1.
Barcelona
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Founded as a Roman city, in the Middle Ages Barcelona became the capital of the County of Barcelona. Barcelona has a cultural heritage and is today an important cultural centre. Particularly renowned are the works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner. The headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean is located in Barcelona, the city is known for hosting the 1992 Summer Olympics as well as world-class conferences and expositions and also many international sport tournaments. It is a cultural and economic centre in southwestern Europe, 24th in the world. In 2008 it was the fourth most economically powerful city by GDP in the European Union, in 2012 Barcelona had a GDP of $170 billion, it is leading Spain in both employment rate and GDP per capita change. In 2009 the city was ranked Europes third and one of the worlds most successful as a city brand, since 2011 Barcelona has been a leading smart city in Europe. During the Middle Ages, the city was known as Barchinona, Barçalona, Barchelonaa. Internationally, Barcelonas name is abbreviated to Barça. However, this refers only to FC Barcelona, the football club. The common abbreviated form used by locals is Barna, another common abbreviation is BCN, which is also the IATA airport code of the Barcelona-El Prat Airport. The city is referred to as the Ciutat Comtal in Catalan. The origin of the earliest settlement at the site of present-day Barcelona is unclear, the ruins of an early settlement have been excavated in the El Raval neighbourhood, including different tombs and dwellings dating to earlier than 5000 BC. The founding of Barcelona is the subject of two different legends, the first attributes the founding of the city to the mythological Hercules. In about 15 BC, the Romans redrew the town as a castrum centred on the Mons Taber, 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. It enjoyed immunity from imperial burdens, the city minted its own coins, some from the era of Galba survive. Some remaining fragments of the Roman walls have incorporated into the cathedral. The cathedral, also known as the Basilica La Seu, is said to have founded in 343
2.
Catalonia
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Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, located on the northeastern extremity of the Iberian Peninsula. It is designated as a nationality by its Statute of Autonomy, Catalonia consists of four provinces, Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. The capital and largest city is Barcelona, the second-most populated municipality in Spain, Catalonia comprises most of the territory of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is bordered by France and Andorra to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the east, the official languages are Catalan, Spanish, and the Aranese dialect of Occitan. The eastern counties of these marches were united under the rule of the Frankish vassal the Count of Barcelona, in the later Middle Ages Catalan literature flourished. Between 1469 and 1516, the King of Aragon and the Queen of Castile married and ruled their kingdoms together, retaining all their distinct institutions, Courts, and constitutions. During the Franco-Spanish War, Catalonia revolted against a large and burdensome presence of the Royal army in its territory, within a brief period France took full control of Catalonia, at a high economic cost for Catalonia, until it was largely reconquered by the Spanish army. In the nineteenth century, Catalonia was severely affected by the Napoleonic, in the second half of the century Catalonia experienced industrialisation. As wealth from the industrial expansion grew, Catalonia saw a cultural renaissance coupled with incipient nationalism while several workers movements appeared. In 1914, the four Catalan provinces formed a Commonwealth, and with the return of democracy during the Second Spanish Republic, after the Spanish Civil War, the Francoist dictatorship enacted repressive measures, abolishing Catalan institutions and banning the official use of the Catalan language again. Since the Spanish transition to democracy, Catalonia has regained some political and cultural autonomy and is now one of the most economically dynamic communities of Spain, the origin of the name Catalunya is subject to diverse interpretations because of a lack of evidence. During the Middle Ages, Byzantine chroniclers claimed that Catalania derives from the medley of Goths with Alans. Other less plausible theories suggest, Catalunya derives from the land of castles, having evolved from the term castlà or castlan. This theory therefore suggests that the names Catalunya and Castile have a common root, the source is of Celtic origin, meaning chiefs of battle. Although the area is not known to have been occupied by Celts, the Lacetani, an Iberian tribe that lived in the area and whose name, due to the Roman influence, could have evolved by metathesis to Katelans and then Catalans. In English, Catalonia is pronounced /kætəˈloʊniə/, the native name, Catalunya, is pronounced in Central Catalan, the most widely spoken variety whose pronunciation is considered standard. The Spanish name is Cataluña, and the Aranese name is Catalonha, the first known human settlements in what is now Catalonia were at the beginning of the Middle Palaeolithic. From the next era, the Epipaleolithic or Mesolithic, important remains survive
3.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
4.
