El Born also known as La Ribera Quarter was home to the guilds of the late 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries in Barcelona. El Born was the neighborhood of the working class people of Barcelona and was not a very desirable area to live in aside from one key factor. This neighborhood held a lot of pride and the people of El Born were people that were more focused on being good, proud, hard working people. This mind set was different then the upper class neighborhoods that focused on flaunting their wealth. Many buildings in El Born portray this idealistic way of life that focuses more on the quality of life then the quantity. Within El born many streets can still be found that were specifically named in regards to the craft trade/guilds of that street or the public purpose of the street. These streets often possesed masonry depictions of both craft trades and saints.
Santa Catarius Semuletas was home of the couscous sellers, carrer dels banys vells was the street of the fountain for bathing (the baths), carrer de la Princesa was the street in which the princess of the 13th and 14th century was shuttled in and out of the city on, she was also showcased to the citizens of Barcelona on this street. Some other streets in El Born very specific to the guilds are the Carrer de les Semoleres, carrer dels Cotoners (cotton), and carrer de les Candeles (home to the candle makers). One of the more important areas in El Born was Placa de la Llana. This was where the wool market was located and people would come from all over to buy, sell, and trade wool.
During these times wool was a very popular material that could be used for multiple purposes. As you can see many different traits where abundant in La Ribera quarter and although it was not common for families to live in this area it was home of many different types of workshops that housed both Mestre and apprentices. La casa-taller was used primarily as a workshop however it could be compared to a trade school in todays culture. Families would attempt to have their children accepted by the most skilled craftsman of their trades. If accepted by the Mestre the child would then move into La case-taller where they would live, work, and learn under the supervision and teaching of el mestre. If your child was accepted by one of the more skilled Mestre's of each specific trait this was considered a great honor and blessing. It could be compared to being accepted to a school like Harvard or Yale in todays American society.
La case-teller's were often constructed with an open air front door at the bottom that would only be closed at night or when the workshop was closed. This bottom floor is where the work was done and at times products would be sold, however most products were sold or traded at larger markets. Often these open door frames consisted of a wooden beam across the top like the one depicted in the picture below. This wooden beam was to serve as a support beam for the door frame. Aside from having the workshop on the bottom floor it was also common for the case-taller's to have a backyard. On the next floor one could find the living space designated to the mestre/principal/owner and on the top floor the students and or servants. Because this area was a poorer neighborhood until after the olympics in 1992 many of the buildings in this area are constructed using wooden beams and wooden ceilings. Many of this area was abandon, especially after the guilds began to grow less and less popular. Although many of these buildings where originally constructed using wooden framing one could easily distinguish rich guild workshops from the use of stone frames on their door ways. After the 1992 olympics began to bring more interest to the El Born neighborhood buildings began adding two or more floors to the original structures. Similar to the buildings in the Jewish Quarter and old Barcino the house owner typically lived on the first floor and had a large window and the higher up the building you went the smaller and smaller the windows got, in a way the size of your window resembled your status in the house. The principals or owners with the largest and closest to the ground and the slaves with the smallest and highest up living quarters.
One can find five very culturally relative areas in the El Born neighborhood. The first of these is Santa Maria del Mar. This was a church that was built by the working class people for the working class people. Like many people of Catalunya today this church was built with the belief and idea that wealth was not viewed or flaunted. This church was built and payed for by the working class so it held a lot more value on pride then gaudiness. It was very different then many of the bedazzled churches of the upper class of this time era. Although it was not bedazzled in jewels families would place ceramic pieces that resembled their craft or family members within the masonry work of the church. The working class was able to construct this church in 15 years, another feat that the upper class was not able to do. It was a church of worship and pride not flash and fame.
Another culturally relative area was El Mercat del Born. This was where many different craftsman would come from both El Born area and other areas of Spain to trade, buy, and sell their products and materials. This Mercat is still present today and can be found hosting events such as young castelleres performances and much more. It is also a functioning Market with fresh fruits and meats as well as restaurants.
Another very culturally relative area in the El Born neighborhood is El Fossa de les Moreres. With a flame that never goes out in honor of the deceased this area serves as a memorial for the thousands of people that died during the battle of September 11.
