Barcelona

Barcelona has existed as a settlement for two millennia. Early civilizations shaped the city before it achieved, in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, global power as a trading metropolis and empire capital. After a long struggle with the unifying Spanish state, the city revived, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as an industrial and commercial powerhouse. It became a center of culture, ornamented by modern planning and wondrous works by Gaud and others. Barcelona became known as The Rose of Fire : home to revolutionaries and anarchists. Creativity and conflict continued to shape Barcelona in the twentieth century, as its citizens faced the Spanish Republic, Civil War and Franco s dictatorship. Linking social and cultural currents to the rich architectural and experiential heritage of this multi-layered city, McDonogh and Mart nez-Rigol reveal Barcelona s hidden history to modern-day visitors and residents alike.