Les Corts
It is said that the key to good taste is balance, and that is precisely the case with the Les Corts district. It may not be Barcelona’s most elegant or most popular neighbourhood, but it is well-located and maintains an appealing air of simplicity, harking back to its origins. The third-smallest district in the city, behind Ciutat Vella and Gràcia, it is formed of three neighbourhoods: Les Corts, Pedralbes and Maternitat i Sant Ramon. The district borders Sarrià-Sant Gervasi and Eixample to the north, Sants-Montjuïc to the east, the Serra de Collserola mountain range to the west, and Esplugues de Llobregat and L’Hospitalet de Llobregat to the south.
To learn about the history of Les Corts we must travel back to the twelfth century when the area was practically uninhabited apart from a few farmhouses and estates located close to the streams that flowed down the Serra de Collserola. Situated to the west of the city, between Sants and Sarrià, the area had special status and depended directly on the crown. This explains the construction of the Royal Monastery of Santa Maria de Pedralbes in the fourteenth century on the direct orders of King James the Just. This monumental building was designed as a retreat for his wife, Elisenda de Montcada, who wanted to found a religious centre for Poor Clare nuns.
The area, which appears in history books as a ‘free economic territory’, became a municipality with its own identity in 1836, although it continued to maintain close ties with Sarrià, as it did not have its own parish until 1849 when the church of Santa Maria del Remei was built. In 1897, it was finally annexed to Barcelona and from then on the district underwent progressive urbanisation.
Its prime location soon attracted the attention of the middle classes, who found the area to be a perfect residential neighbourhood—close to other well-off areas—with good services for families. Today, there are still remnants of its rural origins, such as the Can Rosés country house, which was built in the eighteenth century and renovated in 1900 and is now the local library. Remembering a place’s rural past is important in urban environments, which is why, in addition to visiting the former country house, we recommend visiting the green spaces located in the three aforementioned neighbourhoods.
As outlined previously, each neighbourhood has managed to preserve its own way of being. In Les Corts, the liveliest neighbourhood, its squares particularly stand out: some as unique as Plaça de Comas, which is presided over by the figure of the peasant farmer Pau Farinetes, recalling the area’s agricultural past. The district’s social mix is represented above all by its housing, with both beautiful Noucentista houses, nodding to its noble past, and office blocks and worker colonies such as the old Colònia Castells.
Maternitat i Sant Ramon is home to three must-visit places: Camp Nou, the stadium of FC Barcelona, the historic cemetery of Les Corts and the La Maternitat complex. The neighbourhood takes its name from the Sant Ramon parish and the Casa de la Maternitat i Expòsits, which maintains part of its original function and boasts a beautiful park where several Modernist buildings converge. Another important natural space is Can Rigal Park, which although it may be on the newer side, is no less green than the rest.
Finally, the neighbourhood of Pedralbes, the most affluent part of Barcelona, is situated in the vicinity of the monastery. Zona Universitària, home to the biggest university campus in the city, also boasts two notable natural spaces, namely the Pedralbes Palace Gardens and Cervantes Park, which is a stunning spectacle in springtime when its rosebushes are in full bloom.
As you can see for yourself, the district of Les Corts, with its numerous green spaces, mansion houses, rural past and simple life is, above all, an exceptional place to live.
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