[english] [español] [français] [deutsch] [italiano]
Barcelona, city in north-east Spain,
capital of Barcelona Province and the autonomous region of Catalonia, a port on the Mediterranean Sea between the Llobregat and Besós rivers. Barcelona is the second-largest Spanish city in population and the principal industrial and commercial centre of the country. Barcelona Province, the most populous and industrialized of the Spanish provinces, is mountainous, with fertile plains and a sandy coast.
Barcelona's main products include textiles, precision instruments, machinery, rail equipment, paper, glass, and plastics. Barcelona is one of the major Mediterranean ports and the financial and publishing centre of Spain. Agricultural products include cork, olives, cereals, vegetables, grapes, almonds, oranges, and peaches. Cement and textiles are manufactured in the region, and there are lignite and potash mines.
The oldest section of Barcelona, formerly enclosed by walls, was built on the harbour and is crossed by the Rambla, a paved roadway extending from the harbour to the Plaza de Cataluña, the focal point of the city. The streets of the old quarter are narrow and crooked; in the newer sections they are wide and straight, with modern buildings. Dominating Barcelona's skyscape are the fantastic openwork spires of Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Familia (Church of the Sacred Family), a huge, unfinished cathedral notable for the elaborate patterns and undulating curves characteristic of its builder, the Catalán architect Antoni Gaudí y Cornet. Other local landmarks include the church of San Pablo del Campo (914), the Gothic cathedral of Santa Eulalia, a monument to Christopher Columbus, and the nearby peak Tibidabo (532 m/1,745 ft).
Among its many cultural institutions are the University of Barcelona (1450), the Autonomous University of Barcelona (1968), the Royal Archives of Aragón, the Archaeological Museum, the Museum of Ancient Art, and the Museum of Modern Art.
According to legend, Barcelona was founded as Barcino in about 230 BC by the Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca. The region became part of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century BC, was ruled by the Visigoths in the 5th century AD, conquered by the Moors in 713, and captured by Charlemagne in 801. Under Frankish rule, the city and the supporting region became the self-governing district of Catalonia, or Barcelona. The region was absorbed into the kingdom of Aragón in 1137. Barcelona thereafter grew in commercial and political importance as a Mediterranean trading and shipping port. Its prosperity diminished after the union (1479) of the kingdoms of Aragón and Castile and the subsequent imposition of restrictive trade policies on the city. In 1833 Barcelona Province was established, with Barcelona as the provincial capital. In the 19th and 20th centuries Barcelona was a centre of Catalán separatism, anarchy, and industrial unrest.
During the Spanish Civil War, the city was the seat of the autonomous Catalán government and a Loyalist stronghold. It was heavily bombed in 1938 by the Nationalists, who finally captured the city on January 26, 1939. Barcelona's selection as the site for the 1992 Summer Olympics initiated a massive urban redevelopment programme.
Population ca. 1.500.000 (2000 estimate)
"Barcelona (Spain)," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2002
http://encarta.msn.co.uk
© 1997-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Download Maps
