Barcelona, barri a barri A living atlas of the 73 neighbourhoods

Horta-Guinardó · 39

Sant Genís dels Agudells

Sant Genís dels Agudells began as a rural parish at the foot of Collserola: its church was consecrated in 931, and beside it stand the rectory, the farmhouse of Can Safont and the last parish cemetery in Barcelona. From the second half of the twentieth century the valley around the old nucleus was urbanised well beyond what the terrain could easily bear.[1][2][3]

Begin in front of the church of Sant Genís, on Carrer de Saldes. The historic nucleus is made up of the church, the rectory, the cemetery and the farmhouse of Can Safont; the neighbourhood grew up around it many centuries later.[1][2][3]

Sant Genís dels Agudells is both an ancient parish and a modern neighbourhood. The donation deed of 4 July 931 records 55 hearths tied to the five farmhouses of the rural nucleus, and the place was always rural: farming families making a living from crops thanks to abundant water.[1][2][3]

Sant Genís dels Agudells (neighbourhood 39) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Horta-Guinardó: el Baix Guinardó, el Guinardó, Can Baró, el Carmel, la Teixonera, Montbau.

Where the name comes from

Etymology: disputed[3][1]

Sant Genís refers to the patron saints of the church, which has two: a Genís who was a comic actor martyred in Rome in 303, and another Genís, from Provence, of the fifth century. Agudells first appears in tenth-century documents of Carolingian origin and seems to come from the plural diminutive of agulla (needle), meaning sharp or pointed. The Cartulari de Sant Cugat of 986 reads 'in ipsa serra que dicunt Cerola vel Agudellos'.[3][1]

The neighbourhood is bounded by the Ronda de Dalt, the Carretera de l'Arrabassada and the Vall d'Hebron hospital complex.[3]

How the streets were made

During the twentieth century several settlements developed within the old territory of Sant Genís, now separated by the Ronda de Dalt: Montbau, la Teixonera, la Clota, la Vall d'Hebron and Sant Genís itself, around the church and with the sectors of el Lledoner and Can Figuerola. The hollow underwent an urban transformation beyond what the terrain could bear.[3]

The path from Horta to Sant Genís has joined the two nuclei since ancient times. A couple of stretches are still fairly well preserved, but from the modern Avinguda de Can Marcet the landscape is deeply transformed and the path disappears.[3]

Dates that changed it

  1. 931 The donation deed of 4 July records 55 hearths tied to the five farmhouses of the rural nucleus; the church is consecrated this year.[3]
  2. 986 The Cartulari de Sant Cugat mentions 'Cerola vel Agudellos' among the monastery's properties.[3][1]
  3. 1396 The parish comes under the monastery of Sant Jeroni de la Vall d'Hebron.[3]
  4. 2001 The remains of Manuel Carrasco i Formiguera, buried in the Sant Genís cemetery, are moved to Montjuïc cemetery.[2]

People and collective life

Manuel Carrasco i Formiguera

A member of Unió Democràtica de Catalunya, shot in Burgos in 1938. He was buried in the Sant Genís cemetery until 2001, when he was moved to Montjuïc cemetery.[2]

Jaume Safont

A scribe of the Generalitat and owner of the farmhouse of Can Safont, which dates from the mid-fifteenth century.[1]

Institutions

Església i cementiri de Sant Genís dels Agudells

The church is one of the ten oldest parishes in Barcelona and is catalogued as a local cultural heritage asset. The parish cemetery beside it is the only one left inside the city.[2][1]

Casa Groga (Avinguda del Jordà 27)

A public facility at Avinguda del Jordà 27. The neighbourhood council met there on 1 December 2025, and its agenda lists the exhibition 'El dret a la ciutat: Els barris de muntanya de Sant Genís a Trinitat Nova' until 13 December 2026.[4][5]

What can still be seen

Església de Sant Genís dels Agudells

Beside the door is a roughly engraved stone with a fish, which some have taken as proof of a very early Christian presence; the church has a tall, pointed bell tower.[2][1][3]

Can Safont

A farmhouse of the mid-fifteenth century that served as town hall when Sant Genís became a municipality, Sant Genís d'Horta.[1]

Museu Palmero

A fifteenth-century Catalan farmhouse with Gothic windows and a stone façade; it holds 125 paintings of the characters of Don Quixote by Maestro Palmero (1901-1991).[6]

What disappeared

The path from Horta to Sant Genís

The path that joined Horta and Sant Genís since ancient times has disappeared from the modern Avinguda de Can Marcet onwards; today its route can only be imagined, across asphalt and fast roads.[3]

