About the neighborhood
The odonyms of Barcelona — meaning the street names in Barcelona along with the names of thoroughfares and other roads in the city — are regulated by the Ponència de Nomenclàtor dels Carrers de Barcelona, a commission under the Department of Culture of the Barcelona City Council.
These names have changed over time, reflecting the various historical, social, political, economic, and cultural events that have taken place in the city. Its evolution has also been marked by various factors, such as urban planning and the physical and territorial changes that have occurred in the physiognomy of the city, mainly derived from its geographic expansion along the Barcelona plain, with two main milestones: the Plan de Eixample developed by Ildefons Cerdà and the addition of neighboring municipalities, between the 19th and 20th centuries.
The oldest street names still existing in Barcelona are of medieval origin. However, their regulation did not begin until the 19th century, and it was not until the middle of that century that street signs began to be placed with their names. On the other hand, although until that century the odonyms came primarily from tradition, since then there has been a frequent alteration of street naming for political reasons, with various important events: the Liberal Triennium of 1820–1823, the liberal periods of 1840 and 1854, the Sexenio Democrático (1868–1874), the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera (1923–1929), the Second Republic (1931–1939), the Francoist dictatorship (1939–1975) and the democratic restoration.
In Barcelona there are various types of public roads, the most common of which are: street, alley, square, plaza, small square, promenade, avenue, boulevard, boulevard, road, roundabout, passage, descent, stairs, crossing, viewpoint, path, and road, in addition to docks, breakwaters, beaches, parks and gardens. In 2016 there were 4,518 streets with a total length of 1,300 kilometres.
Geography and location
Barcelona, capital of the autonomous community of Catalonia, is located in the Spanish Levant, on the Mediterranean coast. Its geographical location is between 41° 16' and 41° 30' north latitude and between 1° 54' and 2° 18' east longitude. With a surface area of 102.16km, it is located on a plain about 11km long and 6km wide, bounded on its sides by the sea and by the Serra de Collserola — with the summit of Tibidabo (516.2 m) as its highest point — as well as by the deltas of the Besòs and Llobregat rivers. Above the coastline and separating the city from the Llobregat delta is the Montjuïc mountain (184.8 m).
Barcelona is also the capital of the comarca of the Barcelonès and of the province of Barcelona, and is the most important urban center of Catalonia in demographic, political, economic, and cultural terms. It is the headquarters of the autonomous government and the Parliament of Catalonia, as well as the provincial council, the archbishopric, and the IV Military Region, and has a port, an airport and an important network of railroads and roads. With a population of 1,604,555 inhabitants in 2015, it is the second most populated city in Spain after Madrid, and the eleventh in the European Union.
Administrative divisions
Barcelona is divided into 10 districts and 73 neighborhoods:
Ciutat Vella (4.49km, 100,685 inhabitants): corresponds to the old part of the city — hence the name "old city" — derived from the Roman and medieval periods, plus La Barceloneta neighborhood, created in the 18th century.
Eixample (7.46km, 263,565 inhabitants): this district arose from the expansion of the old city after the demolition of the walls, thanks to the Plan de Eixample drawn up by Ildefons Cerdà.
Sants-Montjuïc (21.35km, 180,824 inhabitants): includes the old town of Sants, annexed to Barcelona in 1897, together with the land of Montjuïc mountain, making it the largest district of the city; it also includes the Zona Franca. The old toponym (place name) comes from the church of Santa Maria dels Sants ("Saint Mary of the Saints"), and is present in the street and square of Sants, while Montjuïc ("Jewish mountain") has a park, a promenade, and a road with that name.
Les Corts (6.08km, 81,200 inhabitants): comes from the old town of Les Corts de Sarrià, added to the city in 1897, with a probable origin in a medieval farmhouse, hence the name (from the Latin cohors, country house). It was a predominantly agricultural area, which in the mid-19th century experienced a notable urban increase with the construction of the area called Corts Noves. It is found in the gazetteer in a street, a square and a crossing that bear the name of Les Corts. It includes the area of Pedralbes, formerly belonging to Sarrià; there is a square and an avenue with that name, coming from the monastery of Santa María de Pedralbes, from the Latin word petras albas ("white stones").
