Barcelona is one of Europe's most beautiful cities. Well known for its culture, its architecture, historical sites, beaches, a stunning location and that certain ambience which cannot be duplicated anywhere else, the city has a way of wrapping itself around hearts of most who visit. Barcelona is a multicultural, cosmopolitan city of almost 4.5 million people - the Catalans. The city is wrapped in history, and filled with splendid monuments of past eras: architecture from the Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance periods, yet the most characteristic is its architecture of the last 100 years: Antoni Gaudi's wonderfully weird architecture which demonstrates how Barcelona is at the vanguard of all that is new and different.