Barcelona
Barcelona is a city in Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within city limits, its urban area extends to numerous neighbouring municipalities within the Province of Barcelona and is home to around 4.8 million people, making it the sixth most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris, Madrid, the Ruhr area and Milan. It is one of the largest metropolises on the Mediterranean Sea, located on the coast between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs, bounded to the west by the Serra de Collserola mountain range, the tallest peak of, 512 metres high. Founded as a Roman city, in the Middle Ages Barcelona became the capital of the County of Barcelona. After merging with the Kingdom of Aragon, Barcelona continued to be an important city in the Crown of Aragon as an economic and administrative centre of this Crown and the capital of the Principality of Catalonia.
Barcelona has a rich cultural heritage and is today an important cultural centre and a major tourist destination. Renowned are the architectural works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner, which have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites; the headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean are located in Barcelona. The city is known for hosting the 1992 Summer Olympics as well as world-class conferences and expositions and many international sport tournaments. Barcelona is one of the world's leading tourist, trade fair and cultural centres, its influence in commerce, entertainment, fashion and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities, it is a major cultural and economic centre in southwestern Europe, 24th in the world and a financial centre. In 2008 it was the fourth most economically powerful city by GDP in the European Union and 35th in the world with GDP amounting to €177 billion. In 2012 Barcelona had a GDP of $170 billion. In 2009 the city was ranked one of the world's most successful as a city brand.
In the same year the city was ranked Europe's fourth best city for business and fastest improving European city, with growth improved by 17% per year, the city has been experiencing strong and renewed growth for the past three years. Since 2011 Barcelona has been a leading smart city in Europe. Barcelona is a transport hub, with the Port of Barcelona being one of Europe's principal seaports and busiest European passenger port, an international airport, Barcelona–El Prat Airport, which handles over 50 million passengers per year, an extensive motorway network, a high-speed rail line with a link to France and the rest of Europe; the name Barcelona comes from the ancient Iberian Barkeno, attested in an ancient coin inscription found on the right side of the coin in Iberian script as, in ancient Greek sources as Βαρκινών, Barkinṓn. Some older sources suggest that the city may have been named after the Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca, supposed to have founded the city in the 3rd century BC, but there is no evidence that Barcelona was a Carthaginian settlement, or that its name in antiquity, had any connection with the Barcid family of Hamilcar.
During the Middle Ages, the city was variously known as Barchinona, Barçalona and Barchenona. Internationally, Barcelona's name is wrongly abbreviated to'Barça'. However, this name refers only to the football club; the common abbreviated form used by locals is Barna. Another common abbreviation is'BCN', the IATA airport code of the Barcelona-El Prat Airport; the city is referred to as the Ciutat Comtal in Catalan, Ciudad Condal in Spanish, owing to its past as the seat of the Count of Barcelona. 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. The founding of Barcelona is the subject of two different legends; the first attributes the founding of the city to the mythological Hercules. The second legend attributes the foundation of the city directly to the historical Carthaginian general, Hamilcar Barca, father of Hannibal, who named the city Barcino after his family in the 3rd century BC, but there is no historical or linguistic evidence that this is true.
In about 15 BC, the Romans redrew the town as a castrum centred on the "Mons Taber", a little hill near the contemporary city hall. 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 as it was eclipsed by its neighbour Tarraco, but it may be gathered from writers that it 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. Important Roman vestiges are displayed in Plaça del Rei underground, as a part of the Barcelona City History Museum; some remaining fragments of the Roman walls have been incorporated into the cathedral. The cathedral known as the Basilica La Seu, is said to have been founded in 343; the city
Province of Lleida
The Province of Lleida is one of the four provinces of Catalonia. It lies in north-eastern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Catalonia, is bordered by the provinces of Girona, Tarragona and Huesca and the countries of France and Andorra, it is popularly referred to as Ponent. Of the population of 414,015, about 30 % live in Lleida; some other towns in Lleida province are La Seu d'Urgell, Cervera, Tàrrega, Balaguer. There are 231 municipalities in Lleida.. Located in the Pyrenees, the Aran Valley is a special comarca with greater autonomy and with Aranese, a variety of Occitan, as its official language; the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park is located in this province. The province enjoys a thriving fruit-growing industry, including peaches. According to the 2006 Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia, the provinces of Catalonia are due to be superseded by territorial units or vegueries based on a more historical political division, the Province of Lleida would become two territorial units: Ponent or Terres de Lleida Vegueria and Alt Pirineu i Aran Vegueria, the county of Solsona going to the Comarques Centrals Vegueria.
