Mount Montjuic

Subway: Espanya, Poble Sec, Parallel
Bus: 13, 50

 

Montjuic or Jewish Mountain is a visible prominence overlooking city of Barcelona. Its name is probably derived from a Catalan word for Jewish Mountain as a reference that an old medieval Jewish cemetery was located on slopes of Montjuic. Another version for its name comes from a Latin word Mons Jovicus or "hill of love". Its most prominent landmark is a Montjuic Castle (Castell de Montjuic).

 

 

Etymology

The traditional attribution of the etymology of Montjuich is that of "Mount of the Jews", supposedly from medieval Catalan, motivated by the existence, confirmed by documents and archaeology, of a Jewish cemetery on the mountain. Likewise, the possibility is contemplated that this place name comes from the Latin form Mons Iovis, that is, Mount of Jupiter, a name mentioned by Pomponio Mela in his work Chorography:
«Inde ad Tarraconem parva sunt oppida Blande, Iluro, Baetulo, Barcino, Subur, Tolobi; parva flumina Baetulo, iuxta Iovis montem Rubricatum in Barcinonis litore, inter Subur et Tolobin Maius.

It would be translated as: "From here to Tarraco are the towns of Blande, Iluro, Baetulo, Barcino, Subur, Tolobi; the small rivers Baetulo, the Rubricatus, on the side of Mount Jupiter, on the coast of Barcino, and the Maius , between Subur and Tolobi.

 

History

The remains of an Iberian town from the 3rd century BC have been found. C. and 2nd century BC. c.

It has always been a strategic place from which to defend the city, which is why since ancient times there has been a fortress on its top. In 1751, the current castle was built, the work of Juan Martín Cermeño, which during the Spanish War of Independence was occupied by the French.

It is internationally known for having served as a reference for the estimation of the first definition of the meter: the commissioners at the request of the National Constituent Assembly, Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre and Pierre Méchain, measured the arc length of the meridian that passes through France, Dunkirk to Montjuich Barcelona, between 1792 and 1798; The measurement results were used to establish the decimal metric system.

Just as it has been a strategic point for the defense of the city, it has been a strategic point for keeping it under control, along with the Citadel fortress at the other end of the city. In December 1842, troops led by General Espartero during his regency bombarded the city from the castle; and General Juan Prim bombed it again between September and November 1843 to put an end to the popular revolution of Jamancia.

The castle has also been used numerous times as a prison for political prisoners until the times of Franco's dictatorship, and a place where they were later shot and buried in the cemetery on the southwest side of the mountain. During the 19th and 20th centuries it was the scene of numerous executions: several anarchists (including the pedagogue Francisco Ferrer y Guardia), generals Manuel Goded Llopis and Álvaro Fernández Burriel, both for the uprising against the Republic, and in 1940 Lluís Companys , president of the Generalitat of Catalonia.

On the occasion of the Barcelona International Exhibition of 1929, the urbanization of some areas of the mountain was completed, designing it as its central space, which is why the different pavilions that rise along the slopes of the mountain and along the both sides of the promenade that leads from the Plaza de España, in the Sants-Montjuic neighborhood, and from where you can enjoy great views.

In 1969, 1971, 1973 and 1975 the Spanish Formula 1 Grand Prix was held at the Montjuïc Circuit, which was an urban track, but due to an accident that cost the lives of five spectators in 1975 the FIA decided that Montjuich was a dangerous place to compete in a Formula 1 grand prix.

On March 15, 2007, the General Directorate of Heritage of the Generalitat of Catalonia, in accordance with the Catalan Cultural Heritage Law (Law 9/1993, of September 30), declared an area of Montjuic Cultural Asset of National Interest (BCIN), for the existence of the medieval Jewish cemetery in Barcelona, considered the largest in Europe of its time.

The Jewish cemetery of Montjuic is located in a small field located on the northeastern slope of the Montjuich mountain, about 100 m above sea level, from where the entire medieval city of Barcelona was dominated, within which the Jewish quarter was located. . The first written information that exists about the Jewish necropolis of Barcelona dates back to the 11th century (1091), when Count Ramón Berenguer restored some vineyards in the Canonja de la Santa Creu and Santa Eulalia of Barcelona, located in Montjuich (Jewish Mount) and which were limited to the east by some ancient Jewish graves (veteres iudorum sepulturas). This necropolis lasted until the end of the Jewish quarter in 1391, at which time it suffered devastation and the looting of the funerary tombstones.

