Wes’ cold today and cough is still not any better so we are going to see a Doctor. Yesterday we got the name of an English speaking Doctor and his phone number so first thing we did was to make the call. Wes was able to get an appointment this morning. This meant that we would not be able to join the group on the morning plans which involved taking the metro up to the Cable car Montjuic mountain.
The cable on Montjuic mountain called "Telefèric de Montjuïc", goes up to the old military fort on top of Montjuic hill called Castell de Montjuic. The other cable car in Barcelona is called "Transbordador Aeri del Port," which is the cable car that crosses the port of Barcelona and which also has a stop on Montjuic hill. The port cable car links Montjuic mountain to the beach of San Sebastia and the area of Barceloneta. The views are wonderful we are told as you float down over the hill over part of the city and then over the harbour.
At the top is the Castell de Montjuic - Montjuic castle Barcelona. The Castell de Montjuïc is located on the highest point of the Montjuic hill at a altitude of 170 metre with great views of Barcelona city and the port area. The castle was built in 1640 during the war between Catalonia and Spain's Felipe IV, known as the "War of the Reapers." At the beginning of the 18th century Bourbon troops ransacked the castle and then rebuilt it between 1751 and 1779. The new fortress built by the Bourbons was constructed in the form of a starred pentagon with enormous moats, bastions, and buttresses. The castle is infamous in Catalan history books because of its role in the dictator Franco's regime as a place where political prisoners were imprisoned, tortured and executed. Ok, that is what we did not see but would have if we had been on the trip with everyone.
Our trip to the Doctor’s office involved taking the metro a short distance and we were pleasantly surprised to find the office easily. We had a 11:30 appointment so it was a leisurely start to the day. Of course not knowing exactly how to get there we arrived early. Unlike back home, being early did not mean a longer wait, but actually the opposite. The Doctor arrived shortly after us and he immediately saw Wes. We returned to the apartment and relaxed until everyone else got back from their morning adventures. After lunch we (except Wes who decided to rest) headed out to explore parts of the old Barcelona (Roman and Medieval). First here is some information about this city.
Barcelona is the capital and the most populous city of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain. It was founded as a Roman city and became the capital of the Counts of Barcelona. After merging with the Kingdom of Aragon, it became one of the most important cities of the Crown of Aragon. Besieged several times during its history, Barcelona is today an important cultural centre and a major tourist destination and has a rich cultural heritage.
Information about the period from 218 BC until the 1st century BC is scarce. The Roman Republic contested the Carthaginean control of the area, and eventually set out to conquer the whole of the Iberian peninsula in the Cantabrian Wars, a conquest which was declared complete by Caesar Augustus in 19 BC. The north-east of the peninsula was the first region to fall under Roman control, and served as a base for further conquests.
At the time of Caesar Augustus, Barcino (Roman name) had the form of a castrum, with the usual perpedicular main streets of the Cardus Maximus and the Decumanus Maximus and a central forum located on the Táber hill (25 m), site of the iberic Barkeno. The perimeter walls were 1.5 km long, enclosing an area of 12 ha.
By the 2nd century, the city had the form of an oppidum and a population of 3500–5000. The main economic activity was the cultivation of the surrounding land, and its wine was widely exported. The archeological remains from the period (sculptures, mosaics, amphorae) indicate a relatively rich population, although the city possessed none of the major public buildings (theatre, amphitheatre, circus) which are found in more important Roman centres such as Tarraco.
The first raids by the Germanic tribes started around 250, and the fortifications of the city were substantially improved in the later years of the 3rd century under Claudius II. The new double wall was at least two meters high, up to eight meters in some parts, and was punctuated by seventy-eight towers measuring up to eighteen meters high. The new fortifications were the strongest in the Roman province of the Tarraconensis, and would increase the importance of Barcino compared to Tarraco.
Louis the Pious, son of Charlemagne, captured Barcelona in 801 after a siege of several months. It was to be the most southerly of his gains from Moors as he was pushed back from Tortosa, and the rivers Llobregat and Cardener marked the boundaries of the Carolingian possessions. The border regions were organised into the Spanish Marches (Marca Hispanica), administered by a number of counts appointed by the King, and Barcelona became the seat of a county.
The pre-eminence of the Counts of Barcelona among the nobility of the Spanish Marches was in part due to their ability to expand their territory by conquests from the Moorish walís. They also re-populated their inland realms, whose population had plummeted after two centuries of war. The city of Barcelona, easily defensible and with excellent fortifications, prospered with the increasing power of its overlords, while the other Marcher counties had more limited prospects.