Basilica
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The Latin word basilica has three distinct applications in modern English. The word was used to describe an ancient Roman public building where courts were held, as well as serving other official. To a large extent these were the halls of ancient Roman life. The basilica was centrally located in every Roman town, usually adjacent to the main forum, later, the term came to refer specifically to a large and important Roman Catholic church that has been given special ceremonial rights by the Pope. Roman Catholic basilicas are Catholic pilgrimage sites, receiving tens of millions of visitors per year. In December 2009 the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City set a new record with 6.1 million pilgrims during Friday and Saturday for the anniversary of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Roman basilica was a public building where business or legal matters could be transacted. The first basilicas had no function at all. The central aisle tended to be wide and was higher than the flanking aisles, the oldest known basilica, the Basilica Porcia, was built in Rome in 184 BC by Cato the Elder during the time he was Censor. Other early examples include the basilica at Pompeii, probably the most splendid Roman basilica is the one begun for traditional purposes during the reign of the pagan emperor Maxentius and finished by Constantine I after 313 AD. In the 3rd century AD, the elite appeared less frequently in the forums. They now tended to dominate their cities from opulent palaces and country villas, rather than retreats from public life, however, these residences were the forum made private. Seated in the tribune of his basilica, the man would meet his dependent clientes early every morning. A private basilica excavated at Bulla Regia, in the House of the Hunt and its reception or audience hall is a long rectangular nave-like space, flanked by dependent rooms that mostly also open into one another, ending in a semi-circular apse, with matching transept spaces. Clustered columns emphasised the crossing of the two axes, the remains of a large subterranean Neopythagorean basilica dating from the 1st century AD were found near the Porta Maggiore in Rome in 1915. The ground-plan of Christian basilicas in the 4th century was similar to that of this Neopythagorean basilica, the usable model at hand, when Constantine wanted to memorialise his imperial piety, was the familiar conventional architecture of the basilicas. In, and often also in front of, the apse was a platform, where the altar was placed. Constantine built a basilica of this type in his complex at Trier, later very easily adopted for use as a church
5.
Immaculate Conception
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The Catholic Church teaches that Mary was conceived by normal biological means in the womb of her mother, Saint Anne, but God acted upon her soul, keeping it immaculate. The Immaculate Conception is commonly confused with the Virgin Birth of Jesus, jesuss birth is covered by the Doctrine of Incarnation, while the Immaculate Conception deals with the conception of Mary, not that of her son. The defined dogma of the Immaculate Conception regards original sin only, therefore, being always free from original sin, the doctrine teaches that from her conception Mary received the sanctifying grace that would normally come with baptism after birth. The definition makes no declaration about the Churchs belief that the Blessed Virgin was sinless in the sense of freedom from actual or personal sin, however, the Church holds that Mary was also sinless personally, free from all sin, original or personal. The doctrine of the conception is not to be confused with the virginal conception of her son Jesus. This misunderstanding of the immaculate conception is frequently met in the mass media. Catholics believe that Mary was not the product of a virginal conception herself but was the daughter of a father and mother, traditionally known by the names of Saint Joachim. In 1677, the Holy See condemned the belief that Mary was virginally conceived, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on 8 December, exactly nine months before celebrating the Nativity of Mary. The feast of the Annunciation is celebrated on 25 March, nine months before Christmas Day, another misunderstanding is that, by her immaculate conception, Mary did not need a saviour. When defining the dogma in Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX explicitly affirmed that Mary was redeemed in a more sublime. He stated that Mary, rather than being cleansed after sin, was prevented from contracting Original Sin in view of the foreseen merits of Jesus Christ. In Luke 1,47, Mary proclaims, My spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour and this is referred to as Marys pre-redemption by Christ. A feast of the Conception of the Most Holy and All Pure Mother of God was celebrated in Syria on 8 December perhaps as early as the 5th century, note that the title of achrantos refers to the holiness of Mary, not specifically to the holiness of her conception. Marys complete sinlessness and concomitant exemption from any taint from the first moment of her existence was a familiar to Greek theologians of Byzantium. Beginning with St. St. Gregory Nazianzen designated Mary as prokathartheisa, gregorys doctrines surrounding Marys purification were likely related to the burgeoning commemoration of the Mother of God in and around Constantinople very close to the date of Christmas. Nazianzens title of Mary at the Annunciation as prepurified was subsequently adopted by all interested in his Mariology to justify the Byzantine equivalent of the Immaculate Conception. This is especially apparent in the Fathers St. Sophronios of Jerusalem and St. John Damascene, about the time of Damascene, the public celebration of the Conception of St. Ann was becoming popular. It is admitted that the doctrine as defined by Pius IX was not explicitly mooted before the 12th century and it is also agreed that no direct or categorical and stringent proof of the dogma can be brought forward from Scripture
6.
