For centuries the city's best-known hill has been the subject of numerous urban refurbishments which, while defining it and redefining it, have made it one of the most interesting places, full of history, both major and minor.
Everything started on the hill
Some of the hills in Barcelona were inhabited by the Iberians, but Montjuïc was the most important of them because it was the settlement of this hill that led to the founding of the Catalan capital. Iberian culture was very focused on maritime trade and, over time, it melded with Roman culture, the most well-known civilisation of the ancient world. The Romans preferred to establish themselves on Mount Tàber, something that facilitated the transport of goods. Nevertheless, they still depended on the raw material available from Montjuïc with which o build their temples and the city walls: stone. Quarrying was not, however, restricted to the times of Barcino, the stone found there was systematically exploited until the middle of the 20th century.
The origin of the name 'Montjuïc' is not to be found during the Iberian period, but during the Middle Ages. It derives from mont dels jueus, or 'Jewish mount', so named on account of the existence of a medieval Jewish necropolis located 100 metres above sea level, dating from 1091.
The history of an event is sometimes sufficient to explain the way a place has developed, and that is the case with Montjuïc. In the summer of 1391 the Jewish quarter of Barcelona, the Call, was attacked and 300 people were murdered in an act of bloody antisemitism that so shook the Jewish community that the cemetery on Montjuïc was abandoned. This led to a dispute about the possession of its valuable stone. In fact the Jewish cemetery was on one of the main quarries for the extraction the compact and hard-wearing karstic stone found there, used in the construction of a large number of the city's buildings and monuments.
Montjuïc castle
From the 17th century, coinciding with the appearance of artillery, Montjuïc's strategic importance as a control centre began to grow. A clear example of this is the role it played during the Catalan Revolt, or Reapers' War (1640-1652), when Barcelona was protected from the troops of the Spanish army by the cannons installed there for that purpose.
When Barcelona was defeated in 1714 the castle's role changed. It now became a control centre for the Bourbon troops and, for the next two centuries, it hung like the sword of Damocles over the city, ready to suffocate any attempt at revolt regardless of the price paid: Espartero's bombardment, the executions of Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia, Lluís Companys... This strategic location played a key role in the history of the city and of Catalonia.
During these centuries, like other places within Montjuïc, the castle underwent changes and refurbishments. It started out as a simple lighthouse but in 1640 the former small fort was demolished and, in only 30 days, Montjuïc's first real, star-shaped fortification was built. Four years later this provisional fortification was turned into a castle and during the following years its facilities and installations were improved and numerous building works were carried out.
The home of sport
The city's interest in turning Montjuïc into a place associated with sport stems from the urge for modernisation. At the end of 1883 the hippodrome was opened and sports from England started to make their appearance in our country. On any weekend it would have been possible to see members of the aristocracy and the well-off classes of the day playing tennis and football. But it was not only the members of these privileged classes who were able to enjoy Montjuïc as a place for leisure. Contemporary photographs show that the fountains, cascades and the numerous hermitages that had proliferated around the hill had, for the more humble classes too, become meeting points, places to take a stroll, for playing games and having picnics.
Some years later a stadium was built at the Foixarda quarry that was to have been the stadium for the 1924 Olympic Games. However, when it was decided to hold the Games in Paris, Barcelona Football Club used the stadium for some of its matches, attracting very large numbers of people.
The 1929 International Exposition
Although the layout and buildings in Montjuïc were, like the rest of the city, transformed over time, a process that would lead to the hosting of the 1992 Olympic Games, that event was far from the first large-scale event to be held on Montjuïc. Six decades earlier the lights from the Palau Nacional de Catalunya lit up the Barcelona sky on the occasion of the 1929 International Exposition.
With the aim of showing Spain to be a modern, advanced country, while in the midst of Miguel Primo de Rivera's dictatorship, a large urban development project was undertaken to carry out all that was deemed necessary to host the exhibition.
Constructions included in this showcase for industry, art and sport were the Greek Theatre, the Foixarda amusement park, (which closed on the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War), and the popular Poble Espanyol tourist attraction, with its reconstructions of various urban and architectural features from other regions of Spain.
Another project that came to fruition that same year was the German Pavilion, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. This building was intended to host the reception of Alfonso XIII and Victoria Eugenie, as was the Palau Nacional, also built specifically for this event, which redefined the urban layout of this part of Barcelona.
The catalogue of photographs published at the time shows the undeniable transformation to which Montjuïc was subjected. The historic part of the hill was turned into a park of 200 hectares with views over the city and out to sea.
Site of the 1992 Olympic Games
In the collective memory of the Barcelonese it was the outstanding year of 1992 that redefined the future of the entire metropolis. This was the year the city hosted the Olympic Games, putting Barcelona on the map for thousands of people who would, over the following decades, make the Catalan capital one of the planet's main tourist destinations. Montjuïc was not only a witness to this turning point in the history of Barcelona, but played a pivotal role. A huge urban development programme was undertaken to provide the city with the infrastructure necessary to welcome the 169 countries participating in the Games, including an ensemble of sporting facilities that received the name of 'Olympic Ring'. The Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium was fundamentally refurbished, the Palau Sant Jordi was built, as was the Calatrava communications tower. The Bernat Picornell swimming pools were also refurbished and the building to house the National Physical Education Institute - INEFC headquarters was constructed.
This was the moment when Montjuïc's bonded with the three main features that would mark its development over the next decades: nature, culture and sport. The proliferation of parks, gardens and museums turned what was once an ambitious idea into a reality that everyone can now enjoy.
The city's most eclectic breathing space
After centuries of changes, Montjuïc has become Barcelona's most eclectic green space, having something for everyone: parks and gardens that invite you to a pleasant stroll, museums for the lovers of culture and wonderful views over the city. There are museums for all tastes including the Archaeological Museum of Catalonia, the Joan Miró Foundation, the Olympic and Sport Museum and the Modernista Casaramona Factory that houses the CaixaForum.
The idea of turning Montjuïc into an area for green spaces took hold during the 19th and 20th centuries, but the various gardens that provide this part of the city with fresh air grew over a number of decades. The Miramar gardens were designed for the 1929 Universal Exposition, along with the Laribal and Umbracle gardens. In 1960, when Franco ceded the castle to the city once again, there was a significant increase in gardened areas with the addition of the Mirador de l’Alcalde gardens. In the 1970s a park named for the Catalan poet Father Cinto Verdaguer was opened, and in 2003 gardens named for another Catalan poet were opened, the Joan Brossa gardens. To this list of splendid gardens must also be added the outstanding Costa i Llobera gardens. Given that Montjuïc enjoys a temperature a few degrees above that of the rest of the city, it is an ideal place for tropical, desertic and subdesertic plants to thrive, especially cacti.
Discovering Montjuïc
You can enjoy a bird's-eye view of Montjuïc if you take the 750-metre-long cable car route. Another excellent way of exploring Montjuïc is through the Archaeological Museum of Catalonia's “Walk Through Unknown Montjuïc”. This walk follows a route that shows the impact all the events mentioned here have had on the city.
By revealing itself to us, Montjuïc offers us the opportunity to also be the city's sentinels. In our case, only for a short time, while for Montjuïc itself, it is a role it has played for over a thousand years.