The final important landscape in this neighborhood is La ciutadella park. This park became the fortress of Phillip V by 1714 and is still very popular today. One can find many different types of festivities and people enjoying their time in this park today. It begins right next to La Llotja and goes all the way up to Arc de Triumph with a very breathtaking fountain that is centrally placed in the park. Another very important landmark in this area is el Consolat de Mar, also known as La Llotja. This area was very prevalent during Barcelona's growth as a major Mediterranean city. It served as the financial street of its time and still serves such purpose. It was created as the stock market and was strategically placed near the ocean so that import and export business and trade could be easily accessible to those coming into Barcelona.
The El Call neighborhood located just behind the old city walls of Barcelona is also referred to as the old Jewish quarter of Barcelona. it was originally inhabited by the Jews when many of them fled Jerusalem because of prosecution and found their way to Barcelona.
The Jewish people that fled over here were typically educated folk and were able to get good jobs because of this. El Call is located directly behind El Catedral and Placa Sant Jaume. It was very typical to see very detailed masonry work in the old Jewish quarter of El Call and walkways linking what were once very nice old houses like the one seen below are still amazing showcases of the true talents possessed by many skilled workers of this time.
Many of the out streets of El Call have wide and tall roads for horse carriage to pass through however the deeper you get into the neighborhood the narrower the roads become and in many areas it would be impossible to get a horse carriage through. In fact El Call means alleyway and it is justly named so because of the maze like roads that create this densely packed neighborhood.
In many roads in the Jewish Quarter one can literally touch both sides of the street when they elongate their arms. One of the oldest synagogues in Europe is located within the Jewish Quarter and it is still visitable today. It has held many different purposes over the years but has currently been restored and is know an active museum that one can visit for a small price. It is no longer an active synagogue but it is still used for festive purposes at times. It is not uncommon to stumble across very good stores selling a variety of handmade quality products in the El Call neighborhood, both in present and past times.
Also many small but delicious bars and restaurants can also be found in the neighborhood. However you may want to write down the directions to the ones you like because in this neighborhood many of the streets look the same because of their tendency to be so tightly condensed.
If one takes the proper turns within this maze of narrow streets it is likely that you will stumble across a placa that will appear very little but that holds a lot of character for its size.
Often one can find children playing soccer or lovers reminiscing in this mysterious placa in the heart of the Jewish Quarter.
The monumental structures of the old Roman city of Barcino shares many similarities with the Catalan buildings of today. As one can expect differences do occur but the influence of roman design is still very prevalent in today's Catalan buildings. Not only in their construction but in the layout of the city as well as the uses of such monumental structures. The most similar structure between the old Roman city of Barcino and current Catalan buildings is the construction and use of the Forum. The forum was strategically placed in the center of old Barcino to serve as an area in which people could conduct public meetings. Many of these meetings were political however they were not restricted to political meetings. In Barcelona today Placa Sant Jaume serves as what the Romans referred to as the forum and it was purposefully constructed on top of the old Roman forum.
One of the more obvious similarities between the old Roman city of Barcino and more modern buildings in Barcelona present today are the ways in which walls are constructed. Most of the buildings of old Barcino were created using stones that where mined from Montjuic. These stones where then held together using an old form of mortar, creating walls to help protect the city.
This first image is an example of a wall that was built in the old Roman city of Barcino that is now underground and can be found in the Museu d'Historia de la Ciutat. This second image is an image of what was once a more modern city wall built to protect the city of Barcelona.
As you can see the style of masonry used to build both of these protective and very important walls is very similar despite the difference in time.
One of the more interesting aspects of construction during Old Roman Barcino was the construction of the sewage systems and their strategically placed influence on old washing facilities. The picture to the right is an image of a public urinal. Citizens would urinate into these slots and the urine would then run through the wall and into the washing areas. Back in the Old Roman city of Barcino washing areas would use the urine to help bleach and clean their clothes.
Another very interesting aspect of the Old Roman Barcino was the use of public baths. Although not all baths were public many were. A typical bath would consist of a bathing area, both hot and room temperature, as well as an exercise area. The private baths often consisted of both hot and cold bathing areas, massage areas, spas, and exercise areas.
This image helps depict a rough idea of what a cold bath would look like. These cold baths could be either gender specific or unisex. These old Roman bathing areas can be compared to sporting clubs in todays world.
