Spain · Catalunya · Barcelona
Horta, Barcelona — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Horta is an old village folded into northern Barcelona, its lanes still lined with country houses around the church of Sant Joan d'Horta.
About Horta
Where to stay in Horta
Each area has its own feel; here's who each one suits.
Horta suits visitors after a quiet, local base at the northern edge of Barcelona, well back from the tourist streets. Life runs at a slow pace. Stay near Sant Joan d'Horta for old lanes and neighbourhood markets, or over toward the Pavelló de la Vall d'Hebron if you want the sports grounds, green hills and fast metro links into the centre close at hand.
The setting stays residential.
About Horta
What are the main landmarks in Horta?
Horta keeps an unusual number of old country houses. Torre Jussana, Can Marcet and the Torre del Suro survive from the days of scattered estates, while Casa Giol and Can Sala keep their gardens behind the newer blocks. The parish church of Sant Joan d'Horta still marks the historic core.
Higher up, the Pavelló de la Vall d'Hebron, the Tennis de la Vall d'Hebron and the Camp Olímpic de Tir amb Arc form a cluster of Olympic sports grounds. Green hills rise behind.
What is the history of Horta?
Horta spent centuries as farmland and country estates beyond Barcelona, a scatter of houses around a parish church. The city arrived slowly. Old properties such as Can Sala and the Torre Jussana still stand from those rural years, when gardens and orchards drew Barcelona's families to build summer houses on the slopes.
Sant Joan d'Horta held the old town together as its centre. Later the blocks closed in around them.
Where is Horta?
Horta lies at the northern edge of Barcelona, its old lanes gathered around Sant Joan d'Horta below the sports grounds of the Pavelló de la Vall d'Hebron.
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More areas in Barcelona
Updated July 2026