The plan is on hold for the time being. The Province of Lleida has a characteristic Catalan dialect popularly known as lleidatà, with lo, los used as the masculine definite article instead of el, els and its pronunciation in a large number of words. One example of the pronunciation is the a at the end of the word, pronounced like an e; the local dialect, properly known as North-Western Catalan is part of the Western Catalan block, as such, shares some features with Valencian. The Province of Lleida is the only one in Catalonia where a language other than Catalan is native, Occitan, in the Aran Valley. Lleida is located in the western part of Catalonia and in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula, between Barcelona and Madrid, not far from Zaragoza, borders on France and Andorra to the north; this is a popular destination for many of those who love mountain activities and who are fans of skiing and adventure sports, but it is a destination that offers a wide variety of other tourism options which are ideal for holidays with friends and family.
In terms of its natural environment, Lleida offers a wide variety of landscapes. In the high mountain area of the Pyrenees, visitors will find nature in its purest form. Special mention should be made of: the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park, the only National Park in Catalonia. In the Pre-Pyrenees, amongst other places of interest, visitors will find the Collegats-Terradets Territorial Park, the Boumort Natural Hunting Reserve and the Congost de Mont-rebei gorge. In contrast, the Lleida Plain offers more peaceful landscapes. In some cases, these are rather sober, while in others, visitors will find fertile land with century-old olive trees, fruit trees and crop fields. In this area, it is relevant to highlight such spectacular settings as the Estany d'Ivars i Vila-sana pool and the Aiguabarreig of the rivers Segre and Ebro; the comarques of Lleida are market leaders within Spain in the provision of adventure sports, with more than 170 companies organising around fifty different activities on land and water and in the air.
This area is Spain's leading ski destination. Lleida has 11 different ski resorts which are marketed under the brand "Neu de Lleida" and offer over 450 km of ski slopes, their 81 ski lifts have the capacity to carry 115,000 skiers per hour, while the area surrounding these winter sports complexes can accommodate more than 30,000 visitors. Lleida's rich monumental heritage –, crowned by elements of its Romanesque heritage, which has its maximum expression in the churches of the Vall de Boi, which have been declared part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site – is further complemented by a wide range of festivities and sporting and cultural events, it is important to pick out some of the many new initiatives that have helped to extend the seasonal offer of Lleida's tourism sector. These include: the Centre d'Observació de l'Univers, or PAM, of Montsec, an ambitious project that combines research and diffusion within the field of cultural and scientific tourism. Lleida, the capital of the province, is remarkable for its historical-architectural legacy, which includes sights as splendid as the Seu Vella, a veritable jewel of Romanesque and Gothic architecture, the Knights Templar Castle of Gardeny, for instance.
These buildings co
Badalona
Badalona is a municipality to the immediate north east of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. It is located on the left bank of the small Besòs River and on the Mediterranean Sea, in the Barcelona metropolitan area. By population, it is the twenty-third in Spain, it became a city in 1897. Badalona was founded by the Romans in the 3rd century BC, with the name of Baetulo, although human settlements in the area existed from 3500-2500 BC; the Iberians had fortified villages on the Melasas and Boscà hills since the 7th century BC. The Roman town's plan was based on their common scheme of the cardo and decumanus, occupying some 11 ha, with a line of walls measuring 413x261 m and having large defensive towers. In the 1st century BC it had some 15,000 inhabitants; the current Badalona was formed in the 10th century, as a new urban nucleus built over and around the old Roman city. It comprised a group of houses built around the church. At the same time, a rural nucleus grew up outside the town walls; this rural and urban dichotomy would remain until the mid-18th century.
