Maritime Museum

Maritime Museum

The arches from the original shipyards in Barcelona

On our second field study we walked through El Raval on our way to the Museu Martim de Barcelona (The Maritime Museum of Barcelona).  This was one of the more interesting field trips because on our way to the museum we got a brief tour of El Raval.  El Raval is one of the regions of the city that IES specifically tells you not to visit at night because of prostitution, drug dealers and other petty crimes.  I have been there a few times at night to go to Bar Marsella, but it was interesting to see what the area looked like during the day.  The alleys were very narrow and there were a lot of little shops that I would never have found if we had not gotten a tour.  We learned that El Raval was once known as one of the worst parts of the city.  In the 1990’s, there was a movement to restore El Raval as one of Barcelona’s artistic and cultural centers.  The construction of the CCCB or Centre de Cultura de Contemporania de Barcelona and MACBA or the Museu d’Art Contemporani were two major projects that they hoped would enrich this area of the city.  We saw that outside of the MACBA was a local hangout for skateboarders who used the steps, ramps and rails surrounding the building as a skate park.

                My favorite part of the field trip was an artistically colored apartment building in a square in El Raval.  The building was apparently empty and some people, I believe they were students, who now live there for free painted the façade of the building with eyeballs and different colorful designs.  This is the type of building that I think is very unique to Barcelona.  I have seen a lot of graffiti because I live in New York but I have never seen an entire building painted with colorful, urban designs.  I took a picture of this building and also of a large cat sculpture.  I am not sure what the meaning behind the cat was but we were told by an old man to touch the cat’s balls.

                The field trip ended at the Barcelona Shipyards near Port Vell and Barceloneta.  The Shipyard is an enormous stone gothic style building with great pillars and arches.  The size of the building was breathtaking and it is obvious to see why they have been preserved and made into a museum.  We learned that the aim of the museum is to promote and protect the heritage of Catalan seafaring structures.