History of Barcelona

History of Barcelona dates back to more than two millennia. The exact date of establishment or details about the founder of the city of Barcelona is sketchy. There are mainly two theories regarding the establishment day of this coastal Spanish city. According to mythology, Hercules founded this city 400years before Rome had been founded. Rebuilt by the father of Hannibal in the third century B.C, Carthaginian Hamilcar Barca named the city after his family. The second theory attributes the foundation of the city to the Holy Roman Empire. It is said that in 15 B.C., the Romans used this city as a military camp.

History of Barcelona attributes the growth of this city to its excellent harbor. Because of this positional advantage this city started to grow in wealth and size. The economic prosperity of this town can be attributed to the fact that the city minted its own coins. Some of these primitive coins were excavated from various parts of Barcelona and can be seen preserved in this city’s museums. Conquered by the Visigoths in the 5th century; by the Moors in the onset of the 8th century and subsequently by Charlemagne’s son, Barcelona changed hands constantly. The merchants nonetheless became very rich and as their wealth grow; they started to maintain their private armies.

In the medieval period, the events took a completely different turn and Barcelona which is located in the province of Catalonia was devastated after the Republic of 1640 – 1652. The hard times for this city were however far from over and the city suffered huge destruction in 1714 during the War of the Spanish Succession. The combined army of the wealthy merchants was completely destroyed by the forces of King Philip V of Spain. Speaking Catalan was prohibited and other restrictions were also imposed on the city. The city again was conquered by Napoleon but with the downfall of him the city again gained independence.

The 19th century however brought prosperity and growth for this city. With Industrial Revolution setting on, the city became abuzz with manufacturing industries. People started coming from all over Spain to participate in this industrial revolution thereby rendering this city cosmopolitan character.