Sant Jeroni de la Murtra Monastery, built in the 14th century, is where the Catholic Monarchs would spend their summers. This is where they received Christopher Columbus after his first voyage to the Americas. Badalona was one of the most important towns during the Spanish industrialization process, from the 19th century onwards. Today, Badalona is in the middle of a process of major urban change which will provide one of the challenges for the 21st century. Monastery of Sant Jeroni de la Murtra Roman City Roman Baths The Venus of Badalona is a small Roman sculpture in white marble that symbolized the wealth of the city in Roman times. La Rambla Carrer del Mar Pont del Petroli Giants Anastasi i Maria. Pavillard house, built by Joan Amigó i Barriga in 1906, considered the best modernist work in the city. Teatre Zorrilla, reopened in 1999 Anís del Mono, a distillery in Modernist style Casa de la Vila Santa Maria's Church, in Neoclassicist style Can Canyadó farmhouse Godmar Castle Maignon Market Torner Market Palau Municipal d'Esports de Badalona Màgic Badalona Beaches Summer nightlife Badalona Museum Badalona has a RENFE station R1 from Barcelona to Mataró - Blanes, as well as a small harbour.
There are links to Barcelona via the Barcelona Metropolitan Transport metro and bus system, as well as the Trambesòs line. Badalona has the second-largest Moroccan and Pakistani populations of Catalonia. Other significant communities include Maghrebis and Indians; the harbor is chiefly important for its fishing and boat-building trades, while in town there are gas and mineral-oil works, as well as the manufacture of woolen and cotton goods, biscuits and brandy. The surrounding fertile plains produce an abundance of grain and fruit; the city is home to the historic distillery which produces Anís del Mono, a spirit made of herbs and anise, the most famous anisette in Europe. In May, in occasion of the celebration of Saint Anastasi, the patron saint of Badalona and festivals are organized all around the city; the most important celebration takes place the day before Saint Anastasi Day when, at night, people gather at the maritime promenade to participate in the popular Cremada del Dimoni --similar to the famous Valencian Falles.
The city's most important sport complex is the Palau Municipal d'Esports de Badalona, which won the Mies Van der Rohe award in 1992. The Palace was the setting for basketball competition during the Olympic Games in 1992. Nowadays, it is home of the basketball team from Badalona, Joventut Badalona known as la Penya; this place will be the center of the Badalona Capital Europea del Bàsquet, intended to be a theme park celebrating basketball - with a basketball museum, shopping center, basketball courts, a harbour, indoor karting and more activities. Alcanar, Spain San Fernando, Spain Parla, Spain Valparaíso, Chile Gothenburg, Sweden Sitges, Spain Joventut Badalona in Liga ACB Palau Municipal d'Esports de Badalona CF Badalona Panareda Clopés, Josep Maria. Guia de Catalunya, Barcelona:Caixa de Catalunya. ISBN 84-87135-01-3. ISBN 84-87135-02-1. Badalona travel guide from Wikivoyage "Badalona". Encyclopædia Britannica. 1911. Official site Government data pages Information from the Diputació de Barcelona
Moianès
Moianès is a comarca in the centre of Catalonia, Spain. It became a comarca in May 2015, following approval in a local referendum and by the Parliament of Catalonia, its 10 municipalities were in the comarques of Bages and Vallès Oriental. It had been recommended in 2000 in the "Report on the revision of Catalonia's territorial organisation model", known as the "Roca Report", commissioned by the Catalan government. Before it was given legal status, Moianès was considered a "natural comarca"—a distinct geographic region—comprising the eponymous Moianès Plateau. Official website Unofficial comarcal website
Terrassa
Terrassa is a city in the east central region of Catalonia, in the province of Barcelona, comarca of Vallès Occidental, of which it is the cocapital along with Sabadell. It is the site of Roman Egara, a former Visigothic bishopric, which became a Latin Catholic titular see; the city is located in the Catalan Prelitoral depression, at the feet of the Prelitoral mountain range and the average altitude of the city is 277 meters above sea level. It is 18 kilometres from Barcelona and Montserrat respectively. Terrassa is the third largest city in Catalonia, after L'Hospitalet; the remains that have been found indicate that the area where Terrassa stands has been inhabited since prehistory. In 2005, during the construction of a tunnel for one of the city's railway lines, a prehistoric site was found in the Park of Vallparadís, with stone tools and fossils of hunted animals dating back 800,000 to 1,000,000 years, making this is one of the oldest prehistoric sites in Europe. Terrassa originated as the Roman town of Egara, founded during the time of the emperor Vespasian, alongside the torrent of Vallparadís close to the Iberian town of Egosa, on the site of which some ceramics and coins have been found.
