The emergence of the Roman forum changed the history of urban planning in Barcelona.

BarcelonaWhen the Romans arrived in what would become Barcelona between 15 and 13 BC, they were looking for the best location to found a colony between the prosperous Emporiae (Empúries) on the north coast and Tarraco (Tarragona) on the south coast. The chosen site was the summit of Mons Tàber, a small hill overlooking the sea and the plain, where Plaça Sant Jaume is located today. The colony, with the full name of Iulia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino, grew rapidly, and between the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, it was walled and a forum was built. The construction work on the Gran Hotel Barcino, at number 3 Carrer Hércules, has unearthed an extraordinarily well-preserved section of this central element of Roman city life. The remains will be preserved and can be viewed in a museum space within the hotel.

This is not only the most important archaeological find in Barcelona in the last thirty years, but it also forces us to rethink many things. The orientation of the forum has been the subject of debate, sometimes quite intense, among various scholars of the city's Roman past. In Ancient Rome, the forum was the political, administrative, religious, and commercial center. The most important public buildings were concentrated there: the basilica (a space for business and trials), the curia (where the local senate met), the market, and the temple dedicated to the emperor. It was the central square of the city and the point where the two main axes of the urban layout intersected. These two axes were the thistle, in a north-south direction, and the decumanusin an east-west direction. Until now, most studies, despite some discrepancies, had argued that the forum was aligned with the cardo. This discovery indicates, however, that it ran parallel to the decumanus. Therefore, there is a complete reversal and a new interpretation of how Barcino grew. In fact, it sheds more light on the urban layout and helps to explain why certain pavements, walls, and architectural alignments that had appeared in the past seemed contradictory.

The Monumentality of Barcino

The remains of the forum demonstrate the skill and precision of the Romans when it came to constructing large public works. It is a complex measuring 42 meters.² Composed of large rectangular blocks, the slabs, which can reach up to 149 centimeters in length and 118 centimeters in width, retain a considerable thickness of between 18 and 35 centimeters. Construction took place between 15 and 10 BC, and the Romans transported the stones from Montjuïc with the intention of creating a stable and substantial surface on rather uneven terrain. The Montjuïc quarry was already being exploited during prehistoric times. The oldest recorded human settlement on the Barcelona plain has been found there: a jasper extraction workshop from the Epipaleolithic period. Excavations continued for many more centuries, until the 1960s. Between 1989 and 1990, an archaeological campaign revealed that local sandstone had been quarried in the area since Roman times. Last June, the remains of a Roman-era quarry face were also discovered Dating from between the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, this large paving stone is only partially preserved.

Until now, no paving of the quality and extent of this forum had been found in Barcelona. It is over two thousand years old but extraordinarily well preserved. It helps to imagine the grandeur of Barcino, which in Ancient Rome had large domus scattered throughout the city, with gardens and rich ornamental decorations. Written sources speak of a certain opulence: "They live in marble palaces, they are shrunken from all the gold they wear, they drag silk trains, they are painted crimson, and, moreover, there is no lack of gardens and places of rest by the sea, exquisite wines, splendid banquets." The Bishop of Barcelona between 360 and 386 was scandalized by the Romans.

More than 150 marble fragments

The paving stones aren't the only things that have been recovered. In the southeast corner of the pavement, a Roman concrete foundation is preserved, which would have formed part of the original boundary of the complex. Next to it are two wells, 2.6 meters deep, connected by a siphon. This hydraulic system likely supplied water to fountains and ornamental pieces. Throughout the excavation, more than 150 marble fragments have been recovered, which arrived in Barcino from Carrara, Anatolia, Egypt... It must have been quite sumptuous.

This fragment of the city's past, which will not disappear, is not the only one found during the excavations. With the fall of the Roman Empire, the forum also gradually faded away. Many pieces were looted, and the large plaza was definitively abandoned at the beginning of the 5th century. Life went on, and construction took place on top as the city and its streets were reconfigured. Like any excavation, each level opens a window to the past and reveals its scars. Food remains have been found, along with an exceptional numismatic collection, including Saracen coins, and a piece from the time of Louis the Pious (9th century). From the medieval period, a 3,000-liter silo, built upon Roman concrete and perfectly preserving its original shape, has been unearthed. The next chapter unfolds with the Gothic period and the Casa Requesens. When visitors enter the courtyard of this building of medieval origin, now a hotel, they can journey through time and observe its transformation from the 1st century AD to the present day: there is the forum, a Visigothic circulation area, the courtyard of a medieval house, a modern-era service area, and a contemporary hotel. The paving, the hydraulic structure, the Late Antique structures, and the medieval silo are all clearly visible. But it's not all stone; there is also the story of Lucius Licinius Secundus. He was a freedman (a freed slave) who achieved exceptional prestige in the 2nd century AD. The epigraphic pedestal bears witness to his story. There are many more elements that bring us closer to the daily lives of our ancestors, such as a bottle with a message from the early 20th century that reads: "Watch the cap, there's money inside."