Another interesting influence on modern Catalan buildings was the layout of the Domus. A Domus would be referred to in modern times as a mansion or house of the upper class. Like modern day Catalan mansions these structures where constructed using stones and often had mosaics of the family crest or religious references.
The masters or the family would often live on the main floor while the servants and slaves would live on the upper floors in much smaller living spaces. This is similar to the workshops of the guilds that I will discuss in another blog post.
At first Barcino was a city of polytheism. However as catholicism was born and began to grow in the Mediterranean it slowly shifted toward a city of Monotheism. A lot of this had to do with the success at which the catholic church was spreading its beliefs and powers across the Mediterranean. This made it hard to adopt any religious practice other then the Monotheistic religion of catholicism.
As previously mentioned, it is still very common to see roman architectural similarities in Catalan buildings today. One of the more interesting similarities is the use of very detailed stone carving. In the two images above one can see the use of very detailed stone carvings. The image on the left is on a pillar used to support a building in the Old Roman City of Barcino and the image on the right is on the under carriage of what was once a walkway in more recent times. The image on the right can be found as one enters the old jewish area known as El Call.
Also the use of arcs is very prevalent in both old Barcino and more recent Catalan structures. This is because the roads had to be both wide and high enough for carriages to pass through them.
Another similarity that can be found in the different time periods of construction is the usage of open door ways on the outside of shops. In both old Roman Barcino and present day Catalan buildings one can find stores that have open air entryways, especially in markets and skilled craftsman shops, these can also be found in older buildings that have more recently been converted into bars.
Although their is lots of interesting information to be found in the Museu d'Historia de la Ciutat I found the domestic objects of these ancient roman times to be the most interesting. Maybe it is my own weakness, or undivine knowledge, for gambling that influenced my interest in the fact that gambling was very present in the ancient times of old Barcino. Like many people still do today, the use of dice where very common on the gambling grounds. Often these dice were carved from ivory. Another very interesting object that is found in the museum is the tools used for fishing in during these ancient Roman times.
The above objects are images of a magnitude of different sized hooks used for fishing as well as old weights used to bring the hook to the proper depths of the ocean to catch fish. Aside from these domestic objects images of mosaics, cosmetic bottles, laundry detergents such as ash, wine, and color pastels from plants and fruits can all be found in the museum. During these times looks where very important to the people and so cosmetics where often stored in what at one point in time where considered very nice porcelain carrying devices.
Still observable in Catalan culture today, wine played a large role in society. It was often made in large vats and could be argued as one of the more advanced constructions of its time.
The image above is a ruin of what was once a massive wine brewing cellar. The structures that almost appear to look like hatched dinosaur eggs where the vats that the wine would ferment in. During these times wine was bot ha very social and a very religious aspect of life. Citizens of all ages would consume wine and it was not uncommon for children to partake in drinking wine. Your average citizen would drink around 210-260 liters a year and 1/2-3/4 a liter a day. However unlike todays wine the wine of these times was watered down. This was because of catholic influence and religious purposes. Like many wine labels today, wine labels back then would describe who made the wine and where they made the wine.
El Born also known as La Ribera Quarter was home to the guilds of the late 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries in Barcelona. El Born was the neighborhood of the working class people of Barcelona and was not a very desirable area to live in aside from one key factor. This neighborhood held a lot of pride and the people of El Born were people that were more focused on being good, proud, hard working people. This mind set was different then the upper class neighborhoods that focused on flaunting their wealth. Many buildings in El Born portray this idealistic way of life that focuses more on the quality of life then the quantity. Within El born many streets can still be found that were specifically named in regards to the craft trade/guilds of that street or the public purpose of the street. These streets often possesed masonry depictions of both craft trades and saints. 
One can find five very culturally relative areas in the El Born neighborhood. The first of these is Santa Maria del Mar. This was a church that was built by the working class people for the working class people. Like many people of Catalunya today this church was built with the belief and idea that wealth was not viewed or flaunted. This church was built and payed for by the working class so it held a lot more value on pride then gaudiness. It was very different then many of the bedazzled churches of the upper class of this time era. Although it was not bedazzled in jewels families would place ceramic pieces that resembled their craft or family members within the masonry work of the church. The working class was able to construct this church in 15 years, another feat that the upper class was not able to do. It was a church of worship and pride not flash and fame. 
