barcelona
Hotel Barcelona Universal offers an unforgettable 4 star Barcelona hotel experience. Find all the services you require for an excellent stay in the city.
A walk down el Paral·lel
The stroll along el Paral·lel from the port to Plaza Espanya is an illuminating and symbolic journey through Barcelona’s history from the Middle Ages to the 21st century. The avenue begins right beside the Drassanes building. These shipyards were constructed in 1285 to build the fleet of the King of Aragon, the most powerful fleet in the Mediterranean at that time. Further up the road, just behind Hotel Barcelona Universal, stands the Sant Pau del Camp monastery, which was first founded in the countryside outside the city walls. The building is perhaps the best example of Roman architecture in Barcelona. It was erected in 911 and later rebuilt in 1114, following an Arab siege.
The unique Molino building sits further up the avenue, with its iconic windmill and LED wall, the latter added in a 2010 restoration project to update and fulfill the focus on arts and entertainments that the site began a century earlier. And towards Plaza Espanya, we find the pavilions of the Fira de Barcelona, built in 1929 to host the International Exposition, as well as the National Palace and the Magical Fountain. The final historical site on the tour through el Paral·lel is the renovated Plaza de Toros de las Arenas, which dates from 1900 and has recently been converted into a shopping center.
