La Ribera

February 22nd, 2012

Today we went to go visit La Ribera quarter. In the la Ribera quarter is where El Gremis or the guilds were. All of the streets in this area are named after the people who worked there in the guilds. For instance, Mirallers is where the mirror makers worked and lived. The guilds were set up so that all of the people who made one item were on the same block so that people didn't have to travel all over the city to be able to compare prices. Also, if one of the workshops ran out of some item they needed to use, they could go next door and borrow it from the next work shop. In this area houses were called "la Casa-taller" which describes the structure of the house. In these houses the workshop is on the bottom floor and on the first floor is the owner of the building, his right hand official on the second, and the servants on the bottom floor. As the floors go up the windows get smaller and smaller.

One of the most interesting aspects of this area was the architecture. buildings were originally made out of stone but covered in plaster for aesthetic reasons. Also, the walls were cut out so that the horses and carriages could pass through. On the streets the signs for which direction the horses can go are still there. 

As well, on the streets of the guilds there are little stones with pictures that indicate what guild was on that block.

Also we saw Santa Maria Del Mar which was made by the guilds. If was where royal families were buried and originally sant Eulalla's remains were buried there.

the inside of the church was very beautiful. The floors had skulls and crossbones representing the royal families who were supposed to be buried there.

We also went to el mercat del born and el fossa de les morenes which is an area where people who fought for the city were buried and there is a memorial there now so that they can be remembered.

Towards the end of our trip we saw La Llotja which is the stock exchange.

Overall i thought that this trip was very educational and that it was interesting to learn about the guilds. If it werent pointed out to me, I would have never noticed the little signs around indicating which guilds were on each street. Also, I think that the structure of the casa-tellers is very interesting. I think it is interesting that if a person has a contract they will pay the same rent until they die.