Sarrià-Sant Gervasi (20.09km, 145,761 inhabitants): it comes from the union of two former municipalities, Sarrià and Sant Gervasi de Cassoles. It is one of the largest districts, especially because it includes a large part of the Serra de Collserola. The name Sarrià comes from the Latin Serrianum, probably derived from the patronymic Serrius; it has remained in the homonymous square and avenue, as well as in the streets Mayor and Minor de Sarrià, the Camí Vell de Sarrià and the road from Sarrià to Vallvidrera. For its part, Sant Gervasi de Cassoles (where a cassola is a narrow passage between ravines) is located in the street of Sant Gervasi de Cassoles and Passeig de Sant Gervasi. It includes what was also the old municipality of Vallvidrera (from the Latin Vallis Vitrariae), incorporated into the town of Sarrià in 1892; this place name includes an avenue, a square, a road and a shortcut with that name, as well as the road from Vallvidrera to Tibidabo and the roads from Vallvidrera to Barcelona, les Planes and Tibidabo.
Gràcia (4.19km, 120,273 inhabitants): has its origins in the old village of Gràcia, incorporated into the city in 1897. It was an agricultural area, which in the early 19th century began to forge an urban and industrial network. It has its origin in the church of Nostra Senyora de Gràcia i Sant Josep, founded in the 17th century. Its name has endured in the street, the promenade and the crossing of Gracia, as well as in the main street of Gràcia and the Plaça de la Vila de Gràcia.
Horta-Guinardó (11.96km, 166 950 inhabitants): comes from the old town of Horta, added in 1904, to which the Guinardó district, formerly belonging to Sant Martí de Provençals, was added administratively. The old municipality appears in the nomenclature on Horta street and the road from Horta to Cerdanyola. For its part, Guinardó has a street, a square, a roundabout and a park.
Nou Barris (8.04km, 164,516 inhabitants): is the most recently created district, on land segregated from Sant Andreu del Palomar. Its name comes from the fact that originally there were "nine neighborhoods", although there are currently 13. It entered the street map in 1982 with the street of Nou Barris and in 2001 with the homonymous square, in addition to the Plaça Major de Nou Barris in 2008. Its oldest neighborhood is Vilapicina, an ancient village that arose around the sanctuary of Santa Eulàlia de Vilapicina, from the tenth century; the term comes from villa and black pine pitch called in Latin pix, whose place of production was a pixina or picina, and is remembered in the street of Vilapicina.
Sant Andreu (6.56km, 145,983 inhabitants): corresponds to the former municipality of Sant Andreu de Palomar, annexed in 1897. It was an agricultural and milling area until the mid-19th century, when many industries began to settle. Its memory is remembered in the stream of Sant Andreu, the main street of Sant Andreu and the street of Palomar.
Sant Martí (10.80km, 232 629 inhabitants): it comes from the old village of Sant Martí de Provençals, added in 1897. It has dedicated the street, the round and the park of Sant Martí, as well as the street of Provençals. The old municipality was divided into four neighborhoods: Sagrera, Muntanya, Clot and Taulat, all of them remembered with streets.
The administrative division has varied over time. The first delimitation was established in 1389, when the city was divided into four quarters: Framenors (for the convent of Sant Francesc), Pi (for the church of Santa Maria del Pi), Mar (for the church of Santa Maria del Mar) and Sant Pere (for the monastery of Sant Pere de les Puelles). This division was made by establishing a grid with the Plaça del Blat as the geometric center, with a separation of the north and south quarters set in the ancient Roman cardo maximus. In the 15th century another quarter was added, that of El Raval ("arrabal"), thus establishing a division that lasted until the 18th century.
In 1769 a reform was carried out that created five districts, each subdivided into eight neighborhoods: I-Palacio included the port and the new neighborhood of La Barceloneta; II-San Pedro was an eminently industrial area; III-Audiencia corresponded to the center of the city; IV-Casa de la Ciudad was a mainly residential area; and V-Raval included the land west of La Rambla.
Numerous divisions were made in the 19th century, most of them for political reasons, since the districts also marked the electoral districts. The most notable were those of 1837, in which the city was divided into four districts (Lonja, San Pedro, Universidad and San Pablo); and that of 1878, after the demolition of the walls, in which 10 districts were established: I-La Barceloneta, II-Borne, III-Lonja, IV-Atarazanas, V-Hospital, VI-Audiencia, VII-Instituto, VIII-Universidad, IX-Hostafranchs and X-Concepción.