Assumption of Mary
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The Catholic Church teaches as dogma that the Virgin Mary having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory. This doctrine was defined by Pope Pius XII on 1 November 1950. In the churches that observe it, the Assumption is a major feast day, in many countries, the feast is also marked as a Holy Day of Obligation in the Roman Catholic Church and as a festival in the Anglican Communion. The Catholic Church itself interprets chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation as referring to it, the earliest known narrative is the so-called Liber Requiei Mariae, which survives intact only in an Ethiopic translation. Probably composed by the 4th century, this Christian apocryphal narrative may be as early as the 3rd century, also quite early are the very different traditions of the Six Books Dormition narratives. The earliest versions of this apocryphon are preserved by several Syriac manuscripts of the 5th and 6th centuries, although the text itself probably belongs to the 4th century. The story also appears in De Transitu Virginis, a late 5th century work ascribed to St. Melito of Sardis that presents a theologically redacted summary of the traditions in the Liber Requiei Mariae. The Transitus Mariae tells the story of the apostles being transported by white clouds to the deathbed of Mary, the Decretum Gelasianum in the 490s declared some transitus Mariae literature apocryphal. An Armenian letter attributed to Dionysus the Areopagite also mentioned the supposed event, john of Damascus, from this period, is the first church authority to advocate the doctrine under his own name. His contemporaries, Gregory of Tours and Modestus of Jerusalem, helped promote the concept to the wider church. In some versions of the story, the event is said to have taken place in Ephesus, in the House of the Virgin Mary, although this is a more recent. The earliest traditions locate the end of Marys life in Jerusalem, in a later tradition, Mary drops her girdle down to the apostle from heaven as testament to the event. This incident is depicted in later paintings of the Assumption. It was celebrated in the West under Pope Sergius I in the 8th century, theological debate about the Assumption continued, following the Reformation, climaxing in 1950 when Pope Pius XII defined it as dogma for the Catholic Church. Catholic theologian Ludwig Ott stated, The idea of the assumption of Mary is first expressed in certain transitus-narratives of the fifth and sixth centuries. The first Church author to speak of the assumption of Mary. The Catholic writer Eamon Duffy states that there is, clearly, however, the Catholic Church has never asserted nor denied that its teaching is based on the apocryphal accounts. The Church documents are silent on this matter and instead rely upon other sources, Pope Pius XII deliberately left open the question of whether Mary died before her Assumption
7.
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Barcelona
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The current Archbishop of Barcelona is Juan José Omella Omella, appointed by Pope Francis on 6 November 2015. During the Visigothic Kingdom, Barcelona became one of the fourteen dioceses of the province of Tarragona. After the Christian fall in 712, a sede vacante was ended not before 850, when bishop Joan took office. During the Reconquista, bishop Oleguer was called to the see of Tarragona. Barcelona became suffragan to Tarragona once again, and stayed so for the following centuries and its bishops got used to live in the pontifical or royal courts instead of the city, until bishop Jaume Caçador inducted reforms according to the Council of Trent amidst the 16th century. Disregarding another year-lasting de facto sede vacante from 1808 to 1814 during the Napoleonic Wars, Barcelona and its diocese kept on grewing richer and more powerful. On 25 March 1964 Pope Paul VI elevated the Diocese of Barcelona to the level of an Archdiocese. ”The list includes, Sant Feliu de Llobregat Terrassa Eubel, the Diocese of Barcelona During the Black Death, The Register Notule Communium 15. Toronto Canada, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, history of Barcelona Bishops of the Cathedral
8.
