IV.

History

According to legend, Barcelona was founded as Barcino in about 230 bc by the Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca. The region became part of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century bc, was ruled by the Visigoths in the 5th century ad, conquered by the Moors in 713, and captured by Charlemagne in 801. Under Frankish rule, the city and the supporting region became the self-governing district of Catalonia, or Barcelona. The region was absorbed into the kingdom of Aragón in 1137. Barcelona thereafter grew in commercial and political importance as a Mediterranean trading and shipping port. Its prosperity diminished after the union (1479) of the kingdoms of Aragón and Castile and the subsequent imposition of restrictive trade policies on the city. In 1833 Barcelona Province was established, with Barcelona as the provincial capital. In the 19th and 20th centuries Barcelona was a centre of Catalán separatism, anarchy, and industrial unrest. During the Spanish Civil War, the city was the seat of the autonomous Catalán government and a Loyalist stronghold. It was heavily bombed in 1938 by the Nationalists, who finally captured the city on January 26, 1939. Barcelona's selection as the site for the 1992 Summer Olympics initiated a massive urban redevelopment programme.