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600 Hotels in Barcelona
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NH hotel Barcelona
Quality rooms in the city centre. Save up to 25% with NH Hotels
www.nh-hotels.com/Barcelona
History of Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona has a fascinating history which dates back about 4,000 years as evidence of human settlement can be found as far back as the late Neolithic period. The founding of Barcelona as a city actually began with the Romans, when towards the end of the 1st century B.C. the then called Barcino was established around the Táber Mountain, where the Plaza Sant Jaume stands today.
During Roman occupation, Barcelona was surrounded by imposing city walls which limited the growth of the city. Between the 5th and 8th centuries, Barcelona's rule was transferred to Muslim control. In 801, Charlemagne's troops entered the city, and the north of Catalonia and the old Visigothic Gaul were now Frankish territories and, in the year 878, Guifré El Pilós was named count of Barcelona.
When Muslim forces invaded the city, this brought almost complete destruction of Barcelona, and independence from the Franks. A new era began which allowed a swift recuperation, and at the beginning of the 11th century, Barcelona invaded Córdoba and obtained an important victory which allowed the city to evolve at a more rapid pace. Furthermore, the different Catalonian counties were uniting, with Barcelona as their capital.
In the 12th century, during the Middle Ages, Barcelona experienced an era in which it flourished, but came to an end in the 15th century when Black Death and civil war devastated the city's population. Between 1705 and 1714, Barcelona fought the Guerra de Sucesión (War of Succession), which ended in the city’s conquest by Franco-Castilian troops. The result was that Barcelona was completely stripped of its political autonomy, and the Catalonian language was completely prohibited in all private as well as public settings.
Starting in the early 20th century, Barcelona became the centre of a cultural avant-garde, and the spirit of modernism touched all of the city's artistic spheres, including architecture. Barcelona attracted a generation of artists with the works of Antoni Gaudí being the most famous. In 1936 the Spanish Civil War broke out, and when it ended and Franco's dictatorship began, Barcelona lost many of its freedoms. Franco’s death in 1975 brought democracy to Spain, and Barcelona regained its place as the capital of Catalonia. The city hosted the 1992 Olympic Games which resulted in an architectural and urban transformation. The event put Barcelona in the spotlight and projected the city’s image as a modern, open and hospitable city to the world.
