El Born and the Guilds
El Born is the neighborhood located near the coast of Barcelona where many of the craftsmen or guilds were located in the Middle Ages. They controlled the products being imported and exported from the city as well as the prices for the goods that they made. The guilds lost much of their power and influence with the arrival of Industrialization in the 1700s and the loss of Catalonian independence in 1714.
Before the Ciutadella became a pleasure park, it was a military compound built in the early 1700s after King Philip V laid siege of Barcelona and it fell in 1714 during the War of Spanish Succession. In order to maintain control and instill fear in the Catalonians a giant military compound was built on top of the destroyed homes of many Catalonians. The compound was built on top of an area known for its guilds, El Born, which controlled much of the commerce and money coming in and out of the city. The guilds were very powerful as they used their money to build a church for the people, Santa Maria del Mar. Guild workers built the church and its beauty rivals that of the King’s cathedral of Barcelona. By controlling this part of town, King Philip was able to control the rest of Barcelona and its inhabitants. The Ciutadella became a hated symbol that represented the central Spanish government. The park was turned over to the Catalonians in the mid 1800s by General Prim and was turned into a pleasure park.
The sore remembrance of the fall of the independence of Catalonia became a beautiful green park for inhabitants and visitors to enjoy. The park includes a zoo and museum of natural science. There is a large pond where visitors can rent rowboats and paddle around. The grounds of the park are well kept with different gardens and vegetation along with two shade gardens—one for winter and one for summer. The most impressive part of the park is the Cascada designed by Josep Fontsére with the help of Antoni Gaudí who designed the hydraulics of the fountain. The fountain resembles the Trevi Fountain in Rome with its Roman architecture and powerful spouts of water.
Although the Ciutadella Park has become a gem of Barcelona, the dark past of the original use of the grounds has not been forgotten. During the excavations of El Born Market, the ruins of the old part of the city that were torn down to build the Ciutadella were uncovered. The market was turned into the Center of Culture and Memory to learn about and remember the period when King Philip V took over Barcelona and Catalonia lost its independence. In addition, there is a memorial built next to Santa Maria del Mar, the people’s church, with a flame that is constantly burning to commemorate those who fell during the siege of Barcelona.
Even though the park is a popular tourist destination, it is important that it does not become a private park like Parc Güell because it is a place for the people of Catalonia. The day I visited the park it a beautiful sunny day with many people lying out on the lawn enjoying the sun. Although the past has not been forgotten and many Catalonians are fighting to regain their independence, the park serves as a place of relaxation and remembrance of a collective past and identity that distinguishes all Catalonians.