What I love about Barcelona: History

Those of you who know me are probably thinking I made a typo, but I am serious. The history of Barcelona is truly interesting. Though this cuts out a significant amount of what my 7th grade history teacher would like me to know, below is a little of what I learned on our trip.

15 BC: Barcelona was a Roman colony. We went inside the Museu d'Història de la Ciutat to see the ancient ruins and learn about life as a citizen at this time. The city was surprisingly advanced (city-wide sewage system, laundry rooms bigger than mine, and large wine-making facilities to name a few) and the museum does a good job of laying them out so you actually know what you are looking at unlike many European ruins sites. 

3rd Century: Saint Eulalia. During the Roman times in Barcelona, a 13 year old girl named Eulalia was murdered by the Romans for being a Christian. She was tortured thirteen times, but never recanted her Christianity. Her body is buried in the crypt of the beautiful, Gothic Catedral de Barcelona (also known as the Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulàlia). Thank goodness our friend Caitlin had a guide book, or we would have overlooked the cathedral's cloister, which houses 13 white geese that represent Eulalia's age when she was killed and also served as an alarm system when the cathedral was first built. 

15th Century: Christopher Columbus and Barcelona. Patrick and I enjoyed the Monument a Colom  that honors Columbus' return to Barcelona from his first voyage to the new world, but found the legend of the baptism of natives from the new world in Catedral de Barcelona to be even more interesting.

19th Century: Gaudi. I honestly enjoyed learning about each of Gaudi's works of art around Barcelona (see previous post)

20th Century: Picasso. At the tender age of 14, Pablo Picasso moved to Barcelona with his family. He continued to spend a significant amount of his time in the city throughout his later years. The Picasso Museum in Barcelona was an unexpected hit for 3 reasons: 1) The Picasso Museum is free on Sundays after 3:00. We got in line around 2:45 and waited for about 20 minutes - well worth it! 2) The museum divided their extensive collection between his many periods and focused more heavily on his earlier works. For those that doubt his talent, this is a must see. 3) There were fabulous explanations of each period of Picasso's life and art in multiple languages, enhancing the free art history lesson!

1992: the beach! It is hard to believe that the beautiful Barcelona beach was just recently a heavily industrial port. When the city won the 1992 Olympics, they decided to literally change the face of their shoreline. Not only did they create the beach, but they built the Olympic sites around it, providing an instant injection of money from the city, private developers, and tourists. It is very well laid out and beautiful, and true to Barcelona style, they even have some art lining the coast!