Pope Benedict XVI
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Pope Benedict XVI reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013. He was elected pope on 19 April 2005, was inaugurated on 24 April 2005, Benedicts election occurred in a papal conclave following the death of Pope John Paul II. Ordained as a priest in 1951 in his native Bavaria, Ratzinger established himself as a highly regarded university theologian by the late 1950s and was appointed a professor in 1958. In 1981, he was appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, from 2002 until his election as Pope, he was also Dean of the College of Cardinals. He was originally a liberal theologian, but adopted conservative views after 1968 and his prolific writings defend traditional Catholic doctrine and values. During his papacy, Benedict XVI advocated a return to fundamental Christian values to counter the increased secularisation of many Western countries and he views relativisms denial of objective truth, and the denial of moral truths in particular, as the central problem of the 21st century. He taught the importance of both the Catholic Church and an understanding of Gods redemptive love, Pope Benedict also revived a number of traditions, including elevating the Tridentine Mass to a more prominent position. He strengthened the relationship between the Catholic Church and art, promoted the use of Latin, and reintroduced traditional papal garments and he has been described as the main intellectual force in the Church since the mid-1980s. On 11 February 2013, Benedict announced his resignation in a speech in Latin before the cardinals, citing a lack of strength of mind and his resignation became effective on 28 February 2013. He is the first pope to resign since Pope Gregory XII in 1415, as pope emeritus, Benedict retains the style of His Holiness, and the title of Pope, and continues to dress in the papal colour of white. He was succeeded by Pope Francis on 13 March 2013, in his retirement, Benedict XVI has made occasional public appearances alongside Pope Francis. Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger was born on 16 April, Holy Saturday,1927, at Schulstraße 11, at 8,30 in the morning in his parents home in Marktl, Bavaria and he was baptised the same day. He was the third and youngest child of Joseph Ratzinger, Sr. a police officer and his mothers family was originally from South Tyrol. Pope Benedict XVIs brother, Georg Ratzinger, a priest and former director of the Regensburger Domspatzen choir, is still alive and his sister, Maria Ratzinger, who never married, managed Cardinal Ratzingers household until her death in 1991. Their grand-uncle was the German politician Georg Ratzinger, at the age of five, Ratzinger was in a group of children who welcomed the visiting Cardinal Archbishop of Munich with flowers. Struck by the distinctive garb, he later announced the very same day that he wanted to be a cardinal. He attended the school in Aschau am Inn, which was renamed in his honour in 2009. Ratzingers family, especially his father, bitterly resented the Nazis, in 1941, one of Ratzingers cousins, a 14-year-old boy with Down syndrome, was taken away by the Nazi regime and murdered during the Action T4 campaign of Nazi eugenics
9.
