Barcelona

Barcelona (Barcelona Catalan, pronounced / bəɾsəlonə /, and in Spanish, pronounced / baɾθelona /) is the administrative and economic capital of Catalonia, Barcelona province, in the county of El Barcelonès and its urban area and its metropolitan area, Spain.

It is the second largest city in Spain in terms of population and activities, the eleventh most populous city in the European Union and the sixth including his banlieue3: More than 5 million people live in the metropolitan area barcelonaise4. The bulk of the adjacent municipalities are also gathered in Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona.

Located on the Mediterranean coast, it is crossed by the rivers Llobregat and Besòs and bordered on the west by the Serra de Collserola which rises to 512 meters (summit Tibidabo). It is considered a global city because of its importance in the areas of finance, international trade, publishing, arts, entertainment and media. Barcelona is a major economic center, has, moreover, a major Mediterranean ports and the second behind the Spanish airport of Madrid-Barajas. It is also the city that has the largest metropolitan park in the world, the Collserola Park, before Central Park in New York. Having been founded by the Romans, the city became the capital of the Counts of Barcelona and one of the major cities of the Crown of Aragon. Redesigned several times during its history, today it is a major tourist destination and has a unique cultural heritage. The Palau Güell (1984), Casa Mila, Park Güell, the Palais de la Música Catalana and Hospital de Sant Pau appear elsewhere on the World Heritage List of UNESCO. In addition, the city is also known for hosting the Olympics in 1992 and, more recently, the headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean.

Excavations have uncovered a part of the Roman city of Barcino which is exposed at the Museum of City History. These archaeological work has allowed the Barcelona City Council published a historical record on the history of the city from its beginnings to the present day. This file ends a persistent rumor, spread by teachers until the twentieth century although historically false "Hannibal Barca did not base Barcelona" 5 [ref. TBC], the son of Emperor Augustus.


In December 414, Barcelona is taken by the Visigoths Athaulf from Italy. Muslims take the town in the eighth century and the governor will appoint ben Sulayman ibn al-Arabi Yaqzan. Barcelona becomes part of al-Andalus. In 801, the Carolingian conquer the city; they turn it into the county capital of Barcelona, ​​before incorporating the Spanish March (Marca Hispanica, more precisely translated Marche Hispanic). In 859, Barcelona is sacked by Vikings head Hasting, who come from Nantes and had wintered in Camargue6. Over time, the county acquired a certain independence vis-à-vis the Carolingian dynasty whose reign officially ends in the tenth century. In 985, al-Mansur, the Caliph of Cordoba, a city in southern Spain, attacks and plunders Barcelona. He took with him many slaves. Count Borrell II asks for help to his sovereign Hugues Capet. It does not deigning to help him, as required feudal law, the county denounce his ties suzerainité and takes de facto independence.

Paradoxically, this event will mark the beginning of a phase of expansion of Catalonia; this move will involve other states in the Spanish Walk (Hispanic). On the one hand, many Mozarabes and Jews fleeing persecution in the Caliphate of Cordoba, will find refuge in the former states of the Spanish Walk; they bring all their knowledge and culture (in those days, there was no talk - in Spanish - "purity of blood"). On the other hand, in order to rebuild, farmers will hire their services as mercenaries of the caliph. Revenues in Catalonia, they will organize to defend themselves and employ agricultural techniques used in the Caliphate of Córdoba. They will thus build mills and irrigate the land. Trade with the Caliphate will grow rapidly. The result is a growing population and development techniques from the late tenth century. Monastic and push the development of pilgrimage to Saint Jacques de Compostela will allow the transmission of this technique to push other states in the Spanish March, then to the rest of Europe. This technical development is also accompanied by a large expansion of the culture. Pope Sylvester II studied in Barcelona where he completed his training in science. It reintroduces the ancient culture through Virgil, Porphyry of Tyre, Aristotle, Cicero and Boethius. It is through the latter that he was introduced to arithmetic. From there, he discusses the practical calculations and produces a table to count, called the abacus of Gerbert.

Another major fact, the presence of peasant soldiers who own their mill, will lead to a non-absolutist interpretation of feudalism. The kings of Aragon will face their third states. The establishment of a feudal state in Catalonia during the eleventh century did not involve the county of Barcelona who took a certain dominance over other counties in Marca. Barcelona became the center of an area that included the current Catalonia, various maritime possessions, and the Catalan-Aragonese confederation for much of its history. Barcelona was one of the major Mediterranean powers of the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries