Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/383

Rh General to the north-east of the town are being removed. The site of the former is to be occupied by a large market, while the latter is to be absorbed into the Park. Barcelona is the see of a bishop, and, like most Spanish towns, has a large number of ecclesiastical buildings, though by no means so many as it once possessed. If Barceloneta on the one hand, and Garcia, a suburban village, on the other, be included, the number of churches amounts to twenty- seven, and eighteen of these are parroquias, while no fewer than eighteen convents were still standing in 1873. The cathedral, erected between 1298 and 1448, but not yet finished, is a spacious building in the Pointed style, and contains the tomb of Santa Eulalia, the patron saint of the city. Its stained glass windows are among the finest in Spain, and it possesses archives of great value. Santa Maria del Mar, Santos Justo y Pastor. San Pedro de las Puellas, and San Pablo del Campo, are all churches worthy of mention. San Miguel in Barceloneta, which preserved a curious ancient mosaic and contained the tomb of the marquis de la Mina, has been taken down. Ground Plan of Barcelona. The educational institutions of Barcelona have from an early period been numerous and important. The university (Universidad Literaria) was originally founded in 1430 by the magistracy of the city, and received a bull of confirma tion from Pope Nicholas V. in 1450, possessing at that time four faculties and thirty-one chairs, all endowed by the corporation (vide Capmany s Memorias). It was sup pressed in 1714, but restored in 1841, and now occupies an extensive building in the new town. There are, besides, an academy of natural sciences, a college of medicine and surgery, confirmed by a bull of Benedict XIII. in 1400, an academy of fine arts, a normal school, a theological seminary, an upper industrial school, an institution for the education of deaf-mutes, a school of navigation, and many minor establishments. Gratuitous instruction of a very high order is afforded by the Board of Trade to upwards of two thousand pupils. The principal charitable founda tions are the Casa de Caridad, or House of Industry, the Hospital General, dating from 1401, and the Foundling Hospital. The Monies de Piedad are, in fact, mutual bene fit societies; and that of Nostra Senora de la Esperanza has this peculiarity, that loans on deposits are made without interest to necessitous persons, thousands of whom yearly avail themselves of its advantages. The principal civic and commercial buildings are the Casa Consistorial, a fine Gothic hall, the Lonja, or Exchange, dating from 1383, and the Aduana, or Custom-house, built in 1792. At the seaward end of the Rambla is a large ancient structure, the Atarazanas, or Arsenals, which was finished about 1243. A portion of it was recently taken down to give a better view to the promenade. Remains of the former royal state of Barcelona are found in the Palacio Real of the kings of Aragon, and the Palacio de la Reina. At the highest part of the city, in the Calle delParadis, are some magnificent columns, and other Roman remains, which, however, are hidden by the surrounding buildings. The inhabitants of Barcelona are not only an intelligent and industrious, but a gay and pleasure-loving people. Means of public recreation are abundantly supplied. There are no fewer than fourteen theatres of more or less pretension, the two most important being the Teatro Principal and the Teatro del Liceo. The latter is a very fine building, originally erected in 1845 on the site of a convent of Trinitarian monks, and capable of containing 4000 spectators. A striking feature in Barcelona society is the development of social life ; and the number of restaurants and similar places of evening resort is very great. A pleasant promenade is furnished not only by the Rambla but by the Muralla del Mar, or sea-wall, which was largely due to the marquis de la Mina, and is now undergoing extensive alteration by the reclaiming of a strip of land from the port. Barcelona has long been the industrial and commercial centre of Eastern Spain a pre-eminence which dates from the 12th and 13th centuries. It was the rival of Genoa and Venice, and in renown its hardy mariners were second to none. The origin of the famous code of maritime laws known as the Consolado del mar is usually, though not with absolute certainty, ascribed to its merchants ; and it is pretty well established that they were the first to employ the method of marine insurance. We find them at an early period trading, not only with the ports of the Mediterranean, but with the Low Countries and England, on the one hand, and with Constantinople and Damascus, Egypt and Armenia, on the other, entering into treaties with kings and magistracies, and establishing in all important places consuls to look after their interests. The prosperity so deeply rooted continued through numerous vicissitudes till the emancipation of the Spanish American colonies, when a comparative decline set in. This, however, proved only temporary, and, in spite of the disastrous con sequences of the French invasion, and the various revolu tions of the country since then. Barcelona has no need to look back with regret to the past. A great variety of 