University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Ghid vizitatori și ce de văzut în apropiere

The historic building of the University of Barcelona stands on Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, beside Plaça Universitat in the Eixample district of Barcelona. It is a 19th-century university palace with a deliberately medieval look, built for an institution whose roots go back to the 15th century. It is still a working university, so you see the place as students use it.

The story behind it

Barcelona's university was founded in the 15th century, but its life in the city was interrupted. After the War of the Spanish Succession, the Bourbon king Felipe V closed it and moved university teaching away from Barcelona, to Cervera. Studies returned to the city only in the 19th century, and the present building was raised then to give the university a proper home again.

Although it was designed in the 1800s, it looks much older. That is no accident. Catalonia was living through a cultural revival at the time, and artists and architects wanted to recall the region's medieval glory. The building reflects that mood. It has a central block with two side wings, one traditionally given to the sciences and one to the humanities. Today they house the Mathematics and Philology faculties. Each wing has its own cloister, and a garden lies between them.

What to look for

• The overall shape of the building: a main central block flanked by two symmetrical wings, which gives the facade its formal, almost monastic look.
• The medieval-style details, which show how a 19th-century design was meant to echo an older Catalan past.
• The two cloisters, one in each wing, quiet arcaded spaces that feel far from the traffic of Gran Via.
• The garden that separates the wings, and the paranimf, the great auditorium above the entrance hall where graduations and major university ceremonies take place.

Tips for your visit

• Allow 20 to 30 minutes to take in the facade, the garden and the cloisters, a little longer if you like to linger.
• This is an active university, so access to interior spaces can vary. Check current opening hours and any restrictions before you go, and keep your voice down in teaching areas.
• Plaça Universitat is right in front, and Plaça de Catalunya and Passeig de Gràcia are a short walk away, so it fits easily into a day in the Eixample.
• Morning light is good for photographing the facade, and term-time weekdays give you the feel of a living campus.

See it on a quest

The quest Secrets & Poetry in Barcelona, Unlock a Hidden Legacy is a good way to see the university. You reach it on foot as one stop of a longer route through the city, the app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle on the spot, so you look at the building properly rather than just passing it. One ticket covers the whole group, and you can start whenever you like, with no guide and no fixed departure time.