BARCELO NA, the most important manufacturing city in Spain, in the province of the same name, is beautifully situated on the Mediterranean between the mouths of the Llobregat and the Besos, in the midst of a district as luxuriant as a garden. It is walled, and possessed of a citadel, which, however, is effectually commanded by the fortress of Montjouy on the southwest. B., like Edinburgh, is divided into two parts—the old town and the new—by the rambla (river-bed), which has been planted with flowering shrubs, and formed into a beautiful promenade. The streets of the old town, forming the n.w. division, are crooked, narrow, and ill-paved. Those of the new are much more spacious and regular There is a large suburb to the e. of the town, where the seafaring portion of the population chiefly reside. lit 1864, the pop. was 190,000; but in 1868 it had been reduced to 167,095, chiefly by a frightful cholera epidemic in 1865. B. is the see of a bishop. It has a university, and colleges and schools for general and special educational purposes; public libraries, in one of which there is a splendid collection of MSS.; sev eral hospitals and other charitable institutions; the finest theater in Spain; and numerous ancient and elegant churches, with a cathedral which, begun in 1298, is not yet com pleted. B. manufactures silk, woolens, cottons, lace, hats, firearms, etc., which form its principal exports. It imports raw cotton, coffee, cocoa, sugar, and other colonial produce also Baltic timber, salt-fish. hides, iron, wax, etc. next to Cadiz, it is the most important port in Spain. In 1872, between 700 and 800 foreign vessels, with a ton nage of 360,000 tons, discharged their cargoes in the port. The harbor was extended and its entrance improved in 1875_ The imports in 1874 amounted to ;t1,943,310, and the exports to about £300,000. B. is a place of great antiquity, and associated with many historical events. Local tradition fixes the date of its foundation 400 years before the Romans; and it is said to have been refounded by Amilcar Barca, the father of Han nibal, from whom its ancient name. Barcino, was derived. An important city under the
Romans, Goths, and Moors, B. in 878 became an independent sovereignty, under a Chris tian chief of its own, whose descendants continued to govern it, and to hold the title of counts of Barcelona until the 12th c., when its ruler adopted the title of king of Aragon, to which kingdom it was annexed. During the middle ages, B. became : flour ishing seaport, rivaled in the Mediterranean by Genoa only. To its commercial code, framed in the 13th c., much deference was paid by the whole of Europe; and it was at this time. says Ford in his Handbook of Spain, " a city of commerce, conquest, and cour tiers; of taste. learning, and luxury; and the Athens of the troubadour." Columbus 'was received here in 1493 by Ferdinand and Isabella after his discovery of America. In 1640, it appealed to France against the tyranny of Philip IV.; but it turned against that country in the war of the Spanish succession, and adhered to Austria. In 1703, the for tress of Montjouy was surprised and captured by lord Peterborough, and the city sur rendered shortly afterwards. In 1714, after a most heroic defense, it was stormed by the duke of Berwick, and given over to fire and sword. Napoleon perfidiously obtained possession of it in 1808; and with one or two reverses, and in the face of great difficul ties, it was held by the French until the treaty of peace concluded in Paris in 1814. For 13 Years, B. remained quiet under the iron rule of Espaiia; but in 1827 its old turbulent returned, and it rose in favor of Don Carlos. Since that time, B. has generally supported the government. But a progressist rebellion in 1850 caused much bloodshed, and in 1874 the federalists raised an insurrection here.—The province of B. has an urea of 2930 sq.m., and a pop. of (1870) 702,555.