Ancient synagogue (Barcelona)
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The Ancient Synagogue of Barcelona is believed to be an ancient synagogue located in the centre of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It has been described as one of the oldest synagogues in Europe, after many centuries of use for other purposes, the building re-opened as a synagogue and museum in 2002. No congregation prays regularly at the Sinagoga Major, but it is used for festive occasions, archaeological investigations show that the original structure of the building was built in the third or fourth century, whether this structure was the synagogue cannot be said with certainty. The building was expanded during the 13th century. Medieval Barcelona is known to have had several synagogues, and the synagogue was certainly in the immediate area. King James I visited the synagogue in 1263 at the conclusion of the Barcelona Disputation, shlomo ben Aderet served as the rabbi of the Sinagoga Major for 50 years. The Jews of Barcelona were massacred in 1391, the building was used for many purposes and its original use was forgotten. Over the centuries, additional stories were added to the building, in 1987, Jaume Riera y Sans began researching the location of the Sinagoga Major. His research was based on a reconstruction of the route followed by a tax collector that ended at the Sinagoga Major. Rieras work led Miguel Iaffa to examine the exterior of the building, Iaffa noted that the structure had been built in compliance with religious requirements that the building should face Jerusalem and that it should have two windows. In fact, the orientation of the building broke with the northwest/southeast alignment of the streets in its neighborhood. Iaffa purchased the building in 1995 when its owner put it up for sale, the Call Association of Barcelona, led by Iaffa, undertook the recovery and restoration of the synagogue. The Sinagoga Major was opened to the public in 2002, in 2003, two Canadians became the first couple to be married at the Sinagoga Major in more than 600 years. A New York attorney donated a 500-year-old sefer Torah to the synagogue in 2006, in January 2009, a right-wing extremist affiliated with the Republican Social Movement attacked the Sinagoga Major. The attacker was detained by police, oldest synagogues in the world Lazar, Marilyn. Barcelona home to one of Europes oldest shuls
10.
Avinguda Diagonal
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Avinguda Diagonal is the name of one of Barcelonas broadest and most important avenues. It cuts the city in two, diagonally from west to east, hence the name, both would meet at Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes, which Cerdà envisioned as the new city centre. Avinguda Diagonal remains to this day a much-transited avenue and many companies and hotels use it as a privileged location, the avenue starts in the Les Corts district on the western edge of the city and runs to the Sant Martí district on the eastern edge. To its west, it connects with the Lleida-Madrid highway and Ronda de Dalt in the municipality of Esplugues de Llobregat. To its east, it meets the Ronda del Litoral on the border with the municipality of Sant Adrià de Besòs and it is consistently 50 metres wide and about 11 kilometres long. The different regimes that held power in Catalonia and Spain during the 20th century sought to change the street names. It has been known under the names, Gran Via Diagonal – original name which Ildefons Cerdà. Avinguda de la Nacionalitat Catalana –1922, during Miguel Primo de Riveras dictatorship, named after King Alfonso XIII. Avinguda del Catorze dAbril –1931, Gran Vía Diagonal –1939, provisional name imposed the day after the Fascist capture of Barcelona as an attempt to eliminate references to the Republic. Avenida del Generalísimo Francisco Franco –1939, during the authoritarian regime of Francisco Franco. Avinguda Diagonal – Its current name, adopted following the restoration of democracy in 1979, however, it should be noted that the name Diagonal has always prevailed in popular usage. Ildefons Cerdàs so-called Pla Cerdà was not totally successful in transforming Barcelonas urban reality, the city council of Barcelona had previously requested the approval of Antoni Rovira i Triass alternative project instead, which had been rejected. Francesc Cambó, leader of Lliga Regionalista proposed the construction of a new palace for the then monarch Alfonso XIII in 1919, Avinguda Diagonal suffered several attacks by the Basque separatist organisation ETA in 2000. On 2 November, a car bomb exploded injuring a security officer, a few days later, on 21 November, a car used by the killers of Enerst Lluch exploded in the middle of the avenue. On 20 December a municipal officer was shot dead, four venues in the area hosted competitions for the 1992 Summer Olympics. During 2010, Diagonal reform proposals were on the headlines, as the Barcelona city council had plans to make the cross the whole avenue. A popular consultation was scheduled for May 2010 between two reform proposals, the so-called rambla or boulevard and it resulted in a big political failure for the city mayor, Jordi Hereu. There was a participation of 12% of potential voters
11.
