Barcelona - [BCN] pt. 2 - Yesteryear

As per suggestions - by a good friend, fellow traveler, and highly experienced multilingual communicator - on how to improve this project, I have split my inital post on Barcelona into two parts - photographs, included.
Here, I mainly want to drive the point home that Barcelonans (sp?) are acutely aware of their history (ancient and modern) and remain fiercely proud of their Catalan heritage. I summarize some factual (apparently, anyhow; we must always remain open to the fact that our 'facts' may be erroneous) events and circumstances that have and continue to shape this city.

Ancient walls of a cathedral in Barcelona's ancient Ciutat Vella (Old City) in el Bari Gotic.

Chris, for reference, marveling at just one side of the Barcelona Cathedral in la Ciutat Vella late one evening.

Another side of Barcelona Cathedral, day-time view. Notice the humanic, animalistic, & demonic figures that are the rainspout ornamentations portruding into this alley.

Profuse crowd, worming their way through Ciutat Vella in el Bari Gotic.

Detail of an impressive crest over an anicnet entranceway in el Bari Gotic.

Warning - history summarized below. While the earliest evidence points to settlements here dating to the late neolithic period (~10,000 B.C.), evidence of the City of Barcelona places it's beginnings at nearly 4,000 years ago, in the form of an Iberian village called Barkeno. Later, during the 2nd Punic Wars around 218 B.C., Carthaginian Romans established (and so fortified) the first regional locus of power in "Barcino," around what is now Plaza Sant Jaume, extending the Punic empire 150 km north from the Ebro River (think Zaragoza). This plaza remains the civic center of the Catalunyan capital in the ancient Ciutat Vella (Old City) district. By the 5th century A.D. the Western Roman Empire saw increasing attacks by Germanic tribes invading from southern Gaul. In 415 A.D. power in Barcino transferred to Visigothic hands and Barcino's name was changed to Barcinona. After the invasion of nearby Terraco (modern-day Tarragona) in 717 A.D. by north African Moors, Barcinona surrendered to Muslim control and was largely spared major destruction. It's name was again changed, this time to Barshluna. Less than 100 years later, Carolignian monarch Charlemenge sent his son to successfully invade the city in 801 A.D., changing its name to Barcelona and catalyzing immigration of the 'Catalan' people from southern France. So began the early phases of what is considered the proud and independent Catalonian Barcelona of today. After this period, during which the Catalan peoples continued to re/populate much of the region, Barcelona gained in influence and so was initiated into the power-plays of competing Iberian rulers for centuries. To summarize: - Carolingian counts ruled the 'Spanish Marches' for the crown, including BCN, rather independently - During the reign of Aragon after 1162 A.D., BCN prospered with Mediterranean trade and was mostly administered separately from other Aragonese and Catalonian cities - In 1469 A.D. after the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella BCN lost notoriety to the capital Madrid as trade with americas decreased the importance of Mediterranean trade - Political repercussions of Spanish Unification and New World riches led to the War of Spanish Seccession from 1701-14 A.D., during which Catalan nobility sided with the Hasburgs against the Bourbon, Phillip V. They lost. - BCN again gained national influence soon after with the reemerging importance of Mediterranean trade during the Spanish Industrial Revolution. - In 1812 BCN was annexed into the First French Empire by Napoleon until the French were ousted in 1814 A.D. and BCN went back under Spanish control whereunder it prospered relativly steadily until the Spanish Civil War. - BCN fell to Franco's Nationalist hands in 1939 A.D. until he died in 1975 A.D. While it remained Spains 2nd largest city, it had remained rather under-reconstructed for almost 40 years, some say as Franco's retaliation for Catalan support of Republican forces. - Since then two major events have brought modern BCN to the international forefront: In 1977 after huge but mostly peaceful demonstrations Catalan autonomy was re-granted, and in 1992 BCN hosted the Summer Olympics. Those two things, and futbol (thats 'soccer', america). (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/spain/barcelona/history; http://www.bcninternet.com/touristinfo.php?categoryid=50; and wikipedia, too) Thus is a brief summary of the widely-known (here, anyway), well-preserved, and self-embraced history of the Barcelona that I visited. That, along with the art and the impressive convening of diverse visitors and cultures from all over the world made BCN seem like a paradise. I can only imagine this city during the summer!

More detailed building faces - this one of an Asian museum.

Entrance to an old-school apothecary & pharmacy. Sign says: "Rock Tea".

Base of an enormous statue in tribute to C. Columbus in Barcelona's Port Vell (Old Port) district - from whence sailed Columbus.

Main building of one of Europes most important ports - el Port de Barcelona - over 500 years old.