Welcome to Eixample!
The Eixample is the quarter designed during the middle of the 19th century by Ildefons Cerdà, expanding the medieval city of Barcelona into space left empty for defense outside the city walls. It's an enormous field of rectangular blocks in an continuously repeating layout, with the constant threat of getting lost (at least for those used to European cities). Eixample contains most of the modernist buildings, including La Pedrera, Casa Batlló and La Sagrada Família. A very interesting example for planned urban development and subsequent re-planning and restructuring. The Eixample (Catalan for ''expansion' or 'Expansion District'') is a district of Barcelona between the old city (Ciutat Vella) and what were once surrounding small towns (Sants, Gràcia, Sant Andreu, etc.), constructed in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its population was 262,000 at the last census (2005).