Barcelona Cathedral
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The cathedral was constructed from the 13th to 15th centuries, with the principal work done in the 14th century. The cloister, which encloses the Well of the Geese was completed in 1448, in the late 19th century, the neo-Gothic façade was constructed over the nondescript exterior that was common to Catalan churches. The roof is notable for its gargoyles, featuring a range of animals. It is a pseudobasilica, vaulted over five aisles, the two divided into chapels. The east end is a chevet of nine radiating chapels connected by an ambulatory, the high altar is raised, allowing a clear view into the crypt. The cathedral is dedicated to Eulalia of Barcelona, co-patron saint of Barcelona, one story says that she was exposed naked in the public square and a miraculous snowfall in mid-spring covered her nudity. The enraged Romans put her into a barrel with knives stuck into it, the body of Saint Eulalia is entombed in the cathedrals crypt. The choir stalls retain the coats-of-arms of the knights of the Order of the Golden Fleece, in his first trip into Spain, Charles, the future Holy Roman Emperor, selected Barcelona as the site of a chapter of his Order. In 1518 the Orders herald, Thomas Isaac, and its treasurer, juan de Borgonya executed the painted decoration of the sanctuary. The church was named after Barcelonas patron saint Eulalia, its official name - Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulalia - is Catalan for Cathedral of the Holy Cross, the commonly used name La Seu refers to the status of the church as the seat of the diocese. The side Chapel of the Holy Sacrament and of the Holy Christ of Lepanto contains a cross said to date from the time of the Battle of Lepanto. The cathedral has a secluded Gothic cloister where 13 white geese are kept, a program of cleaning and restoration of the cathedral was carried out from 1968-72. Reportedly, this Visigothic chapel was dedicated to Saint James, and was the church of the Viscounts of Barcelona. However, in a document from the Second Council of Barcelona in 599 and this church was severely damaged by al-Mansur during his attack on Barcelona in 985. In 1046, Count Ramon Berenguer I and his wife Almodis, together with Bishop Guislabert, began construction of a Romanesque cathedral at the site, the cathedral was constructed over the crypt of the former church. It has been reported that a Viscount of Barcelona, Mir Geribert, sold the site to Bishop Guislebert in 1058, however this date does not coincide with the reported start of construction. The present Gothic cathedral was begun on the foundations of the churches on 1 May 1298, James II the Just was King of Aragon at the time. The church was built from the east end towards the west end, the cloister was completed in 1448, making the total duration of construction 150 years
12.
Barcelona Pavilion
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The Barcelona Pavilion, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, was the German Pavilion for the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona, Spain. This building was used for the opening of the German section of the exhibition. It is an important building in the history of architecture, known for its simple form and its spectacular use of extravagant materials, such as marble, red onyx. The same features of minimalism and spectacular can be applied to the prestigious furniture specifically designed for the building, among which the iconic Barcelona chair and it has inspired many important modernist buildings, including Michael Mansers Capel Manor House in Kent. Mies was offered the commission of building in 1928 after his successful administration of the 1927 Werkbund exhibition in Stuttgart. However, Mies had severe time constraints—he had to design the Barcelona Pavilion in less than a year—and was also dealing with economic conditions. In the years following World War I, Germany started to turn around, the economy started to recover after the 1924 Dawes Plan. The Commissioner, Georg von Schnitzler said it should give voice to the spirit of a new era and this concept was carried out with the realization of the Free plan and the Floating roof. Miess response to the proposal by von Schnitzler was radical, the pavilion was to be bare, with no exhibits, leaving only the structure accompanying a single sculpture and specially-designed furniture. This lack of accommodation enabled Mies to treat the Pavilion as a continuous space, the design was predicated on an absolute distinction between structure and enclosure—a regular grid of cruciform steel columns interspersed by freely spaced planes. However, the structure was more of a style, some of these planes also acted as supports. The floor plan is very simple, the entire building rests on a plinth of travertine. A southern U-shaped enclosure, also of travertine, helps form a service annex, the floor slabs of the pavilion project out and over the pool—once again connecting inside and out. Another U-shaped wall on the side of the site also forms a smaller water basin. This is where the statue by Georg Kolbe sits, the roof plates, relatively small, are supported by the chrome-clad, cruciform columns. This gives the impression of a hovering roof, robin Evans said that the reflective columns appear to be struggling to hold the floating roof plane down, not to be bearing its weight. Mies wanted this building to become an ideal zone of tranquillity for the weary visitor, since the pavilion lacked a real exhibition space, the building itself was to become the exhibit. The pavilion was designed to block any passage through the site, rather, visitors would enter by going up a few stairs, and due to the slightly sloped site, would leave at ground level in the direction of the Poble Espanyol
