Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Rome's legacy was huge, giving Hispania a road system, aqueducts, temples and the reli-
gion that still predominates today, Christianity. Before Rome embraced this monotheistic
tradition, however, there were waves of persecutions of early Christians. Santa Eulàlia, who
may or may not have existed, is one of the great martyrs of this time. She still plays a role in
the city's folklore, with a major festival in her name happening in February each year. Her
body is believed to be buried under La Catedral. Christian persecution a few years after her
death, when Emperor Constantine declared Christianity the official religion in 312.
In 1991 the remains of 25 corpses, dating from 4000 BC, were found in Carrer de Sant
Pau in El Raval. In those days much of El Raval was a bay and the hillock (Mont Tàber)
next to Plaça de Sant Jaume may have been home to a Neolithic settlement.
Wilfred the Hairy & the Catalan Golden Age
In the 9th century AD, when much of Spain was ruled by the Moors, Louis the Pious - the
son of Charlemagne and the future Frankish ruler - conquered Barcelona and claimed it as
part of his empire. Barcelona in those days was a frontier town in what was known as the
Frankish or Spanish March - a rough-and-ready buffer zone between the Pyrenees and the
Moors who had conquered most of the lands to the south.
The March was under nominal Frankish control but the real power lay with local po-
tentates who ranged across the territory. One of these rulers went by the curious name of
Guifré el Pelós (Wilfred the Hairy). This was not a reference to uneven shaving habits: ac-
cording to legend, old Guifré had hair in parts most people do not (exactly which parts was
never specified!). He and his brothers gained control of most of the Catalan counties by 878
and Guifré entered the folk mythology of Catalonia.
Guifré consolidated power over Catalunya and ushered in an era of early building pro-
jects. He endowed churches and had a new palace for himself in Barcelona (of which noth-
ing remains). His praises were later described by medieval monks and Romantic poets, who
credit him with transforming a minor town into the future seat of an empire. If Catalonia can
be called a nation, then its 'father' was the hirsute Guifré. He founded a dynasty that lasted
nearly five centuries and developed almost independently from the Reconquista wars that
were playing out in the rest of Iberia.
Flourishing Culture & Expansion
At the beginning of the second millennium, Catalan culture entered a rich new age.
Romanesque churches in the countryside fostered a powerful new style of architecture. In-
