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When the square in front of Barcelona Cathedral was opened up after the war, Adolf Florensa closed it with a row of four buildings in the manner of the mid-nineteenth century. One of them was built as the Hotel Colón, and beneath it lie the remains of a Roman house.
At a glance
The building stands at Avinguda de la Catedral 7, on the corner of Carrer del Doctor Joaquim Pou, facing the cathedral across its open square. The City of Barcelona protects it as part of a group of four buildings by the architect Adolf Florensa, dated 1950: three of flats and one occupied by the Hotel Colón. Separately, the city protects the remains of a Roman villa at the same address as a cultural asset of local interest. The hotel, run by the same family since it opened, reopened in 2024 as the Lamaro Hotel.
Key facts
- Where: Avinguda de la Catedral 7, corner of Carrer del Doctor Joaquim Pou, Ciutat Vella, Barcelona
- Architect: Adolf Florensa i Ferrer
- Date: 1950 (municipal catalogue); the hotel opened in 1951 (travel guides)
- Protection: the group of four buildings: bé amb elements d’interès, level C, record 359; the Roman villa remains: bé cultural d’interès local, level B, record 358
- Below ground: walls and geometric mosaics of a Roman house outside the walls of the colony, and traces of the chapel of the Hospital de Santa Marta (municipal catalogue)
- Current use: Lamaro Hotel, formerly Hotel Colón
- Coordinates: 41.384869, 2.175731 · open in Google Maps
History
The municipal catalogue records that the four buildings closing the square to the south-east, between Carrer dels Capellans and Carrer del Doctor Joaquim Pou, were designed by Adolf Florensa and dates them to 1950. Their facades were given the character of mid-nineteenth-century housing, so that the new front would act as a backdrop to the cathedral square.
The catalogue also records, at number 7, the remains of a Roman house that stood outside the walls of the colony of Barcino: walls and mosaics with geometric patterns from part of its rooms. With them are traces of the chapel of the old Hospital de Santa Marta, demolished when Via Laietana was opened.
Travel guides report that the hotel opened in 1951 as the Hotel Colón, founded by the Italian businessman Antonio Lamaro, and that after a full renovation completed in 2024 his family renamed it the Lamaro Hotel. The hotel’s own website does not give these dates, so they rest on secondary sources.
What you see
The photograph shows the hotel building from the square. The walls are in salmon-coloured stucco, with iron-railed balconies aligned in vertical axes. At the corner, pilasters with vertical decoration run between the lower floors, and continuous balconies turn the corner at two levels. The words HOTEL COLÓN stand in large letters on the roof.
On the ground floor, round-headed openings with glazed fanlights follow the axes of the balconies above. The catalogue describes the same elements across all four buildings: vertical axes of balconies, cornice and frieze, bands at the first, fourth and fifth floors, and terracotta ornament at the corners. The Roman remains are below ground and not visible from the street.
Practical information
- The building is a working hotel; the facade can be seen from the cathedral square at any time.
- The Roman villa remains are under the building and are not open to the public as a site.
- The cathedral square in front gives the best overall view of the four buildings.
Getting there
Jaume I metro station (line L4) is about four minutes’ walk away; Urquinaona (L1, L4) is about six minutes. From Plaça de Catalunya the walk down Carrer del Comtal or Portal de l’Àngel takes about eight minutes.
Nearby
- Barcelona Cathedral, directly across the square.
- Plaça Nova and the Roman gate of Bàrcino, about 100 m away.
- Plaça de Sant Iu and the Palau del Lloctinent, behind the cathedral.
- Plaça del Rei and the Barcelona History Museum, where more of Roman Barcino can be seen underground.
Sources
- Ajuntament de Barcelona, Catàleg de Patrimoni, record 359 — Conjunt d’edificis d’habitatges i Hotel Colon: architect, 1950, level C and the description of the four facades.
- Ajuntament de Barcelona, Catàleg de Patrimoni, record 358 — Restes d’una vil·la romana: the Roman house, its mosaics and the chapel of Santa Marta, level B.
- Audley Travel, Lamaro Hotel and Frommer’s, Hotel Lamaro: opening in 1951 as Hotel Colón, the founder Antonio Lamaro and the 2024 renaming.
- Wikimedia Commons, category Edificis d’habitatges de l’Avinguda de la Catedral.
- OpenStreetMap / Nominatim — position and address, returned as 7, Avinguda de la Catedral, la Catedral, el Gòtic, Ciutat Vella, Barcelona.
- The hotel’s founding date and founder rest on travel guides, not on a primary source.
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