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Image by Sonja Pöhlmann
If you have a shoe fetish like I have, I would recommend you visit the Museu del Calçat (shoe museum) on Placa San Felip Neri in the heart of the Gothic Quarter nearby the Cathedral.
Showing the historical development of shoe manufacturing, the museum also displays shoes of famous people like Columbus.
The shoe museum is placed in a beautiful renaissance building which used to be the Shoemaker’s guild in the Middle ages.
It is located on Placa de San Felip Neri, one of the most peaceful, shady and neat squares in the old city center which once was a medieval cemetery.
The Neri hotel has a stylish cafe outside on the square which invites you to have a refreshment and chill for a while.
If you wonder why an ancient square smells like strawberries and vanilla, you can just have a look at the gorgeous soap factory “Sabater Hermanos” on the square. The family business sells soaps in 40 different fragrances. A bar of chocolate soap costs about € 3.00.
The historic Felip Neri Church right opposite the soap factory reveals scars from the Spanish Civil War on its Baroque walls caused by bomb explosions and executions.
There is so many interesting things to discover on that tiny square but in the end it is a place to relax right in the middle of one of the most buzzing neighborhoods of Barcelona.
Museu del Calçat | Art & culture | Entrance € 2.50
Placa San Felip Neri | El Barrio Gotico | +34933014533
Tue – Sun 11:00 – 14:00
I can’t think of a better square to sit and have a coffee at the Nero hotel, the fountain is beautiful and the square’s history embodies Barcelona’s turbulent past. Look out for the Anarchist graffiti on the church and the bizarrely hedonist plaque on the fountain.