While remains of ancient Neolithic peoples from over 4000 years ago have been found in Barcelona, the first viable signs of settlement date back to the 7th  century, B.C., when ancient tribes settled on the slopes of Montjuïc.
The City of Barcelona was founded in the 1st century B.C. by the Romans during their conquest of the Iberian peninsula. The city expanded and was fortified during the reign of the Roman Empire, when the provincial capital was Tarraco (nowadays Tarragona).
After the fall of the Roman Empire, Barcelona was conquered in 415 by Ataulfo, King of the Visigoths, and served as the capital of that kingdom until it was moved to Toledo. Three hundred years later, in 717, the city was conquered by al-Hurr’s Muslim army, though it was later captured by the Franks in 800 and Charlemagne built a surrounding wall to provide defense against the Muslims.
Charlemagne named various counts to govern these new lands, designating oversight of the Spanish March to the Count of Barcelona, subjected to serfdom under the Frank king.

In 985, the Muslims attacked Barcelona and the Frank king refused to aid the Count, definitively ending the serfdom. The Count of Barcelona then installed himself as the Iberian Duke and Marquis.
In 1137, the Count of Barcelona Ramon Berenguer IV married the daughter of the heirless king of Aragon. This union made Barcelona the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon, one of the most flourishing kingdoms of the 10th – 13th centuries, and one that would ultimately dominate Valencia, the Balearic Islands, Naples, Athens, Sicily, and Sardinia.
The Bubonic plague abruptly called the expansion of the Kingdom of Aragon to a halt, and increased piracy in the Mediterranean made it impossible to maintain the routes of commerce with the Catalonian fleet.
In the 15th century, the Kingdom of Aragon, heirless, was joined with the Kingdom of Castille through the marriage of the Catholic Kings. Despite this union, Barcelona remained the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon until 1714, as the lands of Castille and Aragon were still maintained as independent kingdoms.

It wasn’t until the arrival of the Bourbon Dynasty that the peninsula’s two kingdoms were united under the name Spain. King Philip V did away with all the laws and uses of the Kingdom of Aragon, moving to an absolutist state model like that of France.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, Barcelona became the motor of the Industrial Revolution in Spain, along with the Basque Country. Catalonian industry soared in the textile and metallurgy sectors, creating great fortunes that allowed the Catalonian bourgeoisie to defeat repeated workers’ riots and military uprisings against the government, and left their legacy in constructions like the Sagrada Familia and the Palau de la Música Catalana, which would ultimately turn Barcelona into the world capital of Art Noveau.

During the 20th century, Barcelona made an indispensible contribution to Spain’s history, proclaiming itself from the balcony of the Republic’s headquarters in 1934, suffering the shelling against the civilian population during the Spanish Civil War, from 1936-1939, and withstanding the Franco dictatorship. Fortunately, Barcelona is now a vibrant cosmopolitan city open to the world. It hasn’t forgotten its essence nor its origins, and it is ever-more pleased to receive visitors, and increasingly able to host grand events like the Olympic Games or the Cultural Forum. The city’s sophisticated transportation systems and prominent, dynamic setting have made it the capital of the Mediterranean and a major point of reference for all of Europe.