Plaça Reial’s consistent arcades and balconies create a calm geometric room just off La Rambla. Francesc Daniel Molina designed it on the site of a demolished Capuchin convent, but a royal monument planned for its centre gave way to the Three Graces fountain and Gaudí’s early streetlamps.
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Step beneath the arcades of Plaça Reial and the city’s dense street pattern suddenly opens into a regular rectangle. The square was planned in the mid-nineteenth century to create a spacious, ordered setting in Barcelona’s old centre.
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UpgradeQuick facts
- Construction began in 1848 on a former Capuchin convent site.
- Francesc Daniel Molina designed the square.
- Antoni Gaudí’s lamps were installed in 1879.
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