Since the 17th century there have been historical references to knowledge of the fairly precise location of the Jewish cemetery. It was not until 1898, due to the construction of coastal defense batteries in the cemetery enclosure, when there was evidence of the first archaeological intervention carried out within the enclosure, in a more or less controlled manner. This fact allowed us to confirm that the necropolis extended on both sides of the road that led to Montjuic Castle, and that it corresponds to the current Castle road. The archaeological excavation work of 1945 and 2001 has allowed us to document a part of the necropolis with more than 700 tombs.

Based on the sepulchral typology (characteristics of the grave, its orientation, the position of the bodies) and the spatial relationship between the graves, a chronology of the necropolis can be established that goes from the 9th to the 14th century.

From this necropolis there is an important epigraphic complex with more than 74 units, collected in the Hebraic Series of the Monumenta Paleographica Medii Aevifica. Within this complex, a new epigraphic tombstone of exceptional character located in situ during the archaeological intervention of 2001 must be added.

It is, due to its characteristics, the largest, most significant and most representative complex of the memory and culture of the Jewish community during the medieval period in Catalonia and, most likely, in the western Mediterranean.

 

Present

Currently, it is closely related to sports, due to the large number of sports facilities it houses.

On the mountain there are various Olympic facilities that hosted the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, such as the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium (next to which is the Barcelona Olympic Foundation Museum), the Palau Sant Jordi, the Bernat Picornell Swimming Pools, the INEFC and the Montjuic Municipal Swimming Pool, while at its foot is the old Sports Palace on Lleida Street, now converted into the Barcelona Teatre Musical, which hosts theatrical and musical shows. The offer of sports facilities is completed by the Parc del Migdia Athletics Stadium, the Carlos Pérez de Rozas Municipal Baseball Field, the Pau Negre Municipal Sports Complex, the Joan Serrahima Athletics Stadium, the La Foixarda Municipal Rugby Camp, the La Báscula sports field, the Montjuic Castle archery field, the La Satalia municipal soccer field, the Julià de Capmany soccer field and the facilities of private clubs such as the Tiro Nacional de Montjuic, the Royal Pompeya Tennis Society and the Montjuïc Swimming Club, in addition to others used sporadically or already in disuse such as the old Montjuïc Circuit (motor racing, motorcycling and cycling), the Montjuïc Golf (Pitch&Putt), the Oval Hall of the National Palace (roller hockey) or the pavilions of the Fira de Barcelona (indoor athletics, fencing and indoor soccer).

In Montjuic there are also places of tourist interest such as the Pueblo Español, an enclosure built for the 1929 exhibition and which includes streets, squares and characteristic places from all over Spain, as can be seen at its entrance with the Torres de Ávila, or a typical Andalusian patio, with its streets full of flowers, in addition to being populated with restaurants, bars and entertainment and entertainment venues, as well as the Montjuic Telecommunications Tower designed by Santiago Calatrava. Likewise, the mountain formerly hosted various amusement parks: the Foixarda Amusement Park (1929-1930), the Maricel Park (1930-1936), and the Montjuic Amusement Park (1966-1998), now converted into a park. public with the name of Joan Brossa Gardens.

The mountain is also home to important cultural institutions. In addition to the already mentioned "Barcelona Teatre Musical" and "Museu Olímpic i de l'Esport Joan Antoni Samaranch", there are here the Teatre Lliure, the Flower Market, the Greek Theatre, the Joan Miró Foundation, the CaixaForum cultural center Barcelona, the National Museum of Art of Catalonia (MNAC), the Ethnological Museum of Barcelona and the Museum of Archeology of Catalonia. Crowning the mountain is Montjuic Castle, an old fortress and military museum, with plans to convert it into a cultural center at an undetermined date.

On María Cristina Avenue, the main entrance to Montjuich Mountain from Plaza de España, there are various pavilions built for the 1929 International Exhibition, most of which are now part of the Fira Barcelona, which organizes some of the most important halls, shows and exhibitions in Spain. Belonging to the same period but not integrated into the Fira is the German Pavilion of the 1929 Exhibition, one of the milestones in the history of modern architecture, the work of Mies van der Rohe. The route of the avenue is dotted with columns of water on both sides of it, culminating in the Magic Fountain and the Montjuic waterfalls, which on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays show a unique spectacle in the world of water, light, music and color.

Finally, it is also an ideal place for resting and walking, due to the large areas of gardens, and the spectacular views it offers of the city of Barcelona. Among the former, the Historical Botanical Garden of Barcelona stands out, which has a unique collection of cacti, and the new Botanical Garden of Barcelona specialized in the flora of the Mediterranean areas of the world.

Since 2006, a large part of the ornamental stairs and original spaces of the mountain built for the 1929 International Exhibition have been recovered. The old cable car has also been remodeled to be able to climb to the top of the mountain and from the Castle to see one of the most impressive views of Barcelona.

