Population and Ethnicity
As of August 2012, Barcelona’s permanent population was 1.61 million.
Language
Barcelona has 3 official languages. Catalan, Spanish and Aryan languages, English is also widely spoken.
History and Culture
Barcelona is also the birthplace of Catalan culture and has a deep connection with the development of French culture and language. There are higher education institutions such as the Catholic University and the Medical College of Catalonia. There are many museums in the city, including more than 20 museums such as the Catalan Art Museum, Picasso Museum, History Museum, and Natural History Museum. It was the first city in Spain to open a printing press and the first city in Europe to publish newspapers. The Barcelona International Music Festival held in October every year is a grand event in the music scene. The 25th Olympic Games were held in the city in 1992. The old city center has a cathedral built since the 13th century and medieval palaces and houses.
Barcelona is actually two cities in one. The old town has
a beautiful Gothic Quarter and many architectural ruins, as there are many unforgettable gray stone buildings. of the Gothic Quarter buildings, including the spectacular cathedral. The New Town is a model of urban planning, with wide avenues lined with trees and large squares. Among the interesting medieval buildings are many churches and palaces. Barcelona is An elegant city, the suburban slopes gently rise to connect with the surrounding hills. From the nearby Tibidabo Mountain and the western slopes of Montejuis, you can overlook the city's excellent views. In the distance is the Montserrat Mountains, with peaks rising like needles. The famous Montserrat Monastery is close to the mountainside. Barcelona is recognized by the international architectural community as the city that perfectly combines ancient civilization and modern civilization. It is also a palace of artists. World-famous art masters such as Picasso and Gaucho can be seen everywhere in the city. The posthumous works of Dee, Miró and others.
Barcelona has Roman city wall ruins, ancient medieval palaces and houses, and modern buildings that complement each other. Many streets still retain ancient stone pavements. The Gothic Catholic Cathedral was built in the 14th century. Located in the center of the old city. La Sagrada Familia is the largest church in Spain. Ramblas, which connects the Arch of Peace Square and the Plaza Catalunya in the city center, is the famous "Flower Market Street". The Fountain of Light in the Plaza de Espa?a is ingenious and colorful. .The fountains, zoos, botanical gardens and Montju?c Park are famous for their fountains, zoos, botanical gardens and waterfalls in Montju?c Park. Barcelona has the Museum of Modern Art, the Frederic Mathes Gallery, the Picasso Museum, the Oceanographic Museum, etc. There are more than 20 museums. The University of Barcelona has a history of more than 500 years, and the Autonomous University and Polytechnic are also very famous. The International Music Festival held every October is a world music event. The local Saldana dance and guitar songs are world-famous. Folk songs and dances. The rose show, bullfighting, and international expositions in April every year are very attractive. The Catalan sweets here are famous all over the world. [5]
Scenic spots
Museums and art galleries
Barcelona has many museums and art galleries, covering works from different regions and periods.
The National Art Museum of Catalonia (Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC)) houses art from the 11th to the 20th century, including a large number of imitation Roman works of art.
The Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) is dedicated to collecting Catalan and Barcelona art from the mid-20th century to the present.
Antoni Gaudí’s former residence (Casa-Museu Gaudí)
Museu Picasso, which houses Picasso’s early to blue period, pink period, cubism and ceramics works.
The Fundació Joan Miró has a collection of Miró’s early to late works.
The Museu de la Fundació Antoni Tàpies (Museu de la Fundació Antoni Tàpies) houses Tàpies’ works.
City History Museum (Museu d'Història de la Ciutat), which collects archaeological artifacts in Barcelona.
The Archaeological Museum of Catalonia (Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya) collects Catalan cultural relics.
Barcelona Maritime Museum (Museu Marítim) collects maritime artifacts.
The private Egyptian Museum (Museu Egipci) collects Egyptian cultural relics.
Museu del Futbol Club Barcelona.
World Heritage
Eight buildings in Barcelona are listed as World Heritage:
The building designed by Antoni Gaudí i Cornet was Listed as a World Heritage Site in 1984
⒈CASA VICENS (1883-1888)
⒉PALAU G?ELL (1886 - 1889)
⒊PARK GELL (1900-1914)
⒋CASA BATLL (1904-1906)
⒌CASA MILPEDRERA (1906-1912)
⒍TEMPLE EXPIATORI DE LA SAGRADA FAMILIA (1883-1926)
Dominique The building designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner was listed as a World Heritage Site in 1997:
⒏Palau de la Música Catalana (1905-1908)
⒐Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau (1902-1930)
6 Economics
Editor
Overview
Barcelona is The port city of Catalonia is a world-renowned Mediterranean tourist destination and a world-famous historical and cultural city. It is also the most important trade, industry and financial base in Spain. The Port of Barcelona is the largest port and largest container terminal on the Mediterranean coast, and is also the largest comprehensive port in Spain.
