MUHBA The Domus of Sant Honorat

In the ground beneath what is now Carrer Sant Honorat, at the corner of Carrer de la Fruita, visitors can explore a Roman domus (single-family house) that was built in the 4th century A.D. Part of the peristylium (or central arcaded garden) has been conserved with several lacus, (tanks containing water and plants). The perystyliumprovided access to the different rooms, many of them decorated with polychrome mosaics and paintings. The house had its own private baths. The decoration of the house and its location (near from the colony’s Forum), as well as its size which must have taken up the entire block, suggests that it must have been home to one of the city’s most notable families.

Over the years, the domus was subjected to successive divisions and transformations, until it finally changed its purpose. In medieval times, large silos were dug in this spot for storing grain within the area of the Call (the Jewish district), and which can still be seen today, embedded into the domus. The mediaeval site highlights the economic and commercial vitality of Barcelona's Jewish district during the 13th century.

Barcelona's Jewish district (El Call) Route