Barcelona

Sister cities

• Rosario
• Kobe
• Medellín
• Gaza City
• Wenzhou
• Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto
• Isfahan
• Santo Domingo
• Valparaíso
• Tel Aviv
• São Paulo
• Boston

History

The origin of the earliest settlement at the site of present-day Barcelona is unclear. The ruins of an early settlement have been found, including different tombs and dwellings dating to earlier than 5000 BC. In Greek mythology, the founding of Barcelona had been attributed to the mythological Hercules. According to tradition, Barcelona was founded by Punic (Phoenician) settlers, who had trading posts along the Catalonian coast. In particular, some historians attribute the foundation of the city directly to the historical Carthaginian general, Hamilcar Barca, father of Hannibal, who supposedly named the city Barcino after his family in the 3rd century BC, but this theory has been questioned. In about 15 BC, the Romans redrew the town as a castrum (Roman military camp) centred on the "Mons Taber", a little hill near the Generalitat (Catalan Government) and city hall buildings. The Roman Forum, at the crossing of the Cardo Maximus and Decumanus Maximus, was approximately placed where current Plaça de Sant Jaume is. Thus, the political centre of the city, Catalonia, and its domains has remained in the same place for over 2,000 years. Under the Romans, it was a colony with the surname of Faventia, or, in full, Colonia Faventia Julia Augusta Pia Barcino or Colonia Julia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino. Pomponius Mela mentions it among the small towns of the district, probably as it was eclipsed by its neighbour Tarraco (modern Tarragona), but it may be gathered from later writers that it gradually grew in wealth and consequence, favoured as it was with a beautiful situation and an excellent harbour. It enjoyed immunity from imperial burdens. The city minted its own coins; some from the era of Galba survive. Important Roman vestiges are displayed in Plaça del Rei…

Geography

Barcelona is located on the northeast coast of the Iberian Peninsula, facing the Mediterranean Sea, on a plain approximately wide limited by the mountain range of Collserola, the Llobregat river to the southwest and the Besòs river to the north. This plain covers an area of , are occupied by the city itself. It is south of the Pyrenees and the Catalan border with France. Tibidabo, high, offers striking views over the city and is topped by the Torre de Collserola, a telecommunications tower that is visible from most of the city. Barcelona is peppered with small hills, most of them urbanized, that gave their name to the neighbourhoods built upon them, such as Carmel (), Putxet (es) () and Rovira (). The escarpment of Montjuïc (), situated to the southeast, overlooks the harbour and is topped by Montjuïc Castle, a fortress built in the 17–18th centuries to control the city as a replacement for the Ciutadella. Today, the fortress is a museum and Montjuïc is home to several sporting and cultural venues, as well as Barcelona's biggest park and gardens. The city borders on the municipalities of Santa Coloma de Gramenet and Sant Adrià de Besòs to the north; the Mediterranean Sea to the east; El Prat de Llobregat and L'Hospitalet de Llobregat to the south; and Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Sant Just Desvern, Esplugues de Llobregat, Sant Cugat del Vallès, and Montcada i Reixac to the west. The municipality includes two small sparsely-inhabited exclaves to the north-west. According to the Köppen climate classification, Barcelona has a hot summer Mediterranean climate (Csa), with mild winters and warm to hot summers, while the rainiest seasons are autumn and spring. The rainfall pattern is characterized by a short (3 months) dry season in summer, as well as less winter rainfall…

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  26,215
• Sardinian Warbler

  Curruca melanocephala (J.F.Gmelin, 1789) · Aves
  24,444
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  24,331
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  23,959
• Yellow-legged Gull

  Larus michahellis J.F.Naumann, 1840 · Aves
  21,687
• European Serin

  Serinus serinus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  21,424
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  19,939
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  19,530

Most recent

• M 4.1 — 2010-12-19
  4 km W of Llagostera, Spain
• M 3.8 — 2008-08-16
  Spain
• M 2.6 — 2008-08-07
  3 km E of Susqueda, Spain
• M 2.8 — 2008-07-23
  6 km W of Santa Coloma de Farners, Spain
• M 2.7 — 2008-07-23
  6 km W of Santa Coloma de Farners, Spain
• M 2.9 — 2008-07-23
  3 km W of Santa Coloma de Farners, Spain