The area of Saint James or Sant Jaume, English: "St. James" (Placa de Sant Jaume / Plaza de San Jaime) is a rectangular square located in the heart of the Gothic quarter of Barcelona's Old town.
The square of Sant Jaume has a large administrative and historical value, although it was built relatively recently, in the early 19th century when was built a new main facade of the city hall and the former Church of Sant Jaume (from which the area got its name) was demolished.
Now the area Jaume, opposite each other, are:
- the historic Palace of the Government of Catalonia (Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya) is Generalitat is one of the few buildings that for many years, and still functions as the seat of government and where is the institution that originally built the Palace;
- city hall of Barcelona or Casa de La Ciutat (Casa de la Ciutat), the construction of which took place over several centuries.
Main facade of the building overlooking the square of Sant Jaume, dates from the year 1847. However, its common origin dates back to 1369. For this reason the Palace has several styles: the main facade is in a neoclassical style and was designed by Josep Vila Masi, and the façade on the Carrer Ciutat - Gothic, created by Arnau Barga.
The courtyard of city hall was also built in the Gothic style, but with the remnants of the Renaissance, dates from the year 1391, showing several sculptures by authors such as Josep Llimona, Joan miró or Josep Clara.
The present area of St. James located in the former center of the Roman city Barcino, where it crossed main street and were the forum and the temple of Augustus, of which four columns are preserved on top of the mountain Taber, was found on a nearby street Paradis. Read more about Gothic quarter Barcelona...