Primary Industry
Barcelona has a long commercial tradition, but its reputation as one of the earliest industrialized regions in continental Europe is relatively unknown. Barcelona's iron smelting technology has been relatively advanced since the Middle Ages and can produce various sophisticated guns and firearms. In addition to the development of various weapons-related trades, the leather processing products here were also very famous at that time.
The industry was originally famous for machinery, textiles, printing, food, etc., especially the shipbuilding and textile industries with the longest history. It is the largest shipbuilding industry and textile industry center in the country. After World War II, industries such as automobiles, chemicals, precision instruments, and plastics developed rapidly. The total industrial output value accounts for 1/5 of the country's total, making it the largest industrial center in Spain. It is rich in wine, with a wide variety of varieties, and is especially famous for its aged wines. There is a liquor museum. There are also precious foods such as the world-famous Catalan custard desserts and pasta. Agriculture, especially Mediterranean fruit gardening, is quite developed in the suburbs and surrounding areas. The country's largest seaport and important railway and aviation hub. Import and export trade accounts for more than 40% of the country's total. Exports textiles, ships, chemical raw materials, canned fruits, etc.; imports machinery, petroleum, cotton, grains, etc.
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Second Industry
Thanks to its tradition of art and creation, Barcelona’s industrial design advantages are very obvious. At the same time, due to its many characteristic buildings, Barcelona can face the world Many expos are held, which on the other hand promotes the development of tourism and hotel industries. The Port of Barcelona is an important port on the western shore of the Mediterranean, both for freight and passenger traffic.
There are nine buildings in Barcelona that are included in the World Cultural Heritage List by UNESCO.
Barcelona is an elegant city. The whole city is located on a narrow plain between two hills. The urban area is surrounded by hills on three sides and a harbor on one side. The Mediterranean coast is embraced in a "V" shape. Barcelona city. It has convenient transportation links with other parts of Europe and is an ideal short-term tourist destination. The charming Barcelona Harbor, with its excellent location and complete equipment and facilities, has become a favorite docking place for cruise companies. In 2002, the Port of Barcelona*** welcomed 633 cruise ships and 843,000 tourists, an increase of 28% from 2001. The terminal of the cruise ship is directly connected to the city center and shopping belt. Visitors can quickly visit various attractions in the city center or shop in Europe's largest 5-kilometer-long shopping belt (ShoppingLine).
On the one hand, Barcelona maintains the style of the quaint old town, and on the other hand, it has new areas lined with modern buildings. Featuring Catalan paintings from the Roman period. The Sagrada Família and Gaudí's distinctive modernist buildings have become symbols of the city, and millions of tourists come here every year to see its elegance. The harbor area's sandy beaches are perfect for summer vacations. Panoramic views of Barcelona can be seen from Montju?c, the city's commanding heights, or from nearby Tibidabo.
Main Attractions
1. Palazzo Batllo: one of the masterpieces of the famous architect Gaudi, a modernist-style building with bright colors and irregular exterior walls. Gives people a weird feeling.
2. Palazzo Mila: Another work by Gaudí, it mostly uses streamlined structures and inherits Gaudí’s consistent weird style.
3. Picasso Museum: Picasso, like the painter Dali, the architectural geek Gaudí, and the architect Miro, is a proud art master in Barcelona. He went to the world from here. The Picasso Museum houses major works from Picasso's Blue Period.
4. Sagrada Familia: It is the legacy of the great Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926). Initially, construction was started under the direction of architect Villars, but he withdrew after only building part of the basement. In 1883, Gaudí officially took over until his death in a car accident 43 years later. The Holy Family Atonement Church originated from an organization called the Josehines. They were dissatisfied with the decadence of society and planned to build an Atonement Church for believers to come here to pray and seek forgiveness for sinful people. After Gaudí's death, he left behind a lot of materials, design drafts and models, but most of them were destroyed by anarchists during the Spanish Civil War, and the project was suspended until 1952. This building has been completed for nearly 60 years. The main source of income is social donations and ticket revenue. The official estimated completion time is 2026.
Designed by Gaudi
Gaudi’s buildings in Barcelona
Gaudi’s buildings in Barcelona
Such a complex and extremely difficult to construct It is not difficult to see his high piety and respect for religious beliefs. After taking over the construction of the Sagrada Familia, Gaudí devoted all his efforts to it and did not design any other buildings. For Gaudí, La Sagrada Familia is not just a house built for God, a place of worship, it is a book that every visitor can read - a catechism, a book from the Bible. Each scene is displayed one by one like a picture throughout the building, lifelike.
The facade of the building is undoubtedly the stage that best embodies these religious scenes. The church*** has three magnificent facades: Birth, Death and Glory. The theme of each facade represents an aspect of Jesus' ministry: as a man on earth, as the Savior of mankind, and as the Savior of mankind on the Day of Judgment. The judge who decides life and death. At the time of Gaudí's death, the eastern facade representing the birth of Jesus as a human on earth had been basically completed. Extremely complex and detailed decorations and carvings covered the walls, mostly based on characters and scenes from the Bible, showing an unparalleled superb construction skills. Light, which plays a very important role in Gaudi's secular architecture, has a symbolic meaning here. The east is where the sun rises, and it is also the starting point for people to receive the first ray of sunlight and symbolize salvation.
