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Famously proud, culturally dynamic and economically self-sufficient, Barcelona is a city which pulls out all the stops. It behaves like a capital, even thinks it’s a capital, much to the chagrin of Madrid. Why? Because it boasts architectural style, sophisticated cuisine, sharp design, world-class music and plenty of art. Stroll down the broad, elegant avenues of Eixample, or meander through the backstreets of the Gothic Quarter, and you can’t miss a sense of history that magnetises the stones. And, as Barcelona is characterised by a profitable tandem of innovation and business acumen, however often you return, there will always be something new on the agenda. As VS Pritchett wrote in 1954, “The Catalan lives outwardly. If there is fantasy in his head, he wants at once to turn it into commerce, into action, into stone.” Fifty years on, these words still hold true.

Three highpoints are reflected in the city’s most striking structures: Gothic; modernista, and ultra-contemporary. The first period coincided with the introduction of democracy (bringing an enduring sense of equality) and with the beginning of a golden age when Barcelona was at the head of a Mediterranean empire. These centuries of glory are still palpable in the Gothic Quarter, a pocket of narrow winding streets at the very heart of the city where you will discover fragments of Roman walls, a towering cathedral, a medieval palace and a harmoniously designed square, Plaça del Rei. Although touristy, this former palace courtyard is the perfect spot to soak up the energy and history of the city from an outdoor cafe in the company of street-lamps designed by Gaudi and lofty palm-trees. Walk north from here and it is easy to get lost, however that loss will be your gain, as you stumble upon atmospheric squares, historic churches, the magnificent Palau de la Generalitat and its adjacent pedestrian street, Carrer Bisbe, bridged by an elaborate elevated walkway that could be straight out of Venice.

The beauty of Barcelona is that, far from being a museum city, life is interwoven into this past. If you approach the Cathedral from the Palau de la Generalitat you enter through a Gothic cloister where worshippers light candles at side-chapels and a gaggle of geese roams arond. In the main nave, Catalan architectural audacity strikes again in the soaring rib-vaulted ceiling rising above an open-sided crypt and beautifully carved Renaissance choir-stalls. In December, the surrounding streets are taken over by Barcelona’s Christmas market, further evidence of Catalan mercantile skills.

In the commercialised Rambla, the main artery which slices through the old town down to the port, between outdoor cafes, a bird-market and street-artists, you can get your first glimpse of Barcelona’s second period of dynamism. Its undisputed king was Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) who has now been raised to iconic, even excessive status, with his Sagrada Familia cathedral the emblem of the city. The Palau Guell (Nou de la Rambla 3-5) was an early building, completed in 1888, and although not as overtly fantasist as later designs, does incorporate typical features.

To really experience the Gaudi spirit, however, you need to move into Eixample, the ‘extension’ of Barcelona which was built on a grid pattern in the late 19th century. Here, in the elegant shopping mecca of Passeig Gracia, stands the extraordinary Casa Mila (La Pedrera, Provença 261-5, www.caixacat.es/fund_cat.html)), completed in 1912. The curved façade, organically-shaped balconies and decorative ironwork are a tour de force, while an exhibition centre on the top floor gives an illuminating background to his work. On the roof terrace a series of mosaic-clad forms (in reality chimney-pots) defy reference or time. If you are lucky enough to be there on one of Barcelona’s days of clear light when every building seems airbrushed by the dry winds from the Pyrenees, you will also have sweeping city views from the sea to the distant Collserola hills.

Several other Gaudi buildings stand nearby, notably the glittering mosaic-fronted Casa Batllo, as well as an assortment by his contemporaries, Domenech i Montaner and Puig i Cadalfach. And who can ignore the much maligned and much adulated Sagrada Familia (Plaça de la Sagrada Familia, www.sagradafamilia.org)? This extravaganza is still undergoing completion - 120 years after the first stones were laid - only very roughly based on Gaudi’s plans as he worked intuitively. The story of this cathedral is a tragic and obsessive one, as Gaudi’s later life was entirely clouded by his efforts to obtain financing for what Robert Hughes has termed a “cash-eating monster”. Steeped in ever-increasing mysticism and wild theories of symbolic structures, Gaudi made the rounds of friends and strangers, begging-bowl in hand, having already sold off his own possessions, before finally meeting his end under the wheels of a tram.

Fittingly, Gaudi is buried in the crypt, but to gain a fresher sense of his genius do not miss out on the Parc Guell (Carrer d’Olot 7), on the edge of Eixample. This massive project (1900-1914) was originally intended as a garden city but lack of buyers prompted the developer - Count Guell, who became Gaudi’s patron - to let the architect’s fantasties fly. The result is a labyrinth of textured viaducts, pavilions, columns and fountains, all faced in his characteristic fragmented tile mosaic.

