Barcino

We met in front of CEA. It was relatively hot, and I was sure that an oval sweat-stain would appear on my back as a result of my bookbag rubbing against it. Oval sweat-stains on my back seemed to become an everyday occurrence in this city. No matter how far we pushed into September, the heat remained the same. Can’t complain though. Our tour guide twisted up a cigarette as the rest of our class mates made their way to the meeting point, and in a few minutes we were on our way.

The route chosen was down Via Laietani and to the right. Via Laietani shot straight through the city from the beach. If the city were to get open-heart surgery, Via Laietani would be the incision. To this point, I had only been down this way to a certain place: Bar Ski. It was a place that I found one day between classes to have a plate of ‘bravas’ and a beer. We passed Bar Ski and made a right towards The Cathedral of Saint Eulaila. The massive gothic cathedral cannot be missed from the street, mainly because of the insane amount of scaffolding covering it like a blanket. The cathedral sits between the remains of the Roman walls of Barcino, which are the only ancient structures to survive.

Our first stop was a quick pop-in on the three columns from the Temple of Augustus. Luckily for present-day Barcelona, when so many other buildings were disassembled to recycle the materials, these columns were left intact. At first glance, the columns appear to be exactly what they are: stone columns. But after a few seconds I thought about how old these things really were. And how many people have been in the same spot that I was looking at them. And how so much has happened in this city over the past 2000 years, yet they still stand. Kind of amazing.

We then went to visit the underground ancient Roman city of Barcino. Barcino is Barcelona in the present day. Barcelona is the capital of Catalunya. However, it was not always the biggest city in the area. It was built between the already established cities of Emporium to the North and Taraco to the South. Barcino was formed in a pocket, between two rivers on each side, mountains behind and the sea in front. It seems it was destiny for this city to flourish. The first thought that went through my head when I got down into Barcino was how uncomfortable it looked. They carved their houses out of stone, which cannot be the most comfortable way to live. However, I was amazed to discover some of the advancements these people had almost 2000 years ago.

First, they had system of storing wine in ceramic orbs in the ground. Apparently the love of wine has not burnt out over the years, for it is still a very much adored aspect of culture today in this area. Second, they used of garum to keep fish fresh and edible. Third, they used urine as bleach to get stains out of clothing. Finally, and most important, the Romans are historically known as skilled engineers. They were able to develop a sewage system that would allow them to get rid of dirty water and bring in clean water. Without this aspect, cities would have never been able to evolve as they did.

The trip eventually ended, and my classmates disbursed, but I hung around for a little. I walked around the area to site-see a little bit more. Because of what I learned about Barcino, I was able to see the city in a different way than I did before. And as each day goes by and I learn more about the city and where it came from, everything has begun to make a lot more sense to me.