The Barri Gòtic is the centre of Barcelona, where the city originated, and where the main public buildings are located: the Palau de la Generalitat, the Town Hall, the Cathedral, the Palau Reial.

Barcelona originated in Roman times and, despite its transformation in the Middle Ages, there are still traces of its origins.

The Cardus, an ancient Roman road which went from east to west of the city, coincided with the route of Calle Del Bisbe and the north-south axis, the Decumanus, is now covered by Carrer de la Llibreteria and Carrer del Call.

The Roman walls, a short stretch of which can still be seen today, formed an irregular square, and can be reconstructed thanks to the remains of its outer walks:
- Tapineria and Sots-Tinent Navarro to the north;
- Avinguda de la Catedral and Plaça Nova to the west;
- and Carrer de la Palla to the south.

In the higher area of Mons Táber, a hill where the ancient Roman city originated, behind the current Plaça de Sant Jaume, was the forum, with the administrative buildings of the city.

Subsequently Counts, Kings of Aragón and ecclesiastical bodies adorned the neighbourhood over the following centuries with numerous monuments, some of which we will now discover.