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Museu de la Música
Some 500 instruments (less than a third of those held) are on show in this museum, housed on the 2nd floor of the administration building in L’Auditori, the city’s main classical-music concert hall. Instruments range from a 17th-century baroque guitar through to lutes (look out for
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Plaça Reial
One of the most photogenic squares in Barcelona, the Plaça Reial is a delightful retreat from the traffic and pedestrian mobs on the nearby Rambla. Numerous eateries, bars and nightspots lie beneath the arcades of 19th-century neoclassical buildings, with a buzz of activity at all
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El Garoé
Gain insight into the Bimbaches culture by visiting the site of their ancient holy tree. According to legend, the tree miraculously spouted water, providing for the islanders and their animals. Today we know that it’s really no miracle – mist in the air condenses on the tree’s leav
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Plaza de la Cibeles
Of all the grand roundabouts that punctuate the Paseo del Prado, Plaza de la Cibeles most evokes the splendour of imperial Madrid. The jewel in the crown is the astonishing Palacio de Comunicaciones . Other landmark buildings around the plaza’s perimeter include the Palacio de Lina
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Lagomar
Carved into the rock face, with fanciful chimneys, cupolas, miradors and winding staircases, this gallery, museum, restaurant and bar has a New Mexico–meets-Morocco look. Regular exhibitions are held, while a small museum recounts the interesting history of the building. There is a
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Roques de García
A few kilometres south of the peak, across from the parador, lies this geological freak show of twisted lava pinnacles with names like the Finger of God and the Cathedral. They are the result of erosion of old volcanic dykes, or vertical streams of magma. The weirdest of the rocks
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L’Aquàrium
It is hard not to shudder at the sight of a shark gliding above you, displaying its toothy, wide-mouthed grin. But this, the 80m shark tunnel, is the highlight of one of Europe’s largest aquariums. It has the world’s best Mediterranean collection and plenty of colourful fish from a
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Museu dArqueologia de Catalunya
This archaeology museum, housed in what was the Graphic Arts palace during the 1929 World Exhibition, covers Catalonia and cultures from elsewhere in Spain. Items range from copies of pre-Neanderthal skulls to lovely Carthaginian necklaces and jewel-studded Visigothic crosses. Ther
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Castillo de la Calahorra
During the Reconquista, the flatlands between Guadix and the mountains fell under the command of Marqués Rodrigo de Mendoza, whose tempestuous life included a spell in Italy unsuccessfully wooing Lucrezia Borgia. About 20km southeast of Guadix, his forbidding Castillo de la Calahor
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Paraje Natural Marismas del Odiel
This 72-sq-km reserve across the Odiel estuary from Huelva is a uniquely productive tidal marsh system. A strategic point in the migratory flyways between Europe and Africa, it harbours a large, varied bird population, including up to 1000 blushing-pink greater flamingos in winter,
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Ses Païsses
Just beyond Artà proper lie the remains of a 3000-year-old Bronze Age settlement, the largest and most important Talayotic site on islands eastern flank. The sites looming stone gateway is an impressive transition into the mystery-shrouded world of prehistoric Mallorca. You could e
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Castillo de Gibralfaro
One remnant of Málaga’s Islamic past is the craggy ramparts of the Castillo de Gibralfaro, spectacularly located high on the hill overlooking the city. Built by Abd ar-Rahman I, the 8th-century Cordoban emir, and later rebuilt in the 14th century when Málaga was the main port for t
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Catedral de Santa Ana & Museo Diocesano de Arte Sacro
The spiritual heart of the city, this brooding, grey cathedral was begun in the early 15th century, soon after the Spanish conquest, but took 350 years to complete. The neoclassical facade contrasts with the interior, which is a fine example of what some art historians have named A
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Església de Santa Maria del Pi
This striking 14th-century church is a classic of Catalan Gothic, with an imposing facade, a wide interior and a single nave. The simple decor in the main sanctuary contrasts with the gilded chapels and exquisite stained-glass windows that bathe the interior in ethereal light. The
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Sinagoga Major
When an Argentine investor bought a run-down electrician’s store with an eye to converting it into central Barcelona’s umpteenth bar, he could hardly have known he had stumbled onto the remains of what could be the city’s main medieval synagogue (some historians cast doubt on the c
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Cloister
This is a two-storey treasure chest of some of Spains most imaginative Romanesque art. Although the overall effect is spectacular, the sculpted capitals are especially exquisite, with lions intermingled with floral and geometrical motifs betraying the never-distant influence of Isl
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Viaduct & Calle de Segovia
High above Calle de Segovia, Madrids viaduct, which connects La Morería with the cathedral and royal palace, was built in the 19th century and replaced by a newer version in 1942; the plastic barriers were erected in the late 1990s to prevent suicide jumps. Before the viaduct was b
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Capilla del Obispo
The Capilla del Obispo is a hugely important site on the historical map of Madrid. It was here that San Isidro Labrador, patron saint of Madrid, was first buried. When the saint’s body was discovered there in the late 13th century, two centuries after his death, decomposition had n
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Museu Etnològic
Muros fusty Museu Etnològic is housed in the 17th-century Can Simó. Inside are all sorts of traditional tools and household items, along with a dilapidated waterwheel in the garden.
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Puerta de Alcalá
This imposing triumphal gate was once the main entrance to the city (its name derives from the fact that the road that passed under it led to Alcalá de Henares) and was surrounded by the city’s walls. It was here that the city authorities controlled access to the capital and levied
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