Life and glory of the Montjuic mountain by Daniel Vázquez Sallés
Although the mountain is mentioned in Pomponius Mela's work 'Chorographia Liber secundus' as Mons Iovis, the name Montjuic has its etymological origin in Montjuich, which is how the mountain of the Jews was referred to in medieval Catalan. Legend has it that there was a Jewish settlement at the summit of the hill. And to corroborate the legend, not far from where the settlement was said to be located, on the northern slope, a Jewish necropolis was found in 1948.
Whether the legend is true or not, due to its exceptional location, Montjuic has served as a site for various populations from the Bronze Age to the birth of the city of Barcino, founded by the Romans between 15 and 13 BC in the area that stretched between the deltas of the Besós and Llobregat rivers. Historically, the strategic position of the mountain has not only served to protect the city from external attacks but also to control it in case of revolts, as demonstrated by the military feats carried out by the troops of the Montjuic Castle, a fortress built with cannons pointing directly at the heart of Barcelona.
Before becoming one of the green lungs of the great metropolis, Montjuic was home to a watchtower and various Romanesque hermitages, such as those of Sant Julià, Sant Ferriol, or Sant Fruitós, of which only documentary evidence remains, or that of Santa Madrona, destroyed in 1714, following the entry of Philip V's troops into the city at the end of the War of the Spanish Succession.
From the Montjuic mountain, the sandstone was extracted, a native treasure with which the main buildings of the city were constructed until the modern era. The Roman wall, the Roman temple, the first Christian church, and the Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals all used this stone transported from the quarries of Roman origin, which have disappeared with the operations that have shaped the mountain's current appearance. The discovery of the Cayo Celio tombstone during the construction of the new accesses to the Olympic Ring in 1989 led to the assumption that there had been one of the workshops where the sandstone blocks were carved.
Barcelona's relationship with the Montjuic quarry is vividly depicted in the book by Ildefonso Falcones, La catedral del Mar, a novel that narrates the daily life of Barcelona during the 14th century through the eyes of its protagonist, Arnau Estanyol. Falcones' story has as its central link the construction of the Church of Santa María del Mar by the parishioners of the port area and the Ribera neighborhood. These ancient citizens funded the building's construction with their money and, in their leisure time, by bringing the stone blocks with which they erected the holy building.
The disadvantage of a park like Montjuic compared to other emblematic parks such as El Retiro, is its somewhat peripheral location. Often, Montjuic is too far for everyday enjoyment, but for both locals and visitors, the 'mountain of the Jews' is worth enjoying leisurely and, of course, without interruptions.
There are two fundamental events for the contemporary history of Montjuic. One was the Universal Exposition of 1929, an event that marked the aesthetics of the park with the buildings that were constructed for its greater glory. The other was the Olympic Games of 1992. If once in Montjuic, many years ago, there was an amusement park that could not withstand the test of time, the celebration of the Olympics changed the ethics of a mountain that was transformed into a large theme park by the eclectic magnitude of its offerings.
One can ascend the mountain by various means of transportation, but those who wish to climb from the port while enjoying a journey through the heights have a cable car that ends in front of the building where the old Miramar television studios were once located, now transformed into a hotel.
The visit can begin at the rejuvenated Montjuic Castle. If a spirit hunter were to place a microphone in order to listen to psychophonies, they would be in for a treat. Montjuic Castle was a military fortress until the end of the 19th century. And in the 20th century, it was used as a prison, and its walls served as execution firing squads for political dissidents like the case of President of the Generalitat Lluís Companys. After the closure of its Military Museum in 2009, the Castle was dedicated to tourism and some of its rooms were used to spark the imagination of scholarship writers. Times change, although it may not seem like it.
For those who want to enjoy its museum offerings, Montjuic consists of four of the most important museums in Barcelona.
The Miró Foundation is located in a magnificent building designed by the architect Josep Lluís Sert, a disciple of Le Corbusier and dean of the Harvard University School of Design. The choice of Sert was made by Miró himself, who wanted to invest his funds in a building worthy of the pictorial legacy bestowed upon the city.
The Archaeology Museum is also noteworthy, offering a fantastic journey through the history of Catalonia from prehistoric times to the medieval period, including the Greek and Phoenician colonization.
But if there are two major museum centers, they are the CaixaForum and the National Museum of Catalonia.
The first is located in the former Casaramona textile factory, a modernist building designed by the architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch. During its remodeling, it had the collaboration of great architects such as the Japanese Arata Isozaki. Besides serving as a cultural, social, and educational center, the space has five exhibition rooms that host traveling displays of ancient, modern, and contemporary art from an avant-garde perspective.
The second is undoubtedly the most important collection of Romanesque art in the world. The 25,000 pieces that complete the exhibition, among which stand out works by masters such as Jaume Huguet, Lluís Dalmau, Bernat Martorell, and Lluís Borrassà, are housed within the walls of a monumental palace built for the Universal Exhibition of 1929. In the classical style, it was planned to be demolished as soon as the exhibition ended, but fortunately, or due to the twists of speculation, it is now a fundamental part of the urban profile of the city.
In front of the National Museum is the Montjuic Fountain. It is called magical because, over the years, it has become one of the favorite summer attractions for the citizens along with the Grec, an outdoor festival held in a theater built in 1929 modeled after the Greek coliseums. The Magic Fountain of Montjuic, the crown jewel of an esplanade that ends at the Plaza de España, showcases various summer performances of music, light, and colors to the delight of mortals who love to spend their nights under the summer skies.
Heading towards the Olympic Ring, it is advisable to visit the Spanish Village, another legacy of the 1929 exhibition that allows a tour through the different architectural styles of Spain. In just a few hours, one can go from visiting an Andalusian neighborhood to walking through a representation of the Camino de Santiago, making a brief stop at a Riojan tavern to have a small tapa.
Olympism enthusiasts will enjoy the Olympic ring. The Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium, the Palau Sant Jordi by Isozaki, the Calatrava Tower, the Juan Antonio Samaranch Sports Museum, the four pillars of Barcelona's Olympism allow us to travel to what are considered, to date, the best Olympic Games in history for their brilliance and an unprecedented level of community collaboration. If rockers never die, it is the rockers who keep these sports venues alive, which without music would see the grass grow due to a lack of strictly sports stimuli.
This chronicle dedicated to Montjuic would be incomplete without writing a few lines about the Botanical Garden and the Montjuic Cemetery
The Botanical Garden is a tribute to Mediterranean flora, with -1300 plant species spread over 14 hectares-, featuring changing hues and scents with the seasons. This beautiful garden can be seen from the Montjuic Cemetery. Opened in 1883 by Mayor Rius i Taulet due to the inability of Barcelona's old cemeteries to accommodate new burials, the cemetery occupies almost the entire southern slope of the mountain and has a large number of graves and mausoleums of great artistic value that span various architectural styles. To understand the idiosyncrasies of a city, one must know its markets and, without wishing to be morbid, also its cemeteries. Those who visit the Montjuic Cemetery will have the chance to see the mausoleums of the more or less illustrious men without whom Barcelona would not be the city adored by the thousands of tourists who visit it.
