The Dreta Eixample and the passatges

Stops along the way

Things to notice.

1. 01

   1

   Casa de les Punxes

   Puig i Cadafalch's 1905 house of spires — six conical turrets and a free-standing block that looks like it wandered in from a Bavarian fairy tale. Walk a full circuit; it's the only *modernista* building in the city you can see from all four sides.

   01

   Casa de les Punxes

   Puig i Cadafalch's 1905 house of spires — six conical turrets and a free-standing block that looks like it wandered in from a Bavarian fairy tale. Walk a full circuit; it's the only *modernista* building in the city you can see from all four sides.

   ◉Street View
2. 02

   2

   Palau Montaner

   Domènech i Montaner's quieter mansion on *Carrer de Mallorca*, now a government residence, its mosaic-and-stone facade glimpsed over the railings. You can't go in unannounced, but the exterior and the garden corner reward a slow pass.

   02

   Palau Montaner

   Domènech i Montaner's quieter mansion on *Carrer de Mallorca*, now a government residence, its mosaic-and-stone facade glimpsed over the railings. You can't go in unannounced, but the exterior and the garden corner reward a slow pass.

   ◉Street View
3. 03

   3

   Mercat de la Concepció

   A 19th-century iron market known for its flower stalls, several of which stay open around the clock. Buy nothing; just walk the cut-flower aisle for the colour and the smell, the antidote to a morning of grey stone facades.

   03

   Mercat de la Concepció

   A 19th-century iron market known for its flower stalls, several of which stay open around the clock. Buy nothing; just walk the cut-flower aisle for the colour and the smell, the antidote to a morning of grey stone facades.

   ◉Street View
4. 04

   4

   Passatge Méndez Vigo

   The first of the hidden *passatges* — a private through-street of low houses and front gardens, a different scale entirely from the boulevards 50 metres away. Walk it slowly and quietly; people live here.

   04

   Passatge Méndez Vigo

   The first of the hidden *passatges* — a private through-street of low houses and front gardens, a different scale entirely from the boulevards 50 metres away. Walk it slowly and quietly; people live here.

   ◉Street View
5. 05

   5

   Passatge Permanyer

   The finest of the *passatges*: a gated garden row of two-storey villas, palms and railings, laid out in the 1860s for the well-to-do. If the gate's open, walk in to the middle and look back — the oh-my-god of the whole walk.

   05

   Passatge Permanyer

   The finest of the *passatges*: a gated garden row of two-storey villas, palms and railings, laid out in the 1860s for the well-to-do. If the gate's open, walk in to the middle and look back — the oh-my-god of the whole walk.

   ◉Street View
6. 06

   6

   An interior-block garden

   Finish at one of the opened courtyards inside a block — the green lung Cerdà drew into every *illa* before speculation filled most of them in. A bench here, then *Girona* metro a few minutes on.

   06

   An interior-block garden

   Finish at one of the opened courtyards inside a block — the green lung Cerdà drew into every *illa* before speculation filled most of them in. A bench here, then *Girona* metro a few minutes on.

   ◉Street View