Barcelona

Antonio Gaudi is Barcelona's patron architect. Much of the city bears his stamp. Nowhere is this more evident than in his unfinished masterpiece, The Temple of the Holy Family. Work began in 1883 but halted after the architect's untimely death from a tram accident in 1926.

On its way to becoming as tall as nearby Montjuic mountain (564 feet/172m), this tribute to the architect's passion is one of Barcelona's great wonders. Over a 120 years later, the cathedral is still actively under construction, and is scheduled to continue for the next 40 years.

One of the most popular shopping areas of Barcelona, the Poble Espanyol is an array of houses, shops and other buildings done in every style seen across Spain. Enter through the gateway simulated to look like the great walled city of Avila and experience the many sights within.

At the base of Montjuic in Barcelona, while standing in the Placa d'Espanya, visitors see before them two majestic towers. Constructed in 1929 as part of the Palau Nacional for the World Exhibition, they form the entrance to this Spanish city's magnificent hilltop park.

But long before those towers were constructed this hill held a special place in Barcelona. Thousands of years ago Iberian Celts settled here. Serving a military purpose, it housed a fort in 1640. That was replaced in the 18th century by a large fortress (called the Castell de Montjuic) that overlooked the city below.

Once exclusively a flower market, the bustling Las Ramblas area of Barcelona is the perfect place for shopping and people watching. Once lined with convents and churches, the streets are now thronged with performers, magazine vendors and a hundred other things. The convents and monasteries were all closed by 1830.

There are no cars allowed in the central sections. They are constrained to two small one-way streets on either side of the pedestrian areas. So, you can walk at your leisure among the many things to see and do.

Barcelona Zoo receives over a million visitors per year. It isn't hard to see why, once you know about all the things it has to offer animal lovers. Built in 1892 these 13 hectares located in Ciutadella Park house thousands of animals from 400 different species, many of whom are not typically found at other conservation facilities.

In the ultra-fashionable neighborhood along Passeig de Gr‡cia stands one of the most unusual examples of Barcelona architecture - or anywhere else in the world: Casa Mil‡, otherwise known as La Pedrera.

The first name is drawn from the patron who commissioned renowned architect Antonio Gaudi to build what became an apartment complex.

Barcelona is an ancient city, born of the Roman Empire. But like many great cities around the world, it flowered in the late Middle Ages and blossomed in the mid-19th century. Yet there are many exciting elements of the modern period there, as well. These periods are all evident in this northeastern Spanish city on the Mediterranean Sea coast.