Until 1854, the year in which Barcelona finally broke through its city walls, La Rambla, was used to be only one wide street at the heart of the city, an old stream whose name, according to popular belief, derives from the Arabic ramla, meaning "sandy ground".
The Rambla was merely a path beside a stream running between convents on one side and the old city walls on the other. It was in 1704 that the first houses were built on the site of the old city walls, and the first trees were planted. In 1775 the old city walls by the Drassanes, or medieval shipyards, were demolished and a few years later a road was laid turning that part of the Rambla into a tree-lined avenue.
From t
he upper end, which runs into Plaça de Catalunya, to the lower end below the Columbus monument, this unique street in fact bears five names, each describing a section of the street. The most important is the first one: there is the Rambla de Canaletes, because of the Font de les Canaletes fountain, found there since ancient times: folk tradition has it that anyone who drinks from this fountain will keep returning to Barcelona.
The Rambla was merely a path beside a stream running between convents on one side and the old city walls on the other. It was in 1704 that the first houses were built on the site of the old city walls, and the first trees were planted. In 1775 the old city walls by the Drassanes, or medieval shipyards, were demolished and a few years later a road was laid turning that part of the Rambla into a tree-lined avenue.
From t
he upper end, which runs into Plaça de Catalunya, to the lower end below the Columbus monument, this unique street in fact bears five names, each describing a section of the street. The most important is the first one: there is the Rambla de Canaletes, because of the Font de les Canaletes fountain, found there since ancient times: folk tradition has it that anyone who drinks from this fountain will keep returning to Barcelona.Font: Web of Ajuntament of Barcelona
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