Promenade, Barcelona

A series of streets joined together one after the other that lead from Plaça Catalunya to the sea. The word rambla comes from the Arabic term, ramla, which means a riverbed, and these streets actually used to be a riverbed that channelled the water coming down from Collserola hill. In the 13th Century, convents and churches were built on both sides of the Ramblas and the streets were named after these religious buildings. During the course of the 18th Century the medieval walls that separated the Barri Gòtic (Gothic Quarter) from Raval district were pulled down, in 1830 the convents and monasteries were closed.