Legendary founding The origin of the earliest settlement at the site of present-day Barcelona is unclear. The ruins of an early settlement have been found, including different tombs and dwellings dating to earlier than 5000 BC. In Greek mythology, the founding of Barcelona had been attributed to the mythological
Hercules.
Punic Barcelona According to tradition, Barcelona was founded by Punic (
Phoenician) settlers, who had trading posts along the Catalonian coast. In particular, some historians attribute the foundation of the city directly to the historical
Carthaginian general,
Hamilcar Barca, father of
Hannibal, who supposedly named the city
Barcino after his family in the 3rd century BC, but this theory has been questioned.
Roman Barcelona In about 15 BC, the
Romans redrew the town as a
castrum (Roman military camp) centred on the "
Mons Taber", a little hill near the
Generalitat (Catalan Government) and city hall buildings. The Roman Forum, at the crossing of the
Cardo Maximus and
Decumanus Maximus, was approximately placed where current
Plaça de Sant Jaume is. Thus, the political centre of the city,
Catalonia, and its domains has remained in the same place for over 2,000 years. Under the Romans, it was a colony with the surname of
Faventia, or, in full,
Colonia Faventia Julia Augusta Pia Barcino or
Colonia Julia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino.
Pomponius Mela mentions it among the small towns of the district, probably as it was eclipsed by its neighbour
Tarraco (modern
Tarragona), but it may be gathered from later writers that it gradually grew in wealth and consequence, favoured as it was with a beautiful situation and an excellent harbour. It enjoyed immunity from imperial burdens. The city minted its own coins; some from the era of
Galba survive. Important Roman vestiges are displayed in
Plaça del Rei underground, as a part of the
Barcelona City History Museum (MUHBA); the typically Roman grid plan is still visible today in the layout of the historical centre, the
Barri Gòtic (Gothic Quarter). Some remaining fragments of the
Roman walls have been incorporated into the cathedral. The cathedral, Catedral Basílica Metropolitana de Barcelona, is also sometimes called
La Seu, which simply means cathedral (and see, among other things) in Catalan. It is said to have been founded in 343.
Medieval Barcelona The city was conquered by the
Visigoths in the early 5th century, becoming for a few years the capital of all
Hispania. After being conquered by the
Umayyads in the early 8th century, it was conquered after a
siege in 801 by
Charlemagne's son
Louis, who made Barcelona the seat of the
Carolingian "
Hispanic March" (
Marca Hispanica), a
buffer zone ruled by the
Count of Barcelona. The Counts of Barcelona became increasingly independent and expanded their territory to include much of modern
Catalonia, although in 985, Barcelona was
sacked by the army of
Almanzor. The sack was so traumatic that most of Barcelona's population was either killed or enslaved. In 1137,
Aragon and the
County of Barcelona merged in
dynastic union by the marriage of
Ramon Berenguer IV and
Petronilla of Aragon, their titles finally borne by only one person when their son
Alfonso II of Aragon ascended to the throne in 1162. His territories were later to be known as the
Crown of Aragon, which conquered many overseas possessions and ruled the western
Mediterranean Sea with outlying territories
in Naples and Sicily and as far as
Athens in the 13th century. Barcelona also had a substantial
Jewish community at the time, then the largest Jewish community in the Crown of Aragon. Called "the Call," for the many small streets that defined the area, it later became enclosed.
Montjuïc or Montjuich, in medieval Latin and Catalan, meaning "Jewish Mountain" and the birthplace of the city, is the site of a medieval Jewish cemetery, Jews continued to live in Barcelona until the
Massacre of 1391 diminished their numbers. The
Spanish Inquisition forced the remaining Jews who refused to convert to Christianity to be burned at the stake, or sell their property and leave. Barcelona was the leading
slave trade centre of the Crown of Aragon up until the 15th century, when it was eclipsed by
Valencia. It initially fed from eastern and Balkan slave stock later drawing from a
Maghribian and, ultimately,
Subsaharan pool of slaves. The Bank or
Taula de canvi de Barcelona, often viewed as the oldest public bank in Europe, was established by the city
magistrates in 1401. It originated from necessities of the state, as did the
Bank of Venice (1402) and the
Bank of Genoa (1407).
Barcelona under the Spanish monarchy In the beginning of the early modern period, Barcelona lost political primacy, but the economy managed to achieve a balance between production capacity and imports. In the context of the wider early recovery of Catalonia from the
17th-century crisis in the second half of the century, increasing maritime activity since 1675 doubled traffic in the port of Barcelona compared to figures from the beginning of the 17th century. In the late 17th and early 18th century, Barcelona repeatedly endured the effects of war, including the 1691 bombing, the sieges of 1697, 1704, 1705, 1706, and the 1713 blockade and ensuing 1714 siege and assault. In the 18th century, the population grew from 30,000 to about 100,000 inhabitants, as the city became one of the key mercantile centres in the Western Mediterranean, with inland influence up to
Zaragoza, and to the south up to
Alicante. A fortress was built at
Montjuïc that overlooked the harbour. Much of Barcelona was negatively affected by the
Napoleonic wars, but the start of industrialization saw the fortunes of the province improve. During the 19th century, Catalan business interests, many of them based in Barcelona, became increasingly involved in the
Atlantic slave trade, taking advantage of the void left by the
British abolition of the trade in 1807. Catalan immigrants in Spanish America also became heavily involved in owning and running
slave plantations in Cuba and Puerto Rico. Between 1817 and 1867, Catalans were involved in the transportation of 700,000 slaves from West Africa to the Caribbean, which "financed much of the industrialisation of Catalonia and the 19th-century building boom in Barcelona." Although the Spanish government had abolished slave trading in 1817, it turned a blind eye to illicit slave trading. When slavery was abolished in the Spanish Empire in 1886, many Catalans returned to Barcelona and invested their newfound fortunes in constructing opulent mansions in areas such as
La Rambla.
