Walking Tour of Barcelona - Montjuic (Mount of Jews)

Montjuic (pronounced mohn-jew-EEK) is a hill overlooking Barcelona, its harbor and the Mediterranean with a long and not always positive history.  Originally, this location was where the Jews were buried as they were not allowed to be interred with the Catholics in Barcelona cemeteries.  In the 18^th century the central Spanish government built a castle here to keep an eye on Barcelona and stifle citizen revolt.  During the reign of the dictator Franco, the castle functioned as a place to interrogate and execute political dissidents.  Today there is nothing left but an empty shell and a peaceful park.  Montjuic is also home to Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium.  Originally built for the 1929 World Expo, the stadium was updated and expanded for the 1992 Olympic Games. We took a taxi up to the top and spent a couple of hours checking out the sites before walking back down to the Old City.

 View of the interior of the 1992 Olympic Stadium.  

 The Palau Nacional (National Palace) was completed in 1929 for the International Exhibition.  Since 1934 this Spanish Renaissance building has been home to the National Art Museum of Catalonia and has over 5,000 artworks on view.

 Placa de Toros functioned as a bullfighting ring from 1900 - 1977 and reopened in 2011 as shopping mall with a rooftop terrace called Las Arenas (Bullring Mall).  Bullfighting was banned in the province of Catalonia in 2012.  It is the only part of Spain that has banned the sport.

 View of Placa d’Espanya leading up to the top of Montjuic from the rooftop terrace of Placa de Toros