The Grand Plaza Ramón Berenguer offers a unique view of Gothic Barcelona, medieval and Roman . The most impressive of this square is the stretch of Roman wall, dating from the early fourth century AD In fact, although the date of the first wall of Barcelona century BC, this was reinforced, three centuries later, with a second wall. We could see that the materials used for its construction came, often, the recycled remains of other buildings. The wall of Barcelona, which had 74 towers, was about 16 feet tall. The defensive nature of this construction delimits the scope of the first city, 1,350 feet.
Our goal this afternoon was to walk around the old city and find some of the recommended places. The narrow streets which tend to wind around really did make it an interesting stroll. As we wandered we could easily tell the old Roman city from the ‘newer’ outer walled city. From what we could learn, the Roman city was walled on the outside perimeter encasing the population. However as the city grew small pockets of ‘suburbs’ developed (usually associated with a church and plaza) around outside the Roman walls. At one point a second wall was constructed to encase the enlarged city. At one point the outer wall was pulled down and was used to create the circle road around the city.
As we walked around we found many little plazas, and churches, along the paths. We had a map that showed us a small plaza which was reached by going through a couple of small lanes. After following a couple of insignificant streets we turned a corner to walk into a small plaza with a small school in one of the old buildings. As we were looking over the plaza the small children arrived to a physical education class. We really enjoyed watching the energy and spirits of the kids. We realized that this inner city school likely only had the plaza for a playground.
Another interesting place we visited was the Deacon’s residence beside the Barcelona Cathedral. We walked through a doorway off the street into a beautiful inner courtyard. There was an entrance from that courtyard to the interior of the house which is now a museum and a staircase to a second level balcony which looked down into the courtyard. From this balcony there were also entrances into the second level of the house. What was really interesting was the archaeological working being done in one corner of the main floor which is uncovering the inside of the Roman Wall gate tower.
Another area of interest was the Jaime Plaza where the City Hall is on one side of the square and the Provincial House sits opposite on the other side. The square is used as a meeting place for citizens for special occasions either a speaker from the City or one from the Provincial Government – or a member of the national football team.
Since the cathedral is free to enter after 5:15 we decided we would head back to our apartment for a rest and tea then return later. The walk back took very little time since the area is not large, just jumbled with angled, narrow streets. We did return after tea to head to the cathedral – a 10 minute walk.
The Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia (Catalan: Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulàlia, Spanish: Catedral de la Santa Cruz y Santa Eulalia), also known as Barcelona Cathedral, is the Gothic cathedral and seat of the Archbishop of Barcelona. The cathedral was constructed throughout the 13th to 15th centuries, with the principal work done in the 14th century. The cloister, which encloses the Well of the Geese (Font de les Oques) was completed about 1450 (yes there were 13 penned geese walking around the fountain the number explained by the assertion that Eulalia was 13 when she was martyred.). The neo-Gothic façade was constructed over the nondescript exterior that was common to Catalan churches in the 19th century. The roof is notable for its gargoyles, featuring a wide range of animals, both domestic and mythical.
The cathedral was constructed over the crypt of a former Visigothic chapel, dedicated to Saint James, which was the proprietary church of the Viscounts of Barcelona, one of whom, Mir Geribert, sold the site to Bishop Guislebert in 1058. Its site faced the Roman forum of Barcelona.
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. The king had arrived for his investiture as Count of Barcelona, and the city, as a Mediterranean port, offered the closest communication with other far-flung Habsburg dominions, while the large proportions of the cathedral would accommodate required grand ceremonies.
One side chapel is dedicated to "Christ of Lepanto", and contains a cross from a ship that fought at the Battle of Lepanto (1571). Catalan legend states that during the battle, the corpus suddenly and miraculously shifted to the right to avoid being hit by a cannonball, a miraculous sign from God that the Ottomans would be defeated.
A programme of cleaning and restoration of the cathedral was carried out in 1968-72 and there is evidence even today of restoration occurring.
We left the cathedral with the goal of checking out potential places to eat dinner. Helen had noted a square where there were restaurants all along the four sides of the plaza, so we headed out to locate it to see what was possible. As it turns out the square is only about 2 blocks from our apartment and there were two restaurants available that matched our interests. So we headed back to the apartment for our happy hour and returned to dinner at a suitable Spanish hour – after 8 pm.
After we finished dinner we headed back to the apartment (now it is after 10) but as often happens our group walked in two groups (a faster one and a slower one) and we lost track of each other. One group had decided to take a stroll along the Rambles Boulevard on such a beautiful evening and the other group did not realize they were doing so. This caused a bit of confusion, but not a serious issue. I should mention that the city comes alive sometime after 8:30 and the crowds are everywhere. It stays very busy until late at night (midnight or so) but this is the local tradition of Spain. I should add that meals in Spain are different than what we are used to with little or no breakfast, a snack at 10, lunch (the big meal of the day) between 2:30-4:30, and dinner (a light meal) between 9-10:30.
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