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Plaça Sant Jaume is, indisputably, the administrative center of the city. On both sides of the square, face to face, there are the two most important public buildings of the whole city: the head office of the
Ayuntamiento de Barcelona (City Council) and
Palau de la Generalitat (Palace of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia). Also, it has been, along the years, the point of reference of numerous historical moments, both for the city and for Catalonia.
The origins of the square go back to the Roman epoch, when Barcelona was no more than Barcino. In this moment it was already a public square located in the highest part of ancient Mont Tàber, in the intersection between
cardo and
decumanus (two main streets).
Nevertheless, it owes his name to the parish of Sant Jaume, located along with the square, in the attached street Ferran, from the medieval era. Also of this epoch, and concretely of the XIIIth Century, dates the
Palau de la Generalitat. It its beginnings it was the head office of the organism entrusted to gather the taxes of the Spanish Parliament for the king. At present, it is the head office of the Government of Catalonia.
To another side of the square we find the named Casa de la Ciutat (House of the City), that is to say, the head office of the City Council of Barcelona. We find its origin also in the XIIIth century, with the constitution of
Consell de Cent, initial government organ of the city. Nevertheless, its current façade, of neoclassic style, was remodelled in the XIXth century with the urban development of the square and inaugurated in 1840 with the name of Plaça de la Constitución (Constitution Square).
Plaça Sant Jaume has been, throughout the years, a stage of numerous historical facts. In the contemporary age it was already, as the president Francesc Macià proclaimed, in 1931 and from
Palau de la Generalitat, the Catalan Republic. Years later, another mythical moment took place in this square: the shoot of the exile of the president Josep Tarradellas, with a scream
Ja sóc aquí! (I am here!) thrown to the multitude from the balcony of the Palau. Also it is necessary to emphasise that it is the place where the sports clubs offer their titles to the aficionados.