Other important remains from the Middle Ages are the former cathedral, the castle of Vallparadís and the tower of the castle-palace of the count-king. In the 19th century the city played an important role in the industrial revolution, specializing in woollen fabrics, today there is a major Modernista legacy as a result of the city's importance at that time. Notable Modernista buildings include the Masia Freixa, the Vapor Aymerich, Amat i Jover textile mill, the Principal theater, the city hall, the Alegre de Sagrera house/museum, the Industrial School, the Gran Casino, the Parc de Desinfecció, the Independència market. Terrassa is a partner city of the Art nouveau network, a European network of co-operation created in 1999 for the study and development of Art Nouveau; the 25 September 1962, after a long dry season, between 212 and 252 litres of rain per square metre fell in three hours. It caused rivers Llobregat and Besòs and their tributaries to overflow, creating a water avenue that caused 700 victims and lots of material losses.
The Vallès Occidental comarca was the most damaged. In Terrassa, with 327 victims; the reason of these numbers was that building was permitted around two dry streams used to bring rain water to the Llobregat river. They were not properly channelized; when the streams overflowed created what was called "the dead triangle", with more than a hundred victims only in the Ègara neighbourhood. The episcopal see of Ègara existed by about 450 CE, when it was established on territory split off from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Barcelona, under the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Tarragona. Pope Hilarius confirmed its autonomy be denying a request around 469 to unite it with the Barcelona under its own first bishop, Ireneus, it comprised parts of these Comarques of Catalonia: Alt Penedès, Baix Llobregat, Vallès Occidental and Vallès Oriental. A Provincial Council of Tarragona was held there in 615, it succumbed to the Arab conquest in the 8th century and was suppressed, its territory being returned to the Diocese of Barcelona.
The Marian cathedral continued to exist until 718, when it was taken over during the Umayyad conquest of Hispania, but was rebuilt in the 12th century, remains part of a monumental complex of ancient Visigothic-Romanesque churches of Sant Pere de Terrassa and Sant Miquel on the site. After the Catholic Reconquista of the region in the tenth century, the see was not restored, its territory being incorporated in the diocese of Barcelona. Why a request to restore the bishopric by its Metropolitan of Tarragona, wasn't honored by Pope John XII is unclear. Suffragan Bishops of EgaraIreneo Saint Nebridio, transferred to Barcelona, which had a homonym incumbent in 540. Tauro Sofronio Ilergio Eugenio Vincenzo Giovanni In 1969 the diocese was nominally restored as Titular bishopric of Egara, it has had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting episcopal rank: Justo Goizueta Gridilla, O. A. R. as Bishop-Prelate of Territorial Prelature of Madera Apostolic Administrator of same Madera. I. M. as Auxiliary Bishop of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cali.
