Plaça Reial (the Royal square) can be found to the south from Carrer de Ferran and to the east of Las Ramblas. It is a pedestrians-only plaza whose neoclassic facades of the 19th century hide numerous cafés, bars and night clubs. The square was built in place of a demolished monastery, one among many religious structures on Las Ramblas that had been destroyed at the dire time of the Church's dispossession. The lampposts around the central fountain are the first famous work of Antoni Gaudí.
If you decided to rent an apartment in Barcelona and yet prefer quiet nights, this is not a spot for you (there are many other apartments in Barcelona). Locals find it tough living here: the noisy square never sleeps thanks to countless visitors of restaurants, bars and discos, who walk in and out 24/7. Before 1980 this area had been infamous for its restless and unsafe atmosphere, the remnants of which are still evident in the encounters of tourists and law-abiding citizens with untidy buskers, vagrants and pickpockets.
The southern part of Barri Gòtic keeps memories of Pablo Picasso's early years. Picasso lived in Carrer de la Mercè with his family, rented his first studio in Carrer de la Plata and frequented a brothel at 27 Carrer d’Avinyó. It is possible that his painting "Demoiselles d'Avignon" was influenced by this experience.