5. El Park: In 1900, Count Guell commissioned Gaudí to design a middle-class suburban residential area in the northern suburbs of Barcelona at that time. The residential area plan was not realized, but a park was built - Park Guell.
At the entrance of the park, there are two small buildings designed by Gaudi for the guard and office. After entering the park, a large staircase with unique shapes leads people to a multi-column hall, and behind the hall is an ancient Greek theater. The large steps continue to lead people up to the roof platform of the multi-column hall. The platform is vast, about thirty meters wide and deep, surrounded by low walls and chairs. It is a good place for visitors to relax, party, walk and dance.
The buildings in Guell Park are masterpieces from the mature period of Gaudí's creative career and most fully express his aesthetic ideas. There are also many small towers and protrusions on the roofs of the two small buildings at the entrance of the park. The shapes are very strange. Its appearance is inlaid with broken porcelain pieces in white, thread, brown, blue, green, orange and other colors with strange patterns. The columns in the multi-column hall are regular in shape and arranged in an orderly manner, which is rare in Gaudi's works. The low walls around the roof terrace are zigzagging and covered with colorful porcelain tiles, forming weird and inexplicable patterns, like a crouching python.
6. SAN PAU Hospital is far away from the Sagrada Familia. It is said that the architect's technique is opposite to that of Gaudí, and the two buildings are also opposite.
The "heritage" part of St. Cloud's Hospital was built in 1902. It was originally planned as a small city and occupied an area of ????9 blocks. The 12 independent modernist buildings use a large number of traditional Christian symbols and are arranged in an orderly manner throughout a large garden. About 1/3 of the area in the northwest corner has been newly built with a modern new hospital, and the old buildings are used as blood banks, laboratories, wards or logistics services. For the medical community, being listed as a world cultural heritage may not be a big deal. What is more important is that the world's second oldest hospital was formed in 1401 by the merger of six small hospitals. It has the world's most important medical archive heritage. .
7. MONUMENT A COLOM
At the end of Las Ramblas stands the Columbus Monument to commemorate the navigator who discovered the American continent. To a certain extent, this discovery kicked off the Spanish colonial rule of South America. However, today, a large number of South American immigrants have come here again speaking Spanish, and history seems to be reincarnating one after another.
8. Gold Coast and Bell Port
Some people say that if there is a paradise in the world that attracts men's attention, it must not be Thailand, not Cuba, but Barcelona. In this southern European resort, the beach crowded with bikini girls is the most nostalgic place, and the hot crowd on the beach is the most eye-catching treasure for men. Catalan girls seem to be born with all the essential elements of female beauty: sexy figures, healthy complexions, long golden shawl hair, beautiful faces... More importantly, they have Catalan beauty The Nian nation is uniquely passionate and unrestrained, and their beauty is a beauty that is full of vitality and happiness. I lay on the golden, soft, thin, warm beach, holding a drink in my hand, quietly admiring everything in front of me, and breathing in the fresh, slightly salty air. The whitecaps sandwiched between golden and blue reminded me of my hometown, that beautiful coastal city.
Looking up, you will see the endless, vast and magnificent seascape, from near to far - golden sandy beach, white waves, green sea water, deep blue ocean. Your heart will rise and fall with the waves, and your eyes will follow the color of the sea. Unfolding, the sunset generously touches this scenery, and the warm and moist sea breeze blows on the face, making people unable to bear to leave for a long time.
Following the bronze statue of Columbus pointing toward the sea, I came to the port where Columbus sailed out to sea. This is a deep-water terminal in the Port of Barcelona. I was envious of the densely packed private yachts. A replica of the sailing ship "Rania" that Columbus used when he went to sea was moored in the blue water for tourists to visit. On the banks of the Ramble del Mar pontoon blowing the romantic sea breeze, the wavy curves outline the most romantic scene in Barcelona like a picture frame. The long coastline is paved with a unique colorful stone pavement, and only a romantic and charming golden beach more than ten meters wide is separated from the intoxicating blue ocean. Every other section of the road there are stone seats facing the sea only for couples, highlighting the tenderness of Barcelona people besides their passion. Tall and straight palm trees are planted on both sides of the road, and their green broad leaves sway with the sea breeze, seeming to send various mysterious messages to pedestrians. I found a wooden chair, facing the sea and the wind. Nearby, there are a lot of ships docked at the harbor, and in the distance, the dark sky merges with the sea. Here you can enjoy the blue ocean with white waves crashing on the shore, and there you can see the green city with long grasses. It is beautiful, harmonious, delicate and elegant, making people feel cheerful and endlessly happy.