Transforming the city In the mid-1850s, Barcelona was struggling with population density as it became an industrial,
port city and European capital. The city's density was at 856 people per hectare, more than double that of Paris. Mortality rates were on the rise and any outbreaks of disease would devastate the population. To solve the issue, a civil engineer named
Ildefons Cerdà proposed a
plan for a new district known as the
Eixample. The citizens of Barcelona had begun to demolish the medieval wall surrounding and constricting the city. Cerdà thought it best to transform the land outside the walls into an area characterized by a scientific approach to
urbanization. His proposal consisted of a grid of streets to unite the old city and surrounding villages. There would also be wide streets to allow people to breathe clean air, gardens in the centre of each
street block, integration of rich and poor giving both groups access to the same services, and smooth-flowing traffic. Urban quality, egalitarianism, hygiene, sunlight, and efficiency were all major keys for Cerdà's vision. Not everything he imagined would be realized within the Eixample district, but the iconic octagonal superblocks with chamfered corners for better visibility are his direct brainchild and remain immensely helpful even 170 years later. The district and its ideals were not appreciated at the time. The city council awarded the design of the extension plan to another architect. The Spanish government was the one to step in and impose Cerdà's plan, laying the groundwork for many more tensions between the Spanish and Catalan administrations. Regardless, some of the upper class citizens of Barcelona were excited by the new plan and began a race to build "the biggest, tallest, most attractive house" in the district. Their interest and money fueled the rich diversity that we now see in the district's architecture. In the end, Cerdà's ideas would have a lasting impact on Barcelona's development, earning it international recognition for its highly efficient approach to urban planning and design.
The Spanish Civil War and the Franco period '' by
Gerda Taro,
Somorrostro beach (1936) from November 1937 until January 1939. During that
Spanish Civil War period, both Barcelona and Madrid were still under the rule of the republic. In the image
Azaña and
Negrín on the city outskirts. Shortly after the establishment of the Second Spanish Republic, in 1931, it became the capital of the
autonomous region of Catalonia. During the
Spanish Civil War, the city, and Catalonia in general, were resolutely Republican. Many enterprises and public services were
collectivized by the
CNT and UGT unions. As the power of the Republican government and the Generalitat diminished, much of the city was under the effective control of anarchist groups. The anarchists lost control of the city to their own allies, the Communists and official government troops, after the street fighting of the Barcelona
May Days. The
fall of the city on 26 January 1939, caused a mass exodus of civilians who fled to the French border. The resistance of Barcelona to
Franco's ''coup d'état'' was to have lasting effects after the defeat of the Republican government. The autonomous institutions of
Catalonia were abolished, and the use of the
Catalan language in public life was suppressed. Barcelona remained the second largest city in Spain, at the heart of a region which was relatively industrialized and prosperous, despite the devastation of the civil war. The result was a large-scale immigration from poorer regions of Spain (particularly
Andalusia,
Murcia and
Galicia), which in turn led to rapid urbanization.
Late twentieth century In 1992, Barcelona hosted the
Summer Olympics. The after-effects of this are credited with driving major changes in what had, up until then, been a largely industrial city. As part of the preparation for the games, industrial buildings along the sea-front were demolished and of beach were created. New construction increased the road capacity of the city by 17%, the sewage handling capacity by 27% and the amount of new green areas and beaches by 78%. Between 1990 and 2004, the number of hotel rooms in the city doubled. Perhaps more importantly, the outside perception of the city was changed making, by 2012, Barcelona the 12th most popular city destination in the world and the 5th amongst European cities.
Recent history The death of Franco in 1975 brought on a period of democratization throughout Spain. Pressure for change was particularly strong in Barcelona, which considered that it had been punished during nearly forty years of Francoism for its support of the Republican government. Massive, but peaceful, demonstrations on 11 September 1977 assembled over a million people in the streets of Barcelona to call for the restoration of Catalan autonomy. It was granted less than a month later. The development of Barcelona was promoted by two events in 1986:
Spanish accession to the European Community, and particularly Barcelona's designation as host city of the
1992 Summer Olympics. The process of
urban regeneration has been rapid, and accompanied by a greatly increased international reputation of the city as a tourist destination. The increased cost of housing has led to a slight decline (−16.6%) in the population over the last two decades of the 20th century as many families move out into the suburbs. This decline has been reversed since 2001, as a new wave of immigration (particularly from Latin America and from
Morocco) has gathered pace. In 1987, an
ETA car bombing at Hipercor
killed 21 people. On 17 August 2017,
a van was driven into pedestrians on La Rambla, killing 14 and injuring at least 100, one of whom later died. Other attacks took place elsewhere in Catalonia. The Prime Minister of Spain,
Mariano Rajoy, called the attack in Barcelona a
jihadist attack.
Amaq News Agency attributed indirect responsibility for the attack to the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). During the 2010s, Barcelona became the focus city for the ongoing
Catalan independence movement, its
consequent standoff between the regional and national government and
later protests. In July 2023, Barcelona was announced as the UNESCO-UIA World Capital of Architecture for the 2024–2026 term. This means it will be the hub for discussion around global challenges including culture, heritage, urban planning and architecture. In addition to being the capital through 2026, it will also host the UIA World Congress of Architects for that year. The honour is befitting of Barcelona, as its history is peppered with architectural achievement and various iconic styles and influences. From its ancient Roman roots, to the Gothic and Modernisme movements, Barcelona has thrived through the way it ties together architecture and culture. == Geography ==