Passeig de Gracia - Paseo de Gracia street Barcelona

Passeig de Gracia

Passeig de Gracia - Paseo de Gracia

Barcelona's famous shopping street

Updated 2022

Passeig de Gracia is without doubt Barcelona's most famous and elegant shopping street.  This is where the Barcelona flagship stores of many global fashion designer brands can be found. You can also find excellent restaurants and some of Barcelona's best hotels on Passeig de Gracia

Passeig de Gracia is also generally thought to be the most expensive street in Barcelona, and perhaps even in Spain, in terms of real estate. 

The Passeig de Gràcia street was officially inaugurated on May 24, 1827. The street name is 'Passeig de Gracia' in Catalan and 'Paseo de Gracia' in Spanish and means the 'Gracia passage' meaning road to Gracia. Before the inauguration it was called Camí de Jesús because it went from Barcelona to Gracia but also passed a convent called Santa Maria de Jesús de Barcelona founded in 1427 by Franciscan friars.

This was a country road through fields that linked the walled city of Barcelona to what was then the separate village of Gracia. Gracia was a separate village until 1897when it formally became part of Barcelona.

It left Barcelona at the Portal de l'Àngel and went through fields and past the convent before ending at the village of Gracia. 

The convent de Santa Maria de Jesús de Barcelona was located on what is now the junction of streets Passeig de Gracia and Arago.

The convent of Jesus is long gone. Like most convents and monasteries that in the centres of Spanish citites it was expropiated and demolished to make way for city dwellings during the industrial revolution.

From 1843 Barcelona began the demolition of its medieval city walls and started an expansion of the city into what has now become the Eixample district - which means the'extension'.

Over time all the blocks in the Eixample were developed and Barcelona engulfed the entire village of Gracia and in 1897 Gracia was formally annexed by the city which now surrounds the old village. 


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When the new extended Eixample area of Barcelona was constructed to expand the old medieval city, the Passeig de Gracia street quickly became the most expensive, fashionable and famous street in Eixample. Most of the top architects of the modernist era have built a famous structure on this street including Gaudi, Domènech i Montaner, Puig i Cadafalch, and Sagnier.

Today the Passeig de Gracia is reputed to be Spain's most expensive street for real estate and is home several of Barcelona's most famous buildings, famous hotels and many top brand names in designer fashion.

Map best hotels Paseo de Gracia

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The Passeig de Gracia starts at Barcelona's iconic Plaça de Catalunya central square and ends at the corner of Gracia village. It is a lovely stroll at any time of year and Passeig de Gracia is too long a street so about 1 hour to stroll from the full length.

On the way you can everything about the famous boulevar from the gaudi paving stones to the fantastic architecture. And this famous boulevard has many high end fashion stores and restaurants. Find them here.

If you want a break during strolling then take a seat one one of the 32 lovely modernist benches decorated with trencadis. The benches are also the base of the Passeig de Gracia street lamps. These iconic benches were designed by modernist architecht Pere Falqués i Urpí in 1906.

Highlights of this famous boulevard are the modernist houses Casa Batllo and La Pedrera by Antonic Gaudi and the  Casa Amatller by Josep Puig i Cadafalch. There are several top restaurants on Passeig de Gracia in the five star hotels that lined the boulevard including Casa Fuster, the Sir Victor hotel, Hotel Oriental Mandarin with Michelin restaurant Moments.

The Passeig de Gracia is fabulous for shopping any day, but Christmas shopping is a treat. Christmas in Barcelona and on Passeig de Gracia opens with the Barcelona Shopping Night event every year at the start of December.


Related pages


Pictures Passeig de Gracia
Designer shops on Passeig de Gracia
Shopping in Barcelona
About Eixample area of Barcelona
Casa Batllo
La Pedrera (Casa Mila)
Casa Amatller
Hotels on Passeig de Gracia
Hotel Casa Fuster
Hotel Mandarin
Hotel Majestic
 
Passeig de Gracia

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Last Updated on Tuesday, 25 July 2023 12:40
 
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