08/02/2025
Barcelona, Spain 🇪🇸 - 18/12/2024
The origin of the earliest settlement in Barcelona was first thought to have dated back 5000 BC, as in Greek mythology Barcelona was thought to have been attributed to the famous hero Hercules.
According to tradition, Barcelona was founded by Phoenician settlers, who had trading posts all along the Catalonian coast. Some historians attribute the foundation of the city to the historical Carthaginian general, Hamilcar Barca the father of Hannibal who sacked Rome in the second punic war.
In around 15 BC the Romans redrew the town into a military camp and fort near where Barcelona's city hall buildings are today. The typical Roman grid plan is still visible today in the layout of the historical Gothic Quarter.
The city was conquered by the Visigoths in the early 5th century and for a few years became the capital of all of Hispania. Alfonso II of Aragon ascended to the throne in 1162 where his territories were later known as the crown of Aragon, which conquered many overseas possessions and ruled the western Mediterranean sea with outlying territories in Sicily, Naples and as far as Athens. Barcelona had a substantial Jewish community during the crown of Aragon where the jewish people continued to live until the massacre of 1391 where waves of mass violence was committed again the jews of Spain by the Catholic populace. However the Spanish Inquisition in 1478 forced the remaining jews to sell their property and leave. Barcelona was the leading slave trade centre during the crown of Aragon up until the 15th century when it was eclipsed by Valencia.
During the Spanish civil war in 1936, the city of Barcelona and Catalonia in general were republican. As the power of the republican government diminished, much of the city was under the control of anarchist groups. The fall of Barcelona on January 26th 1939, caused a mass exodus of civilians who fled to the French border. The autonomous institutions of Catalonia were abolished and the use of the Catalan language in public life was suppressed.
