Roman Barcelona

Barcelona today is so fascinating that we often forget that the famous modernist buildings and impeccable urban planning would never have happened if the Roman Empire had not founded the city. Roman heritage is not limited to the ruins exposed in the Museum of Barcelona. When designing the first city they established two axis – the cardo maximus maximus and decumacus – that crossed the center point of the colony. If we superimpose the original and current plans of Barcelona we find that this center corresponds to the Plaça Sant Jaume, just where now the offices of the City Council and the Generalitat stand. The center of the metropolis has remained unchanged for thousands of years! For curious, the decumacus maximus is the axis formed by the C / de la Ciutat and C / Bisbe, while the cardo maximus would be found find in the C / Ferran and C / Jaume I.

The surprises do not end there. Barcelona was founded by the Romans in the first century BC.  around the fifteenth year, but there had been people in that area before. Its position was strategic because it was protected by the Mons Taber – a promontory fifty feet high – and, moreover, was situated between two streams, the Cagalell and the Merdança to the west and east respectively. In fact, its proximity to the sea made the basins of the streams  a natural harbor. At that time, the waterfront was at the junction between the C / Ample with the C / de la Fusteria! This explains why it became the capital still far from the main streets of Rome. Its own location allowed to resist any enemy attack.

As mentioned, the city is designed on two axis – the cardo maximus maximus and decumacus. From there, the city was developed into a orthogonal street network. If you want to learn first hand about these and other curiosities, do not hesitate to visit the headquarters of the History Museum of Barcelona in La Plaça del Rei close to Jaume I. It never hurts to rediscover our roots.