Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona, capital of the autonomous region of Catalunya, stands on the shores of the northeast Spanish Mediterranean coast. It is home to a prosperous, design-conscious Catalan population, whose pride in its language, culture, and city has been justified by its increasing appeal to tourists from all over the world - a pride fuelled by the overwhelming success of the 1992 Olympic Games. This vibrant metropolis is contained by two hills, Tibidabo to the northwest and Montjuic to the west, and historically, has always been defined by the sea.

Today, the major port of Barcelona lies to the west of the city center, while the old port area, the Port Vell, has been transformed into a stylish recreational area linked by walkways via the old fishing quarter of Barceloneta to Port Olímpic, with its modern marinas and beaches, to the east. Behind the Port Vell, lies the heart of historic Barcelona, the Barri Gòtic (Gothic Quarter) and Ciutat Vella (Old City). Here stand the emblems of Barcelona's great past; the Roman walls, the cathedral, the Palau de la Generalitat (Government Building) which is still in use today, and scores of handsome medieval mansions lining narrow picturesque streets. This area is separated from the old Raval quarter by the world-famous promenade known as the Ramblas, which runs down from the Placa de Catalunya, a huge square that divides old and new Barcelona. Behind the square stretches the Eixample (Extension), a regimented grid of wide streets erected in the 19th century and dissected by the Avenida Diagonal. Gracia is the Eixample's showpiece neighborhood, an wealthy suburb crammed with lovely buildings, squares, and many of Barcelona's best stores. Some of the city's finest Modernist buildings, such as Gaudi's La Pedrera and his Sagrada Familia, are sited in the Eixample, while tucked in northwest Barcelona is the beautiful medieval Pedralbes monastery.

Barcelonans are blessed with superb parks for relaxation, ranging from the ex-Olympic site of Montjuic, with its excellent sporting facilities, to the slopes of Tibidado, the great inland hill, with its splendid views over the city to the sea. Parc Guell lies east of here, another airy green space that is also home to some of Gaudi's most idiosyncratic architectural creations in the form of mosaic-encrusted sculptures and sinuous buildings and towers. Other open areas are scattered throughout the city, many embellished with sculpture, lakes, and fountains, creating a backdrop to everyday life that reflects the city's obsession with style and design.

The history of Barcelona

The Romans founded Barcelona around a natural harbor in 15 BC, later erecting massive city walls around the town, which were to ensure its survival during the following tumultuous centuries. Roman rule was replaced by Visigothic rule around AD 415, but in AD 717 Barcelona fell to the Moors, remaining Arab until AD 801. The city flourished as a trading center, becoming the capital of independent Catalunya in AD 988, a position it held until the early 15th century. The next 300 years saw Barcelona subjugated to Spanish rule and later invaded by Napoleon Bonaparte's (1769-1821) army.

After 1813 Barcelona expanded as an industrial center, its prosperity based on the textile industry. The city was stridently anti-Nationalist during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), but fell to Francisco Franco (1892-1975) in 1939, when Catalan language, identity and culture were suppressed. With the restoration of parliamentary democracy in 1975, Barcelona regained its status as the capital of an autonomous Catalunya, and its hosting of the 1992 Olympic games marked its re-emergence as one of the Mediterranean's most dynamic cities.