Practically the entire southern slope of Montjuic Mountain is occupied by the Montjuic Cemetery, which was inaugurated in 1883.

 

Gardening

Montjuic Mountain contains numerous gardens, most of them created during the 20th century. A first attempt to landscape the area occurred in 1894, with a project prepared by Josep Amargós that was ultimately not completed. In 1905 another project provided for the withdrawal of the distinction of military plaza and the creation of a park with gardens, but it was not approved. In 1914, the first effective action was taken with the opening of an avenue that led from Gran Vía to the Miramar area, again led by Josep Amargós. Finally, the definitive boost came with the celebration of the Barcelona International Exhibition of 1929: in 1917 the urbanization works on the northern slope of the mountain began, led by the engineer Marià Rubió i Bellver, while the landscaping project was carried out by the French landscape designer Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier - who had the collaboration of Nicolau Maria Rubió i Tudurí, director of Parks and Gardens of Barcelona between 1917 and 1937 - who created a set of markedly Mediterranean character, with a classicist taste, combining the gardens with the construction of pergolas and terraces. The works lasted until 1924, and consisted mainly of the constitution of the Laribal Gardens, in a Hispano-Arabic style, which through a series of terraces with pergolas, small squares and fountains (such as the famous Font del Gat) lead to the Greek Theater , an open-air theater inspired by ancient Greek theaters—especially that of Epidaurus—, designed by Ramon Reventós; They also designed the Umbraculo gardens. Finally, the Miramar Gardens were located on the seafront of the mountain. Also in the 1920s, the Tres Pins Nursery was located on the northwest slope of the mountain, where plants were grown to supply the city's gardens; The Petra Kelly Garden was installed on its grounds in 1993, in tribute to this German environmentalist.

In 1930, the Barcelona Botanical Garden (today the Historical Botanical Garden of Barcelona) was created in two hollows of the old Foixarda quarry located behind the National Palace of Montjuic, with a magnificent collection of exotic plants compiled by the botanist Pius Font i Quer. . In the 1940s the Botanical Institute of Barcelona moved here, and the Acclimatization Garden was installed. In 1960, with the donation of Montjuic Castle to the city, the Mirador del Alcalde was installed in its surroundings, with a fountain designed by Carles Buïgas. Between the years 1960 and 1970, various actions were carried out aimed at eliminating the shanty towns produced by post-war immigration, and various thematic gardens were created, such as the Mossèn Costa i Llobera Gardens, specialized in cacti and succulents, and the Gardens of Mossèn Cinto Verdaguer, dedicated to aquatic, bulbous and rhizomatous plants. Both were the work of Joaquim Maria Casamor, chief architect of the Department of Parks and Gardens of Barcelona, in collaboration with the botanist Joan Pañella Bonastre. The Joan Maragall Gardens are also from this period, located around the Albéniz Palace, residence of the Spanish royal family during their visits to Barcelona, in a neoclassical style.​

A final boost to gardening in the area came with the celebration of the 1992 Olympic Games, when the Mirador del Migdia was opened and a new 14-hectare Botanical Garden was installed, dedicated to Mediterranean climate plants from around the world. world, work of Carlos Ferrater and Bet Figueras. Shortly after, the Poble Sec Viewpoint was also opened, as well as the Sculpture Garden attached to the Miró Foundation, with works by sculptors such as Tom Carr, Pep Durán, Perejaume, Enric Pladevall, Jaume Plensa, Josep Maria Riera i Aragó, Erna Verlinden and Sergi Aguilar. Finally, in 2003, the Joan Brossa Gardens were inaugurated, located on the land previously occupied by the Montjuic Amusement Park, with a remodeling carried out by Patrizia Falcone in a landscape style.

 

How to get here

In Montjuic Mountain, the different means of tourist transport that exist to access it from the city, or to move around its extensive surface, stand out. Original transports such as the Montjuic Funicular, which connects the mountain with the Pueblo Seco neighborhood, the already mentioned and remodeled Montjuic Cable Car that runs along the top of the mountain, or the Barcelona Air Shuttle that connects it with the Port of Barcelona. .

Meter
Paral·lel Station - (L2) and (L3).
Plaza España Station - (L1), (L3), (L8).
Fira 1-MNAC Station - (L2). Station to be built.
INEFC station - (L2). Station to be built.

Cable car
Paral·lel Station - (Montjuic Funicular).
Montjuic Park Station

Cableway
(Montjuic Cable Car).
(Port cable car).

Bus (not updated)
Line 13. San Antonio Market - Montjuic Park.
Line 23. Pl. España - Parc Logístic.
Line 55. Pl. Parc Montjuic - Pl. Catalana.
Line 125. La Marina - Pl del Nueve.
Line 150. Pl. España - Montjuïc Castle