Layers of History

One of the most amazing aspects of Barcelona is the tremendous amount of history that has taken place here. Growing up in America, it's rare to find a city or structure that's been inhabited for more than a few hundred years. Most places in fact don't even go back a half-century. Barcelona is different, this city has been a melting pot of cultures and religions for a few THOUSAND years.

While Barcelona keeps up with the modern world and casts its gaze to the future with as much gusto as any other modern city, it maintains deep ties to the past, and the irretractable tentacles of history run deep. One need only stroll around the immense Barrio Gotico/Ciutat Vell, the old part of Barcelona, to get a feel for the historical legacy that this city represents. Here one finds late period Roman ruins, along with Medieval cathedrals, cobble stone streets and dimly lit alley ways that predate the English langauge itself (and of course, the Catalan one as well). I recently moved into a section of the Ciutat Vell (old town) called the Born, or more specifically, the Sant Pere neighborhood, not far from the spectactular Santa Caterina market place. My building is a text book study of the multi-layered history of this city, and the Barrio Gotico in particular. The structure I live in dates to at least the medieval period, with thick concrete walls covered with ancient plaster. The ceilings are 20 feet high and reveal wooden vigas so old that they've been bent into strange angles that seem to defy the laws of physics. Fortunately, the apartment has been nicely modernized with wooden floors (real, thick, slabs of wood, not plastic wood) and modern appliances, making it a cozy and spacious place that just drips with character.




Speaking of characters, any place this old is likely to be haunted, but my experience so far indicates that the only spirits dwelling here seem to be medieval nuns from some ancient cloister. I felt their presence immediately upon moving in but I haven't actually seen them (yet?). Scoff if you will, but I'd swear on a stack of bibles that this building used to be a convent of some sort that was inhabited by more than a few nuns (with a rather nice demeanor, btw). My suspicions have since been verified after I discovered that the nearby Mercat Santa Caterina was built over the ruins of the Convent of Santa Caterina, a huge and sprawling medievel complex dedicated to St. Catherine. The remains of the convent can still be seen beneath the market, which is only 2 blocks from my house.

But like an onion, the layers of history extend deeper and deeper in Barcelona. Even these sisters were relatively new inhabitants of the structure compared to their Roman forebearers. Outside my front door is part of a Roman aqueduct, preserved in situ, as seen in the photo below (yes, this is the lobby of my building, only 8 feet from my front door). The nuns themselves were living in a place that was already over a thousand years old during their lifetimes!




Dig a little deeper and you'll find more. Outside my front window, some ancient Roman ruins were discovered while workers were constructing a new housing project. They had to change the architectural plans so that the ruins could be unearthed and studied more closely. Here's a photo showing the archaeological team at work (this is 20 feet from the entrance to my building).