Albeniz Catalonia

Barcelona's history is quite fascinating: The Romans conquered and named the port of Barcino in 133 BC. By the time Charlemagne liberated the city from Moorish invaders in 801, it was called Barcelona. Barcelona flourished in the 12th?14th centuries, when the superb medieval old town area, the Barri Gotic, was founded. (It remains the heart of the city today, packed with shops, restaurants and bars.) In 1474, Catalunya was united with the rest of Spain by the marriage of the 'Catholic Kings', Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. They welcomed the explorer Christopher Columbus back from his first voyage to the New World in Barcelona harbor in 1493.