Carrer Montcada

Carrer Montcada is the finest medieval street in Barcelona. Laid out relatively wide and straight, back when narrow and crooked was the norm, it was the result of some savvy 12th-century property speculation: in 1148 Count Ramón Berenguer IV granted the land (then outside the city walls) to a rich merchant named Guillem Ramón de Montcada in return for financing the reconquest of Tortosa.

Montcada laid out the street and sold lots to nine of his best mates, all merchant tycoons, and they created a medieval Millionaires’ Row. The presence of so much big money along Montcada led directly in 1166 to the founding of the correus volants (literally, ‘flying runners’).

These early Catalan pony express riders, the Troters, were headquartered at the northern end of the street, by the tiny Romanesque chapel of Santa María d’en Marcús, where they would be blessed before setting out. The correus would eventually become the correos, the Spanish postal service.