The Ribera or El Born district was initially home to traders and seafarers, but with the passage of time many small palaces were built as well. Some of them have been converted to house important city museums, such as the Palacio de los Marqueses de Llió (Palace of the Marquises of Llió) (Museo Textil e Indumentaria/Museum of Clothing and Textiles) the Palau Nadal (Museo Barbier-Müller d'Art Precolombí/Barbier-Müller Museum of Pre-Columbian Art), and the Palau Aguilar (Museo Picasso/Picasso Museum).

In Barcelona the visitor can travel in time in a matter of a few metres from the Gothic structures of the church of Santa María del Mar, to the modernist Palau de la Música Catalana, a concert hall.