Barcino

Barcino was founded as a colony (Colonia Iulia Augusta Paterna Barcino) in 15 B.C., in the highest part of a small hill, Mons Táber (current Plaça de Sant Jaume). Although it was a rather small city, it experienced an important development between the IVth and Vth centuries and happened to be the principal city of the region, happening even over Tarraco (current Tarragona).

In the IIIrd century, the population of the city ranged between the 4.000 and 8.000 inhabitants. Its principal economic activity was the culture of the grapevine and, although Barcino never had a theater, amphitheatre, nor a circus, the archaeological opposing remains gives us a hint that the inhabitants were enjoying a good standard of living.

The Roman wall, of which today some parts still survive, was constructed between the years 270 and 300. It had a perimeter of approximately 1,500 meters and protected an enclosure of approximately 12 hectares.

Barcino followed the typical urban structure of any Roman city, crossed by two perpendicular main streets, cardo and decumanus, that ended in the four doors of the wall that surrounded the city. In the crossing of these two streets, the Forum was found, a meeting place containing all the important buildings: the basilica, the temples, the spa, the markets...

Between them, the stand out is on Augusto's Temple. At present, only four columns of this building remain but, in his times of splendour, it was a temple of 35 meters long, located on a platform in which was on a raised colonnade that was surrounding it completely. Its porch consisted of 6 columns crowned by capitals of compound order.