Two of Barcelona's most famous streets, Las Ramblas (a wide promenade in the old city) and the Passeig de Gràcia (a grand showcase of modernist architecture in Eixample) start at the Plaça de Catalunya. Until the middle of the nineteenth century the Plaça de Catalunya was a rural area just outside the city walls. In 1858 the central government in Madrid finally allowed the defensive walls to be demolished. It also approved construction outside the walls so a public competition was organized for the design of a new district.