Between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the twentieth century, with the aggregation of the bordering municipalities, a new administrative reorganization was carried out, again with 10 districts: I-Barceloneta and Pueblo Nuevo, II-San Pedro, III-Lonja and Audiencia, IV-Concepción, V-Atarazanas and Hospital, VI-Universidad, VII-Sants, Les Corts and Hostafrancs, VIII-Gracia and San Gervasio, IX-Horta and San Andrés del Palomar, X-San Martín de Provensals.
In 1933 a new reformulation was made, also with ten districts: I-Barceloneta, II-Poble Sec and Montjuïc, III-Sarrià, Vallvidrera and Sant Gervasi, IV- Sant Pere i Dreta de L'Eixample, V-Raval, VI-Esquerra de l'Eixample, VII-Sants, Les Corts and Hostafrancs, VIII-Gràcia, IX-Horta, Sant Andreu del Palomar, Sagrera and Camp de l'Arpa, X-Sant Martí de Provençals, Clot and Poblenou. These districts were expanded in 1949 with two more: XI-Les Corts and XII-Sagrada Familia.
In 1984 the current division into ten districts was approved, established with the aim of decentralizing the City Council, transferring competencies to the new consistories. The new districts were established with the maximum respect for their historical and morphological identity, but also seeking a practical and functional delimitation, which would guarantee the neighbors a wide welfare coverage. In general, an effort was made to respect the old demarcations from the old city, its expansion and the aggregated municipalities, although some areas varied with respect to their historical belonging: Pedralbes, previously belonging to Sarrià, became part of Les Corts; Vallcarca, formerly part of Horta, was incorporated into Gràcia; El Guinardó, originally from Sant Martí, was added to Horta; and the new district of Nou Barris was segregated from Sant Andreu.
History
Toponymy
The origin and meaning of the toponym (place name) Barcelona is uncertain. It seems to come from an Iberian settlement called Barkeno, which is mentioned in some Iberian drachmas of the 2nd century BC. This form evolved into the Latin Barcino when the city was founded as a Roman colony in the 1st century B.C. Some legends point to a possible Carthaginian origin, derived from Amilcar Barca, but it seems unlikely, as the legend that attributes the founding of the city to Hercules, who would have landed there in the ninth ship of a fleet, so he would have called it Barca-nona.
The first written mention of Barcino comes from the first century A.D., by Pomponius Mela, while in the second century A.D. the astronomer Claudius Ptolemy mentions it in Greek as Βαρκινών (Barkinṓn) in his Geography. The toponym evolved between the 4th and 7th centuries: in the 4th Avienius calls it in his Ora maritima as Barcilo, although numerous variants appear then, such as Barcilona, Barcinona, Barcinonem, Barchinon or Barchinonam. On the other hand, already in the year 402 the poet Persius calls it Barcellone, a genitive that suggests the existence of the nominative Barcellona. Isidoro of Seville names it in the 7th century as Barcinona, while already in that century the current form Barcelona appears for the first time.
The ancient city
Barcelona was founded by Roman colonizers in the 1st century BCE with the name of Colonia Iulia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino. It was originally a small walled city that initially took the urban form of castrum, and later oppidum, settled on Mount Táber (16.9 masl), a small hill located on the site of the current Plaça Sant Jaume. The maximum splendor of the Roman period was during the second century, with a population that must have ranged between 3500 and 5000 inhabitants.
The center of the city was the forum, the central square dedicated to public life and business. From here, there were two main roads: the cardo maximus, oriented north-south (today's Libretería and Call streets) and the decumanus maximus, oriented east-west (Obispo, Ciudad and Regomir streets), approximately in the center of the walled enclosure.
The Roman origin of the city is present in several streets, all derived from its full Latin name: Via Júlia, from the Julio-Claudian dynasty that ruled the Empire at the time of the founding of the city; Via Augusta, after the Emperor Augustus; Via Favencia, a term derived from the Latin verb faveo ("to favor"), apparently because it was a colony exempt from taxes; and Via Barcino, after the Latin name of the city.
Middle Ages
After the fall of the Roman Empire and until the formation of the Catalan counties, there were several conquests and the passage of successive civilizations, from the Visigoths and the Arabs to a period of integration into the Carolingian Empire. At this time Barcelona was constituted as a county and later became part of the Crown of Aragon, and the political and economic center of the Principality of Catalonia, becoming an important maritime and commercial axis of the Mediterranean Sea. The city grew from the primitive urban nucleus — what is today the Gothic Quarter — and in the 14th century, El Raval district emerged. Barcelona then had about 25,000 inhabitants.
Encyclopedic content adapted from the Wikipedia article on Carmes, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.
