The Born (la Ribera Quarter) Assignment

The Born (la Ribera Quarter)

Many streets in The Born area were dedicated to a specific craftsmanship. Carrer Dels Corders was skilled in making ropes. Carrer Dels Cotoners produced cotton. Carrer Dels Mirallers specialized in mirrors. It is where many of the stained glassed windows for the church were created. Carrer D’espaseria made swords and Carrer Dels Canvis Yells was like a little wall street because that was where the bankers dealt money.  Els Gremis were association of workers that specialized in creating a certain product. Each guild was located in a narrow street of The Born area. That street is where the workers of the guild would live and work in their la casa-taller. Today, the streets names still represent what each guild specialized in making.

It was very interesting to see how la casa-taller was set-up. At eye level, there is a big workshop window for customers to peer into. Next to this window was a small door that led to a very narrow staircase that led to the other floors. Above the workshop window, there were three windows in the vertical line that got smaller in size as they got higher up. On the first floor above the workshop, the owner lived. This floor was bigger with higher ceilings. The other floors were smaller and occupied by the workers. Also, all the furniture located on these floors were made by hand inside la casa-taller because it would have been impossible to get anything of great size up the narrow staircase.

The craftsman’s buildings were not very flashy buildings. The buildings were very simple and clean because they believed that there was no need to show your wealth outside of the building. It should be reserved for the inside. The only thing that was a sign of how much wealth a person has, was by a balcony. The more tiles a person had, the more money they possessed. Many of the buildings were covered in plaster to cover the stone. If there was no plaster then the stone had to be very smooth. Also, many of the buildings had rounded corners to allow chariots to navigate through the streets.

Santa María Del Mar is a church close to the sea and is very simple and clean on the outside. It is very similar to other buildings in the area. They believed the riches should be inside because that is where communication with God takes place. On the floor of the church, there are stamps of different families where they are buried. El Mercat del Born was the first wholesale market opened under a different name and paved the way for the market culture in Barcelona.  El Fossá de les Moreres is a plaza located by the Santa Maria Del Mar. The fallen soldiers of the Siege of Barcelona were buried here and the memorial plaza was built over it. This place is very significant in Catalan culture and the constant burning flame shows this. After the war of the Spanish Succession, Phillip V built La Ciutadella Park to maintain control over the people of Barcelona.  La Ciutadella was later torn down and rebuilt as a park.

Catalan society changed after the decrees of Nova Planta. All the ancient charters were changed so that everybody was to be ruled by the laws of Castile. All Spaniards were allowed to trade with American colonies because trade barriers did not exist.  Also, there was not a separation of two groups of Spaniards. Everybody was equal with respect to his or her rights.

El Consolat de Mar was the governing body of issues dealing with matters related to the sea. They created and enforced laws that had to do with trade across the sea and other commercial matters.