In Barcelona there is a longmarket culture: the famous Boqueria and Santa Caterina Markets are joined by others with great charm like Sant Antoni (whose rehabilitation worksare being finished), the Ninot (whose reconstruction worksconcluded few months ago) and the Mercatdel Born, which barely a year ago was converted into a cultural centre.
A new concept of market
Barcelona’s markets are striking buildings where apart from buying, one may find: meeting points where to meet friends, visitors, neighbours and, of course, a place where to buy the freshest and splendid seasonal products.
Imagen: wikipedia
Devoid of the so-called “Paradetas” (stands where merchants are selling products in a market), the Mercatdel Born retains all the rest. The medieval atmosphere remains like a beautiful scenery and culture as a common denominator, since it opened its doors again on September 11, 2013.The Born market has again become a meeting place and an entertainmentfor locals and tourists in general but mostly for neighbours of the Born in particular, who have seen the transformation of this beautiful building made with iron, glass and ceramic tiles intoa new placewhich offers us, even more than before, the enormous heritage of the neighbourhood.
Born: a jewel of Barcelona’s Old Town
Barcelona’s old town is much more than the Gothic Quarter: to the charm of the surroundings of the cathedral, we can add the Raval, which had already its own cultural revolution with the construction of the MACBA, the CCCB and the Cinémathèque of Catalonia recently, and the Born, with attractions such as the Mercatde Santa Caterina, the imposing Catedral del Mar or the charming cobblestone streets that keephidden gems such as the Picasso Museum.
Thus, those who rent an apartment in the Born benefit from a dynamic, live and attractive environment that connects perfectly not only with the city centre, but also with other parts of the city within five minutes walk as the neighbourhood of Barceloneta (the most authentic seaside of Barcelona), the elegant and palatial Ciutadella Park and the Arc de Triomf.
A powerful cultural engine
Within the Born market does no longer resonate loudly advertised offers, nor the products are very fresh, but the visitor can hear the echoes of another era inBarcelona, the medieval, perfectly legible on the remains that have been preserved and they tell us how they lived in the city since the fourteenth century until the War of Succession in1714 that would be the end of the old medieval Born neighborhood and led to the construction of the Ciutadella.
Today it is just the opposite, as a paradox of fate, and The Ciutadella (which means fortification in Catalan) has been converted into a park and the Born has risenfrom the ashes witnessing this market, from which every day except Sunday guided tours are offered and they bring us to that time.
But not only tours are made: from exhibitions to cultural facilities such as a library and several meeting houses, the Born market stands as a new attraction accordingthe true Barcelona style flirt with history and culture and contemporary design being respectful in the result.