The neighbourhood today

In 2026 Sant Genís dels Agudells had 7,890 residents, 46.9 residents per hectare, a mean census-section income of €20,527 in 2023, an area of 168.1 hectares, and 23.8% of residents held non-Spanish nationality.[7][8][9][10]

Non-Spanish nationality (2026): 23.8%

What is changing

In March 2025 the City Council announced a Pla de Barris 2025-2028 that includes Montbau, la Teixonera, Sant Genís dels Agudells and les Planes in a mountain-neighbourhoods plan: interventions focus on public space and the inequalities caused by the terrain, with better accessibility and lifts to overcome changes in level. We have not found an official progress report on what has been carried out as of October 2026.[11]

What the guides leave out

The last parish cemetery

In the late eighteenth century Charles III ordered cemeteries to be built outside cities, but the one at Sant Genís, whether because of distance or because it lay outside the walls, has remained in use to this day: it is the only parish cemetery left inside Barcelona.[2][1]

Read it on foot

Start: Església de Sant Genís dels Agudells[1][2] · End: Museu Palmero[6]

Walking (excluding stop time): 10 min · 740 m · Estimated visit (with stops): 49 min

The geometry follows the pedestrian network between the three marked points, but it has not been verified as step-free. This neighbourhood has steep gradients: check steps, lifts, works and access conditions before setting out. The approach from public transport is not included in the stated distance.

Sant Genís dels Agudells (neighbourhood 39) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Horta-Guinardó: el Baix Guinardó, el Guinardó, Can Baró, el Carmel, la Teixonera, Montbau.

1
Església de Sant Genís (Carrer de Saldes)
Carrer de Saldes 3
Look beside the door for a roughly engraved stone with a fish on it, then raise your eyes to the tall, pointed bell tower.[3][2][1]
The church was consecrated in 931 and is one of the ten oldest parishes in Barcelona. Beside it is the parish cemetery, the only one left inside the city.[1][2]
Coordinates
41.42783, 2.13648 · OpenStreetMap
2
Casa Groga (Avinguda del Jordà)
Avinguda del Jordà 27
290 m · 4 min
Find the entrance of the civic centre on Avinguda del Jordà and see which exhibition is on: its agenda lists one on the mountain neighbourhoods until 13 December 2026.[4][5]
A public civic centre. The neighbourhood council met there on 1 December 2025, and until 13 December 2026 its agenda lists the exhibition 'El dret a la ciutat: Els barris de muntanya de Sant Genís a Trinitat Nova'.[4][5]
Coordinates
41.42652, 2.13681 · OpenStreetMap
3
Museu Palmero (Carrer de Judea)
Carrer de Judea 2
450 m · 6 min
Look at the stone façade and the Gothic windows of the fifteenth-century farmhouse, now a museum.[6]
It holds 125 paintings of Don Quixote's characters by Maestro Palmero (1901-1991) and a fresco mural of the birth of the coat of arms of Catalonia. Visits are arranged with the museum.[6]
Coordinates
41.42474, 2.13983 · OpenStreetMap

Sources for this page

Dates, figures and historical claims are linked to the records used for this page.

  1. [1] Betevé (Va passar aquí) (2026). Sant Genís dels Agudells, onze segles d'història. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  2. [2] Viquipèdia (2026). Església de Sant Genís dels Agudells. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  3. [3] Viquipèdia (2026). Sant Genís dels Agudells. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  4. [4] Ajuntament de Barcelona (2026). Centre Cívic Casa Groga. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  5. [5] Ajuntament de Barcelona, Districte d'Horta-Guinardó (2025-12-01). Consell de Barri Sant Genís, 1 de desembre de 2025 (convocatòria). Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  6. [6] Barcelona Film Commission (Ajuntament de Barcelona) (2021-08-30). Palmero Museum. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  7. [7] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2026-01-01). Padró municipal d'habitants (pad_mdbas) — població per barri. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
  8. [8] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2021). Densitat de població per barri. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
  9. [9] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2023). Renda disponible de les llars per persona. Seccions censals. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
  10. [10] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2026-01-01). Població per nacionalitat i sexe. Barris. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
  11. [11] VilaWeb (2025-03-25). Barcelona desplega el pla de barris amb 315 actuacions previstes fins al 2028. Accessed: 2026-10-03.

Last reviewed: 3 October 2026 · 11 sources consulted

Return to top