History
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Enriqueta Martí Ripollés.
The Legend of Enriqueta Martí: The Vampire of the Raval
In 1912, the disappearance of a young girl uncovered the figure of Enriqueta Martí, a poor woman who overnight became a first-rate criminal monster who, according to the press, murdered countless children and concocted potions with their blood.
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The fingerprint is the oldest and most complete to date. Samuel Miralles-Mosquera Policía Científica.
Oldest Known Human Fingerprint Discovered on Ancient Neanderthal Artwork—With Help from Spain’s Forensic Police
The origin of humans’ symbolic behavior—and with it the emergence of art itself—is one of the most hotly debated questions in research on humankind’s cognitive evolution.
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Museu d’Història de Barcelona (MUHBA), Plaça del Rei. Photo by Antonio Lajusticia Bueno courtesy of Ajuntament de Barcelona (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
Barcelona's Historic Places: Built from the Grave
Tombstones from the former Jewish cemetery on MontjuÏc were used to build this 16th-century palace in the Gothic Quarter.
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Map of the Call de Barcelona. Photo by Pere López.
Answer “El Call”—Barcelona's Jewish Quarter
Small numbers of Jews may have arrived in Barcelona soon after 70 C.E. as part of the wave of migrants arriving in Europe fleeing Roman repression in Palestine. They settled in what became known as El Call.
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Photo courtesy of Ajutament de Barcelona.
Who Was Galla Placidia?
Galla Placidia is one of the relatively few women who left an indelible mark on the history of the world during the era that preceded the Middle Ages.
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Francesc Macià, image courtesy of the Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya (CC BY-NC-ND).
Francesc Macià: Grandfather of the Catalan People
Francesc Macià was one of the most beloved men in the history of Catalan politics, and was affectionately referred to as "l'Avi," (the grandfather) of Catalunya.
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Església de Sant Pere Nolasc. Photo by Vicente Zambrano González courtesy of Ajuntament de Barcelona (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
The Bells of Barcelona
While other forms of marking time’s passage are now more common, the ringing of bells still has something to tell us.
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The new fossil found in Atapuerca, Spain (left face fragment), with mirror reconstruction of the right side using imaging techniques. CENIEH/ Nature.
Western Europe’s Oldest Human Face Discovered in Spain
This discovery reveals the existence of a human species that, until now, had not been documented in Europe.
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Photo by Tara Shain
Early Signs
Usually found on the corners of buildings and placed at a height of over two meters, these plaques remind us of a time when traffic control was quite a hectic proposal.
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"The Rape of the Sabine Women," painted here by Francisco Pradilla y Ortiz, is an example of the practice of "raptio." Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Abducting Women: Early Modern Europe’s Solution to Marital Problems
When disputes arose over marriage in the medieval period, there was one very common solution: abducting the woman in question.