F. M. No prelature so far These three churches were built close to the site of old Ègara to be the seat of the Ègara Diocese, founded around 450 CE and remained in existence until the 8th century; this episcopal complex follows the Byzantine model of antiquity, with a mausoleum. After a lon
Coat of arms of Barcelona
The coat of arms of Barcelona is the official emblem of the City Council of Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, has its origin in the Middle Ages, these arms were first documented in in 1329. The Government of Catalonia conferred the coat of arms and the flag as official symbols of the municipality in 2004, it has an escutcheon in lozenge, used in municipal coats of arms of cities in Catalonia. The City Council of Barcelona uses a isotype based on the heraldry of the city; the blazon of the arms is: Quarterly and fourth Argent, a full cross Gules and third Or, with four paletts Gules. The heraldry of the city joining the Saint George's Cross, patron saint of the House of Barcelona and the arms of the Archdiocese of Barcelona, the Royal Arms of Aragon, the Four Bars which bear four red paletts on gold background, depicts the emblems of the Kings of Aragon and Counts of Barcelona since 1137 when Aragon and the County of Barcelona merged by dynastic union by the marriage of Raymond Berengar IV of Barcelona and Petronila of Aragon.
Among others territories of the former Crown of Aragon, the coats of arms of Catalonia, Aragon and the Balearic Islands include the Four Bars. The first instance of a cross is found in a seal of 1288; the Saint George's Cross is shown on a 13th-century mural of the Tinell Hall, depicting by Barcelonan or Catalan soldiers. The Neighborly host ordinances of 1395 ordered: «Than for the city councillors, the present be made a long side banner which has the sign of Saint George, containing a red cross on a white field, badge of the city», thus the cross seem to have been used as a distinguishing and official of Barcelonan citizens, or slightly earlier. The Aragonese Royal Standard used alongside the banner of the city worn by Barcelonan soldiers and joining them in a quartering first depicted on the heraldic sign and on the banner. Quartering in is a method of joining several different coats of arms together in one shield to avoid conflict with otherwise similar coats of arms but quarters are numbered from the dexter chief, proceeding across the top row, across the next row and so on.
The arms of the citizens were placed in the most honourable quarters because their representative traditionally forced the king to negotiate his policies. In 1359 the Generalitat of Catalonia adopted the Saint George's Cross as flag and sign «by being the ancient arms of the County of Barcelona». Before the Royal grant of 1345, that set the number of paletts to four, where periods when four pallets were alternated with three or two; the shield charged with two bars was recurrent source of discussion as a proper variant of Barcelona. In 1996 was adopted a monochrome logotype as official emblem of Barcelona, a rhombus or lozenge with the cross two bars impaled defined edges and without the crown. A secondary version, for ceremonial use and shown in the seal of the city with four pallets, a former royal crown; the versions of 1996 caused such controversy, because they were not designed to conform to traditional heraldic rules and the content of the Law of local symbols of Catalonia, that led to the Catalan Society of Genealogy, Sigillography and Nobility lodged an appeal against them.
This appeal to repeal the emblems of 1996 was successful and a most appropriate version had to be created, so the current arms, quartered with four bars was adopted in 2004. Since the 15th century a former royal crown set atop the shield, as was customary in territories of the Crown. In the 17th century was introduced the royal crest of the Aragonese monarchs, a winged dragon, as the city Valencia or Palma have done during the previous century. In some cases, the winged dragon will in time be transformed into in a bat, Rat penat used in local heraldry. Together with the crest, a helmet was situated above the shield and bears lambrequins and the former royal crown. By the 19th century the bat has cornered the dragon as can be seen in the Official Gazette of Catalonia and Barcelona since 1810; the bat and the former royal crown without the helmet were remained for much of the century. The removal of the bat from the coat of arms of Barcelona has been seen as a loss of an emblematic symbol shared by other capitals of the former Crown of Aragon as Palma, capital of the former Kingdom of Mallorca and Valencia, in the former homonymous kingdom.
