It’s said that Barcelona’s origins date back to prehistoric times, during the New Stone Age (10,000 to 4,500 BC) and the Copper Age (3,500 to 2,300 BC). Remains from these two periods have been found along the coast of today’s city.
Local legend has it there was also a Jewish settlement on the top of Montjuïc mountain around 2,000 BC, which may explain how the mountain got its name. (Montjuïc translates literally to “Jewish mountain.”)
The Barkeno Settlement
Barcelona’s name dates back to the 3rd to 2nd centuries BC when the ancient Iberian people Laietani founded two settlements—one at mount Tàber in what is now the old city and another at Laiesken at the hills of Montjuïc mountain—and began referring to them as Barkeno.
The exact meaning of the name Barkeno can’t be determined. The Laietani are believed to have spoken Iberian, and almost all of the Iberian language has been lost, making confirmed translations difficult, if not impossible.
However, it is known from this period that the settlement of Barkeno was a flourishing trading post between the Iberians and the Carthaginians and that it minted its own coins.
Note from a local: Not everyone knows that Vía Layetana, the avenue that leads from Plaça Urquinaona to Plaça d’Antonio López and separates the old town from El Born and Sant Pere, is named after the Laietani people.
Hamilcar Barca and His Troops
Around 230 BC, the Barcelona area was probably occupied by troops led by the Carthaginian general and statesman Hamilcar Barca of the Barcid family. (Some historians dispute this claim since the borders of Punic territory at that time are believed to have been some 150 km / 93 mi away.)
Whether Hamilcar Barca and the name of the Barcid family have anything to do with the name Barcelona is the subject of heated debate. Since the name of the city and the ruling family are similar, some think it is likely. Others consider it a coincidence and point to the fact that the name Barcelona pre-dates the Carthaginians by at least a couple of centuries.
Until historians find new artifacts, the question of whether Carthaginian troops even had a settlement in Barcelona and whether the city’s name is connected to the name of Hamilcar Barca remains unanswered.
The Roman Town of Barcino
When the Roman Empire began expanding from 15 to 10 BC under the reign of Emperor Augustus, the Romans were looking for a location to establish a colony between the rich city of Empúries in the north and the port city of Tarragona in the south.
They chose mount Tàber and named their colony Julia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino, or simply Barcino. It’s likely that the name has roots in Barkeno, the name of the Iberian settlement the Romans conquered.
At first, the settlement of Barcino was founded to give land to retired Roman soldiers. Over time, though, the colony grew into a city. And in the 1st and 2nd centuries, a forum in the form of a cross was built inside the city and a wall was built around it, which remained until the Middle Ages.
The wall extended over the entire area of what is now the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona. In Roman literature of the time (written in Latin), the name of the settlement is mentioned as Barcino, Barcilonum, and Barcenona.
From Barchinona and Barshiluna to Barcelona
Between 414 AD and 711 AD, the city was called Barchinona by the Visigoths, the first Germanic people who crossed the Pyrenees to form the Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse, which today’s region of Catalunia was part of.
The Moors then conquered Barcelona from the Visigoths. They kept rule over the city for 80 years, from 711 AD to 801 AD, and they called it Barshiluna. It wasn’t until 801 AD that the Franks arrived and began to call the city Barcelona, the name we continue to use to this very day.