A diagonal route through contemporary Barcelona
The MUHBA is organising a walk along the central section of Avinguda de la Diagonal.
Diagonal Avenue is one of the roads that speaks most clearly about the city's contemporary history. Come and get to know it in depth on the Barcelona en Diagonal cycle walk along the central section of the avenue, which is offered by the Barcelona History Museum.
The walk is on Sunday, 7 April, but will also be repeated on the 28th of this month, so you have two opportunities to get to know the avenue in detail, specifically in the central section. You are invited (you must register, of course) to Plaça de Francesc Macià, the starting point of a route that will allow you to get to know Barcelona's contemporary architecture and the historical moment that accompanies it.
The route is part of a set of itineraries that cover the entire length of the twelve-kilometre-long Diagonal avenue, divided into one route along the western section, another (this one) along the central section and another along the eastern section.
For approximately three hours, you will learn about the history of an avenue planned in the Cerdà plan, as one of the two avenues (the other is the Meridiana) that make up the grid plan of the Eixample.
The avenue, which has had all kinds of names depending on the political circumstances of the time, was designed to quickly link up former independent municipalities that had been annexed to Barcelona and which the Cerdà Plan incorporated into the urban fabric, such as Sarrià and Poblenou.
The first section of the avenue was built around 1884, between what is now Carrer de Pau Claris and Passeig de Gràcia.
It became an example of new urban planning that was very well accepted in the old and now new neighbourhood of Gràcia. It would soon be extended... to Carrer de Bruc on one side and Carrer de Tuset on the other.
From the very first moment, therefore, this section of the Diagonal (at that time the only one that existed) became a coveted location for prestigious businesses, as it was in fact designed to compete in this aspect with the Passeig de Gràcia.
These and many other things will be explained to you in a three-hour walk that will turn you into experts on the central stretch of Barcelona's Diagonal.
If you want to come and get to know Barcelona en Diagonal, come and do this itinerary, but first check the information on the MUHBA website and register.