During 16th and 17th centuries the use of the heraldry of Barcelona was used as coat of arms of the Principality of Catalonia. This use may reflect the Principality as heir of the County of Barcelona or the governmental capacity of the Generalitat over the territory of the former county; the heraldry of the city of Barcelona has depicted different types of heraldic crowns, both royal or county crown have been used in different variants. The crown of count referred the history of the territory and the royal crown has been reflected the rank of the titular of the county; the royal crown equals territory as other realms of the Hispanic Monarchy. For this reason, the historiography referred to these holders as Count-King. From 1800 to 1931, successive town and city councils used both crowns with or without the crest of the bat. After the Spanish Civil War, the coat of arms showed a former royal crown without the crest; the current version has the modern Spanish Royal Crown, a crown a circlet Or and precious stones, with eight rosettes of oyster plant leaves, five visible, eight pearls in
Vallès Occidental
Vallès Occidental is a comarca in Catalonia, Spain. It is unique among the comarques in that the two cities Sabadell and Terrassa share the role of comarcal capital. Along with Vallès Oriental it forms the grand comarca of Vallès. Vallès Occidental borders the comarques of Bages, Vallès Oriental, Baix Llobregat, Barcelonès, it centers on the Catalan prelittoral depression, limited to the west by the River Llobregat and to the east by the River Caldes. The northern part of the comarca is mountainous. From west to east, it contains part of the Obac range. At the south of the comarca is the Collserola range, which forms part of the Catalan Littoral. Between these various ranges is the valley; the valley composes two separate watersheds, the basins of the Llobregat and Besòs. The Llobregat watershed lies to the west of the axis that runs from Obac to Tibidabo, passing through Matadepera, Sant Quirze del Vallès, Sant Cugat del Vallès. Tributaries of the Llobregat include the Rubí and the Vallvidrera. East of that axis, the watershed of the Besòs includes the rivers Caldes.
Parc Natural de Sant Llorenç de Munt i Serra de l'Obac Parc de Collserola Vallès Occidental has several notable official hiking trails, known as "senders de gran recorregut". GR-6: Barcelona - Montserrat. GR-96: Barcelona - Montserrat. GR-97: Abrera - Sant Celoni. GR-173: Circumnavigation of Vallès Occidental. Industry is concentrated in the south; the principal industrial cities are Rubí and Cerdanyola del Vallès. The most important industries are textiles, mechanical engineering, machinery, electrical equipment, chemicals and the processing of food products. An industrial crisis at the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s led to a greater importance for the commercial and service sectors computer-related work; the north remains rural. Many of the residences there now function as second homes. Much of Catalonia's transportation network passes through Vallès Occidental, with roads, etc. crossing the valley in various directions. AP-7 crosses Vallès in an east-west direction. Heading west, it connects Vallès with Tarragona, València and the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula to the A-2/AP-2.
Heading east, it connects Vallès with France. C-58 crosses the comarca south to north, connecting Barcelona with Manresa by wy of Montcada i Reixac, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Terrassa. Manresa and Barcelona are connected by C-17 or the Vallvidrera Tunnels, by way of Sant Cugat del Vallès and Rubí. C-33 connects Montcada i Reixac and Mollet del Vallès, connecting the northern part of Barcelona with autopista AP-7 to the northeast. N-150, the principal highway of the comarca, crosses south to north, connecting Barcelona to Terrassa by way of Montcada i Reixac, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barberà del Vallès, Sabadell. Beyond Terrassa, various carreteres comarcals complete the comarca's network: C-1413 starts at Molins de Rei, connects to the N-II and N-340 and the motorway A-2, passes through Rubí, Sentmenat before connecting to the N-152 at the heights of Centelles. C-1415 connects Vilafranca del Penedès, Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, Martorell to Granollers and Mataró passing through Terrassa, Castellar del Vallès, Sentmenat.
C-155 connects Sabadell to Granollers, passing through Palau de Plegamans. Both railroad companies that operate in Catalonia have lines in Vallès Occidental. RENFE's Barcelona-Lleida line passes through Manresa; the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya have the "Metro del Vallès", connecting Barcelona to Sabadell and Terrassa. Most air traffic for Vallès Occidental comes through Prat airport in neighboring Baix Llobregat. Sabadell Airport is used for sport flying, as a base for firemen, for air freight. Official comarcal web site
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Barcelona (Spanish province)". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the 
