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.
Modernisme
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Modernisme, also known as Catalan modernism, is the historiographic denomination given to an art and literature movement. Modernisme was also a literary movement, although it was part of a general trend that emerged in Europe around the turn of the 20th century, in Catalonia the style acquired its own unique personality. Notable painters include Santiago Rusiñol, Ramon Casas, Isidre Nonell, Hermen Anglada Camarasa, Joaquim Mir, Eliseu Meifrèn, Lluïsa Vidal, notable sculptors are Josep Llimona, Eusebi Arnau and Miquel Blai. Such ideas can be seen in some of Rusiñols plays against the Spanish army, Modernistes largely rejected bourgeois values, which they thought to be the opposite of art. It is a search for a style for Catalonia drawing on Medieval. The textile factory which is now home to the Catalan national technical museum MNACTEC is an outstanding example, early 20th century architecture in Valencia was strongly influenced by Modernisme. The Central Market in Valencia, one of the largest in Europe, covers more than 8,000 square metres, over two floors, with a predominantly eclectic pre-Modernist style. Its unusual roof comprises original domes and sloping sections at different heights, while the interior seems to be lined in a range of such as iron, wood, ceramics. The beauty of the building stands out especially on account of the light enters through the roof at various points. The North Station is the railway station in Valencia, Spain located in the city centre next to the Plaza de Toros de Valencia. It was declared Good of Cultural Heritage in 1987, the Mercado de Colón is an old market located in the center of the city of Valencia, Spain. Its building was designed by architect Francisco Mora Berenguer between 1914 and 1916 and this is a clear example of Modernist architecture of the early century. It was declared a national monument and it impresses with its extraordinary facade and lavish decor. Antoni Gaudí is the architect of this movement. Other influential architects were Lluís Domènech i Montaner and Josep Puig i Cadafalch, in literature, Modernisme stood out the most in narrative. Those writers often, though not always, show influences from Russian literature of the 19th Century, in poetry, Modernisme closely follows Symbolist and Parnassian poetry, with poets frequently crossing the line between both tendencies or alternating between them. Another important strain of Modernista poetry is Joan Maragalls Paraula viva school, although poetry was very popular with the Modernistes and there were lots of poets involved in the movement, Maragall is the only Modernista poet who is still widely read today. Modernista theatre was important, as it smashed the insubstantial regional plays that were popular in 19th century Catalonia
5.
Old Hospital de la Santa Creu, Barcelona
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It has been declared a Historic and Artistic Landmark of National Interest. In 1401 the Council of One Hundred, the government of Barcelona. The complex was designed by Guillem dAbriell, was planned on a scale in the form of four two-story wings surrounding a central patio. The work was complete by 1414, but construction was resumed a century later using more refined construction techniques. In 1703, Antoni Viladomat, one of the most significant Catalan painters of the Baroque period painted the chapel of Saint Paul, a month before the hospital was closed down in 1926, Antoni Gaudí died here three days after he was hit by a tram. In 1926 the building was purchased by the City Council, who began restoring it and it now houses the Biblioteca de Catalunya, the Institut dEstudis Catalans, the Escola Massana and two public libraries run by the Diputació de Barcelona. On June 3,1931 it was declared a Monument of National Historic and Artistic Interest, in 1978 the UNESCO cataloged the new campus of the Hospital de Sant Pau as a Historic Artistic Monument due to its artistic beauty and construction singularity. In 2001, the de la Sante Creu i Sant Pau celebrated its 600th birthday. The oldest part of the Hospital de la Santa Creu is an example of Catalan civil-Gothic architecture. The interior boasts several large vaulted halls, also of note is the cross vaulted Galeria del pati, which borders the inner garden, and the arched entrance to the library at the patio, built in the sixteenth century. Museu Tèxtil i dIndumentària This article is adapted from the Catalan Wikipedia, Hospital de la Santa Creu - history and visitor information
6.
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
7.
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
8.
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
9.
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
10.
Bellesguard
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Bellesguard, also known as Casa Figueres, is a modernist manor house designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, which was constructed between 1900 and 1909. It is located at the Sarrià-Sant Gervasi district of Barcelona in Catalonia, the ground on which Bellesguard stands on had been the site of a country residence belonging to Martin, king of Aragon and count of Barcelona. Gaudí was assisted by Joan Rubio whilst Domènec Sugrañes i Gras created the mosaics that adorn the house. Gaudí drew inspiration for Casa Figueras from the castle that once stood on the same site. When King Aragon died without an heir in 1410, his widow, Margaret of Prades, following her death, the castle fell into decline and was passed from hand to hand over centuries until Jaume Figueres purchased the estate in 1900. When Jaume Figueres and his wife María Sagues Molíns commissioned Gaudí for the project in 1900, all that remained of the structure were a few walls. As always, Gaudí sought to blend the construction with its natural surroundings, Gaudí designed the home in a period where he himself was still developing his unique style. Gaudí was given free rein to design and construct what was intended as a home for the Jaume family. The house changed hands for years until the Guilera family purchased the home in 1944 and has continued to own it for over 70 years. The building continued to serve medical purposes following Lluis’ death in 1969 when his son, Lluís Guilera Soler, several Barcelona citizens were born in Casa Figueres until 1974 when the site of the hospital relocated to a more accessible area better suited to medical needs. From that point on, the building has served the purpose that Gaudí always intended—a private home. For the past 30 years, the Guilera family has left the gates open permitting guests to stroll the gardens, over the years, they received countless requests from visitors to explore inside the home and enjoy Gaudí’s more modernist interior detailing. Both due to the demand from visitors as well as the family’s realization that restoration was necessary. The family officially began inviting tours in September 2013, offering access to the interior accompanied by explanations of the history, Casa Figueres is constructed mainly of stone and brick. The general structure measures a square base of 15 ×15 m and is 19.5 m high, the exterior façade is more neogothic, as Gaudí intended to pay tribute to the original medieval castle that once stood at the site. As is such, Gaudí used more straight lines, seldom seen in his usual work, the iconic tower, Torre Bellesguard, juts out from a corner of a base, adding to the vertical alignment of the structure created by the straight, vertical lines in his design. Torre Bellesguard is perhaps what the building is most recognized for, displaying Gaudí’s typical cross of four arms decorated with red and yellow mosaics to mimic the Catalan flag. At the base of the one can also see what appears to be a crown wrapped around the circumference
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Media related to Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau at Wikimedia Commons
