"Eixample" means Extension.
This district exists since 1860, after the demolition of the medieval ramparts. Today it is a vast commercial and residential district. Its perpendicular streets, give the city a new vision. A small Museum in the open air, the "Golden square" concentrates the biggest number of modernistic buildings in the city.
Frontages of wood, glass, iron and ceramics : an architectural Delight. This area is famous for its modern architecture. The building frontages are almost never the same. Barcelona’s Eixample district is the result of the city’s expansion project drawn up by Ildefons Cerdà and begun in 1860. It is one of the world’s most unusual urban spaces and Barcelona’s personality lies, to a great extent, in the unique layout of this district. The modernist hallmark is centred around a relatively small area, the central hub of the Passeig de Gràcia. This privileged area of the Eixample, known as the Quadrat d'Or, or Golden Square, is bounded by Carrer Aribau and the Passeig de Sant Joan, the Rondes and the Avinguda Diagonal.
To see: The Sagrada Familia, The Golden Square , La Pedrera, Antonio Tapies Foundation, La Casa Batllo , The Modernism Route.