Faux Gothic

I spent the morning wandering though the Gothic quarter of Barcelona. I've been to the city several times, but I've never been to this part before. It's now a major tourist area, but a century ago it was just a run down corner of the oldest part of town.
It is characterised by narrow winding labyrinthine streets as is typical of medeval cities.

A century ago, in the run up to the Barcelona Exposition the city father decided to give the area a bit of a facelift. Instead of the en vogue art Deco though they decided to opt for the out of fashion Gothic revival.

Barcelona Cathedral in the 1880s (public domain 100+ years)

Reworked Gothic main door

There has been a European Gothic revival in the mid 1800s - think London, Ottawa and Budapest's parliament buildings or VT in Mumbai, but this was years later in an era when modernism was regarded as the way forward.
With the passage of time though, the results are fantastic.





After I'd been for a wander through the area I thought I'd look up how old this bridge was, unaware of the 20th century refurb - expecting 13th / 14th century. I wasn't expecting 1928!