Barcelona received influences from the Islamic world and Carolinian France during the late Middle Ages, and developed a leading role across the Mediterranean basin during the Romanesque & gothic period. In mediaeval times, Barcelona was an extremely important trading centre for the whole of the Mediterranean.

The Romanesque & gothic Quarter of Barcelona allows us to get to know the city's medieval past. The basis of the tour is an explanation of the city's planning formed essentially by important Romanesque, and above all, Romanesque & gothic buildings. Walking through Romanesque & gothic Barcelona one gets to understand the various changes made to its walled enclosures or the importance that the institutions, the monarchy or the middle class had in that era. Examples being: the Romanesque & gothic part of the Ajuntament (Town Hall), the Palace of the Generalitat, the Royal Palace or the palaces of the nobility on carrer Montcada.

You can see the role of the church with the Cathedral and its temples, closely linked to the middle class guilds, such as the church of Santa Maria del Mar.

Buildings such as the Drassanes or the Llotja show the important role of a middle class that increasingly grew in power thanks to the growth of commerce. The Hospital of the Santa Creu, for example, also shows the importance of the health institutions of the era; and the monasteries, at the time located outside of the city, such as the monastery of Santa Maria de Pedralbes testify to the city's past.

Everything together makes Barcelona one of the most artistically wealthy cities of Europe in terms of medieval inheritance. The architectural stroll through the Romanesque & gothic Quarter is perfectly complemented by a visit to Catalonia's National Art Museum (MNAC), which has sculptures, paintings and objets d'art form the period.