"My place on this earth..." a Barcelona Travel Page by KamaO

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain and is also the capital of Catalonia. There are two official languages spoken in this city: Catalan and Castillian Spanish. Barcelona has a population of 1,510,000 however this number may increase to 4,000,000 if we include the outlying areas.

Barcelona is unequivocally a Medterranean city, not only because of its geographic location but also and above all because of its history, tradition and cultural influences. The documented history of the city dates back the founding of Roman colony on its soil in the second century B.C. The modern Barcelona experinced spectacular growth at the onset of industrialization during the second half of the 19th century. The 1888 World Fair became a symbol of the capacity for hard work and the international outlook projected for the city. Culture an the arts flourished in Barcelona; the splendor achieved by modernism is one of the most patent displays.

Barcelona, more than just a single city, is really a collection of multi - faced and diverse cities. The visitor unfamiliar with its history may be surprised by the fact that such a modern and enterprising city preserves its history Gothic center almost intact, or by the curious contrast between the maze of narrow streets and the grid - like layout of the Eixample, the urban planning "enlargement" project dating from the end of the 19th century; or that beside a modern high - rise, we can also find a quaint square where the most outstanding decorative element is a chimney, an echo of the old factories that were installed there in the past.