In a corner of Paradís Street, there’s a millstone that commemorates the summit of Mount Tàber, the highest point in the Roman city, where Emperor Augustus’ men began constructing the city they named Iulia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino.

Since then, this city has left us with many anecdotes and curiosities. By reading them, the reader can embark on an exciting journey through our history and, this way, gain a better understanding of the reality that surrounds them.

• The first Earl of Barcelona: a lord from Carcassonne.


• Ramón Berenguer III and the controversy surrounding his horse’s tail.


• The Eiffel Tower could have been erected in Barcelona.


• La Mercè, who made 1000 locusts disappear.


• The Güell family saga, between business and art.

The history of Barcelona is visible to the pedestrian strolling through its streets and squares, observing its buildings, and listening with surprise and admiration to the stories of bygone eras. The city’s streets conceal latent histories waiting to be uncovered by the walker at the pace of their own steps. Because every corner, every passage, every fountain hides passionate pages, tales of love or war, tragedies, revolts, cries, dreams, and hopes. Those who know the past that envelops them can better understand the future that awaits them. This book shows us, in the form of brushstrokes and in a playful manner, what the origins of the city of Barcelona were and what remains of that Roman Barcino.

It is evident that the urban landscape has changed significantly throughout this time, but the traces of that past can still be seen, not only while strolling through Ciutat Vella but also in the most unexpected corner of the city. All it takes is to sit on a stone bench and gaze up at one of the historic buildings or walk on one of the few remaining cobblestone streets. They are silent testimonies of a past that invites us to listen to it.

• A monastery for a lonely queen.


• The peasant who tried to kill Fernando II.


• The most media-savvy bandit.


• The stolen finger of Saint Eulalia.


• A very prestigious brothel.


• Public transport in Barcelona.