Still in Eixample, the Fundacio Antoni Tapies (Arago 255, www.fundaciotapies.org) is where modernista architecture meets contemporary Catalan art. Housed in a striking building by Domenech i Montaner, this foundation stages major exhibitions beside a permanent collection of paintings by Tapies himself. A similarly creative combination of the two disciplines was initiated by the city’s greatest modern artist, Joan Miro (1893-1983) at his foundation high on Montjuic. You can reach this hilltop to the south of the old town by a vertiginous cable-car which swings high above the port or by a funicular. The Fundacio Joan Miro (www.bcn.fjmiro.es) displays the artist’s colourful and varied sculptures and paintings in a building designed by his lifelong friend, Josep Luis Sert. Ever-changing spaces and perspectives give a sense of intimacy to these and to works by Alexander Calder, Henry Moore, Henri Matisse and other artist friends of Miro.

Pine-trees, gardens and panoramic views make Montjuic a relaxing place to spend the afternoon but do not miss the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (www.gencat.es/mnac)) and its outstanding collection of Romanesque and Gothic art. Much of this feast of medieval iconography was removed from churches throughout Catalonia - bad luck for the villages, but yet another gain for Barcelona. The building itself is a monumental relic of Barcelona’s 1929 World Fair, which also inspired the Teatre Grec, an open-air theatre used for the summer festival, and the Poble Espanyol where replicas of Spanish regional architecture now house some lively nightspots. In contrast, at the base of broad steps leading up to the Palau Nacional, stand the serene glass and stone forms of Mies van der Rohe’s German pavilion (Avenida Marques de Comillas, www.miesbcn.es). When no takers could be found for this seminal example of modern architecture on the closure of the Fair, it was dismantled; what you see today was faithfully reconstructed in 1986, complete with Georg Kolbe’s graceful sculpture, “Morning” and Mies van der Rohe’s classic Barcelona chairs.

Despite a marked nose-dive during the long, dark years of Franco, when even the Catalan language was condemned by Madrid, steps were taken in the 1960s to start face-lifting the neglected city. These included the Ribera district, immediately north of the Gothic Quarter, and the refurbishment of its 15th and 16th century merchants’ mansions. Two of them became one of Barcelona’s cultural must-sees, the Museu Picasso (Montcada 15-23, www.museupicasso.bcn.es). Having spent his formative years in Barcelona, Picasso later made this major gift of his earlier work which, although not the world’s most comprehensive display, proves his early brilliance. Another successful conversion in the same street houses a remarkable collection of pre-Columbian art, the Museu Barbier-Mueller (Montcada 14, www.barbier-mueller.ch/eng/barcelona). And from here it is just a few minutes' walk to the hip Born district where young design and fashion-shops rub shoulders with innovative tapas bars and restaurants.

Although it was the 1992 Olympics that spearheaded much of Barcelona’s recent reinvention, particularly along the seafront, the MACBA (Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Plaça dels Angels, www.macba.es) did not open its doors until 1995 in a spanking new building by the American architect, Richard Meier. Here you can see works by Spanish and international artists before exploring yet another pocket of urban renewal in the Raval district. Finally, to recover from these cultural forays, take in a concert at Barcelona’s latest architectural jewel, the superb Auditorium (Lepant, 150 www.auditori.org) designed by Rafael Moneo. And with so much of the city now gleaming with pride, the only question remaining is: what next Barcelona?

Where to eat: Gastronomy is taken very seriously, and has done since the first Roman settlements were established up the coast on the Costa Brava. Gallic input is arguably the most notable, first brought by Charlemagne in the 9th century and reinforced ever since by a constant cultural inter-change over the humps of the Pyrenees. Although Catalan bourgeois cuisine is known for its sauces, as in every other domain it does not stand still, so it is hardly surprising that Spain’s most innovative and influential restaurant - El Bulli - is on the Costa Brava.

Barcelona’s top restaurants are all located in the upmarket streets of Eixample, and make extensive use of Catalonia’s fantastic array of fresh produce. For an inventive two-star Michelin dinner in an elegant townhouse that was once Balenciaga’s studio, head for Jean-Luc Figueras at Santa Tereea, 10 tel: +34 93 415 2877.

Equally prestigious though with a more contemporary setting is the French-Catalan haute cuisine of Neichel, Beltran i Rozpide 1-5, tel: +34 93 203 8408.

Belle epoque splendour characterises Via Veneto, Ganduxer 10, tel: +34 93 200 7244, an established top-class restaurant with an exceptional wine-cellar.

Gaig, Passeig de Maragall, 402, tel: +34 93 429 1017, has been run for four generations by the same family, but is nonetheless innovative in approach. For a modernista setting and new Catalan cuisine, head for La Dama, Avenida Diagonal 423-5, tel: +34 93 202 0686.

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