El Born

El Born

A unique site

To contemplate the site of the Old Born Market is to gain insight into the daily life of Barcelona at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th century, and to walk the streets of the city that resisted the siege of the troops of Philip V until the capitulation of September 11, 1714.

This is a unique and exceptional archaeological site: due to its size, its state of conservation, the historical sequence it presents and because historical documentation has allowed us to name the families who lived there.

From the archaeological remains excavated around and inside the old Born market, we can trace the history of Barcelona from Roman times to the beginning of the 18th century, when life in this part of the city was suddenly interrupted by the outcome of the War of Succession.

• The streets

Inside the Born site we have a part of the 42 streets destroyed by the construction of the Ciutadella and its security esplanade, specifically sections of up to nine different roads are documented.

• The houses and workshops

The remains of about sixty houses can be seen distributed on 11 different islands. Some of these islands are only partially found, since they extended beyond the limits of the old market.

• The sectors of the site

There are three very different parts that perfectly represent the complexity of the urban and social fabric of the Ribera neighbourhood from the 13th to the 18th century.

• El Rec Comtal

El Rec Comtal is one of the key pieces of the site, as it marks the urban planning of the western half and is vital for the development of the artisanal activities documented in this part of the the Ribera neighbourhood.

The Born market

Opened in 1876, the old Born market was the first large iron-clad building to be designed in Barcelona. The 95 years it served the purpose for which it was built are divided into two major stages: the initial stage, when it was the market for the Ribera district, and the second, from 1921, as the central fruit and vegetable market.

However, this is not the whole story of a building that would not have been built without the prior recovery, for public use, of the land of the Ciutadella military fortress and its surroundings, and which before reopening as a cultural facility has experienced three decades of long debate about its fate.

From this section and from the page we dedicated to it during the exhibition “El Born, memories of a market”, you can learn about and relive the most relevant aspects of the history of the old Born market, today listed as a “Cultural Asset of Local Interest”, and which marked the beginning of the iron markets in Barcelona.

El Born, more than a market

This exhibition presents a synthesis of the history of the Born market and the Ciutadella park, two urban elements closely related by their genesis that, once the old 18th century fortification was demolished, marked a new centrality for the city of Barcelona. In this way, the visitor can learn in depth about Fontserè's project for the Ciutadella, a social space of nature, progress and science, inspired by European trends.

This space also allows you to learn about the history of the Born market itself, inaugurated in 1876 as a retail market and later converted in 1921 into a wholesale fruit and vegetable market until its definitive closure in 1971.

The exhibition is made up of texts, images and audiovisuals, and can be visited freely in the lobby of Ciutadella d'El Born.