Roman ruins

January 25, 2012

Museo d'Historia de la ciutat

Today we went to the Barcelona city museum which is located in the Barrio Gotico. As our walk began we saw the original roman walls that still remain and then made our way to the columns in the temple of Augustus that remain.

It was very interesting to see the columns and the areas of the roman ruins. The museum, which was found in 1931 and later turned into a museum, had a lot to offer and revealed a lot about Barcelona's past. In the museum we watched  video which showed how the city of Barcelona expanded and explained the history of "Barcino" which went through a series of name changes throughout the years based on the increase in knowledge of the city. The original city sign is below.

When walking through the ruins there was a lot to see. There were models build of the houses which had roofs that were tilted inwards so that the rain water would come in and land in the bath which was in the center of the living area. All romans cities had a public bath. They had tricliniums which is something in between a couch and a table for eating. If you were to eat at someone's table it meant that they could trust you because you were risking getting poisoned. 

There was a lot to see while in the Roman ruins. For instance, there where holes dug into the ground which were used for keeping fish, wine and dying clothes. 

As well, we saw many weapons that the Romans used as well as herbs that they would use to preserve artifacts, dye their clothes, preserve the fish etc.

Also, on display was what women used to use as perfume and makeup which as a girl I thought was very interesting.

 Overall, I thought that this trip was very educational and interesting.