Passeig de Gràcia was inaugurated in 1827. Since 1997 its pavements have been laid with the panot Gaudí, a reissue of the hexagonal tile Gaudí designed in 1904, and it is lined with Pere Falqués's lamp posts with mosaic benches, from 1906. At number 107, the Palau Robert garden opens Monday to Saturday from 9:00 to 20:00.
Passeig de Gràcia is usually walked while window-shopping or queuing to get into a Gaudí house. For someone living in Barcelona for a few months there is another way to use it: as a real promenade, with 1906 benches to sit on, paving tiles designed by Gaudí underfoot and a garden at the end that hardly anyone goes into. This guide covers what lies on the ground, on the corners and behind the façades.
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From a road to a grand avenue
The avenue was laid over an old stream bed, on the road that led from Barcelona to Gràcia. Works began in 1820 and it was inaugurated in 1827 by the captain general, the Marquis of Campo Sagrado.
After the city walls were demolished in 1854, it became a leisure area, with cafés, restaurants, dance halls and theatres: the Jardí de les Delícies (1840), the Camps Elisis (1853), the Tívoli, where performances began in 1855, and the Jardí d'Euterpe (1857-1860), where Clavé's first choir sang. The Cerdà plan turned it into a 60-metre-wide avenue, and from 1861 it gradually filled with homes. It runs from Plaça de Catalunya to Carrer Gran de Gràcia.
What you walk on: Gaudí's panot
Look down. The hexagonal paving tiles bear starfish, snails and seaweed. Gaudí designed them in 1904 with the Escofet company for the floors of Casa Batlló, and in the end they were used in the service rooms of Casa Milà, La Pedrera.
In 1997 the City Council repaved the avenue's wide pavements with a reissue of that tile adapted to outdoor use, known as the panot Gaudí. It is probably the Gaudí work that the most people touch every day without knowing it.
Where to sit: the 1906 lamp-post benches
In 1906 gas lighting was replaced by electric lighting, and Pere Falqués's modernist lamp posts with mosaic benches were installed, lining the avenue from top to bottom. They are real public benches, made for sitting a while and watching the city go by.
It is a very Barcelona habit: walking down the avenue unhurriedly, stopping at a bench and carrying on. After a few months here, you end up with a favourite bench.
The houses, one after another
Between Plaça de Catalunya and the Gran Via there are neo-Gothic buildings by Oriol Mestres and B. Bassegoda. Further up are the Casa del Pirata (1880-1885) and the Palau Marcet (1887), both by Tiberi Sabater; the Palau Marcet ended up as the Comèdia cinema.
Then comes the Casa Batlló block, with the Amatller and the Lleó Morera, and further up La Pedrera. And the Casa Fuster, by Domènech i Montaner (1908-1910). After the First World War the avenue began to fill with shops, and from 1969 it was remodelled with underground car parks and wider pavements.
A garden at the end: the Palau Robert
At number 107 stands the Palau Robert, once the residence of the family of Robert Robert i Surís. The neoclassical building was designed by the French architect Henry Grandpierre, and the Generalitat bought it in 1981 together with the garden and outbuildings.
The garden surprises with the number and size of its plants, spread over three large flowerbeds, with an intense green light that filters the sun. It has a sculpture, La lluna, by Kiku Mistu (2001). According to the City Council, it opens Monday to Saturday from 9:00 to 20:00, and on Sundays and public holidays from 9:00 to 14:30. It is a good place to read for a while, a stone's throw from the noise.
Getting around
The avenue has metro stations at the bottom and the top. At the lower end is Passeig de Gràcia, on lines L3 and L4, with a Rodalies station served by the R2 Nord and R2 Sud. Further up, Diagonal (L3 and L5) and the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat station of Provença - La Pedrera. The best way, though, is on foot, from bottom to top, on a weekday afternoon.
Checked
Data checked on 15 October 2026 in the Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana (history, buildings and the 1906 lighting), with Escofet (history of Gaudí's panot), on the Barcelona City Council website (Palau Robert gardens and opening hours) and on the official Casa Batlló and La Pedrera websites (metro, train and Ferrocarrils stations). Opening hours may change: confirm them before you go.
Quick questions
What pattern do the Passeig de Gràcia paving tiles have?
Starfish, snails and seaweed. Gaudí designed them in 1904 with the Escofet company for Casa Batlló, and in 1997 they were reissued for the avenue's pavements.
Who designed the lamp-post benches on Passeig de Gràcia?
Pere Falqués. They were installed in 1906, when gas lighting was replaced by electric lighting.
What is the Palau Robert?
A neoclassical building at number 107, once the residence of the family of Robert Robert i Surís, with a garden of three large flowerbeds. The Generalitat bought it in 1981.