Let’s Go to the Born….
Five streets dedicated to craftsmanship and trade
- Carrer de les Candeles – the street of candle makers
- Carrer dels Cotoners – the street of cotton makers
- Carrer dels Mirallers – the street of mirror makers
- Carrer de Corders – the street of rope making
- Carrer de les Semoleres – the street of pasta makers
- Each of these streets is named after a type of craftmanship.
What were Els Gremis?
In Barcelona the “gremis” or guilds were the core of medieval Barcelona’s economic life and the center of all production. To be a skilled craftsman outside of a guild was imposible. Guilds trained workers, enforced rules, and fixed prices. These guilds helped negotiate privledges with the monarch, write city laws, and even organized defense in times of need. All work was done by hand until the 18th century.
It was said that a blind man could find his way around the Barri Gòtic (Gothic Quarter) by smell and sound because of all the shops so close to eachother hammering their goods and stands full of good smelling food. The natural sympathy among workers was unmatched and created the “esprit de quartier” of Barcelona where a client wanted to comparison shop among various craftsmen in the same place and could during this time period. This concentration of similar workers in the same place kept competition out.
These guilds are still alive today in many aspects of Barcelona, most prominently in Barri Gòtic today when looking at the different Street names.
La Casa-Taller
Learning about the structure of the house-workshop was, in my opinion, the most interesting aspect of El Born. The houses were organized in a fashion almost opposite of what we see today, and craftsmen both worked and lived in these. The lowest level typically belonged to the owner of the workshop, and had a large balcony surrounding doors. The level higher typically had a smaller balcony, and the highest level usually had no balcony or doors, but rather a simple window enclosed by decorative iron bars. With each story, the windows and balconies decreased in size, as this was indicative of class and economic status. The higher level rooms were reserved for the servants, the poorest of the house-workshop. Nowadays, penthouses are a symbol of wealth.
Craftsmanwork Buildings and Industrial Production Buildings
Craftmanswork buildings have large windows in order to display the craftsmanship and precision of the production, as well as to showcase the quality of the goods being sold. On the other hand, industrial production buildings have small windows, as objects are made in mass quanitity with little precision, and there is no need to showcase this, as industrial production values quantity over quality. Craftsmanship buildings are typically composed of brick and stone, as these materials are made to last, whereas industrial buildings are made of iron, because it is significantly cheaper than brick and stone.
4. Find the cultural relation of this five places cited bellow to catalan culture. Take on account the different historical periods in each case.
- Santa Maria del Mar – The Santa Maria del Mar is a pure Catalan Gothic church, and was built during the 14th century. The church took 55 years to build and is a rare example of pure Catalan Gothic architecture, with its simple design and lack of adornment. It held the reputation of a popular church, made by workers for workers, unlike the Barcelona Cathedral that was paid for by the King
- El Mercat del Born – El Mercat del Born was constructed during the late 1800’s, during a period of industrialization, and is the largest covered square in all of Europe. The significance of this building was that it was one of the first to be constructed of iron instead of the more expensive brick and stone, which paved the way for industrial buildings to be contstructed out of iron.
- El Fossa de les Moreres – El Fossa is an area built over a burial site, and dates back to the 1st century. It was built in memory of those who passed away in the Spanish succession war.
- La ciutadella Park – Phillip V built this fortress after the war of Spanish Succession, so that it would block invaders from coming into Spain and potentially conquering it. The fortress signifies the strength of Spain.
5. After September 11th 1714 the decrees of Nova Planta were proclaimed in Catalonia by Philip V. Mention the main changes in catalan society doing a little research after the Field study.
- Spanish citizenship was now an identity. Castillian and Aragonese would now fall under the umbrella term of Spanish.
- the guilds would cease to exist, and mass industrialization would take their place
- Philip V would rule in an absolute monarchy style
El Consolat de Mar
The “stock market” where traders and merchants would negotiate and freely discuss prices and taxes. In order to promote the sale of domestic goods, imports were taxed, and each day the prices and taxes of imported products fluctuated, so this historical stock market was an integral part of the economy. Every major port had a Consolate de Mar.
Catalan Chic 