chapel together.
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Plaça Nova
The two round towers of the Porta Praetoria, rebuilt in the 12th century on a Roman base, the aqueduct arch reconstructed in 1958 and Picasso's 1962 frieze on the College of Architects.
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Carrer del Sots-Tinent Navarro
A long stretch with square towers built into the Palau Requesens: this is how the wall survived, as the foundation for other buildings.
Tips we wish we’d known
Tips
- The classic photo is from Carrer de la Tapineria, looking at the wall and tower with the chapel apse on top.
- For the full route: Plaça Nova, then Plaça de Ramon Berenguer and finally Carrer del Sots-Tinent Navarro. It takes 30 to 40 minutes and costs nothing.
- Pair it with the Temple d'August and the MUHBA at Plaça del Rei if you want to see Roman Barcino in full.
- There are no restrooms on the square. The nearest are in a café, with a purchase.
Do
- Keep your bag in front: the square opens onto Via Laietana, one of the busiest pickpocket corridors.
- Get close to the lower courses: several inscriptions are readable at eye level.
- Buy the MUHBA ticket online if you plan to go inside the chapel; you skip the line at Plaça del Rei.
Don’t
- Don't pay the photographers at Plaça Nova who take your picture with the towers and then charge you €5–10.
- Don't book the "Roman Barcino" tours handed out on flyers by people dressed as Romans: they're unlicensed and charge €25–35.
- Don't sign clipboard petitions on Plaça Nova.
Frequently asked questions
Where can you see the Roman walls in Barcelona?
The best stretches are on Plaça de Ramon Berenguer el Gran, on Plaça Nova in front of the cathedral and on Carrer del Sots-Tinent Navarro. All can be seen for free from the street.
How much does it cost to see them?
Nothing. Only the inside of the chapel of Santa Àgata costs money, as part of the €7 MUHBA Plaça del Rei ticket.
How old are they?
The first wall dates from around 10 BC. What you see today is the reinforcement from the late 3rd and 4th centuries, built on top of the first.
How tall are they?
On Plaça de Ramon Berenguer the wall still stands about 9 meters, roughly half the 18 meters of the original towers.
How much time do you need?
10 to 15 minutes for Plaça de Ramon Berenguer; 30 to 40 minutes for the route through all three stretches.