Timeline

• Year 20
  The Roman colony of Barcino - the origin of present-day Barcelona - is founded on a hill near the sea located between two "rieras": to the right, the one called Jonqueres in the Middle Ages; to the left, Collserola.

• Year 300
  The Roman walls are fortified and partially rebuilt.

• Year 895
  The legendary martyr Eulalia is venerated in the cathedral as the patroness of the city, which has around a thousand inhabitants.

• Year 985
  Barcelona is devastated by a Muslim raid.

• Year 1210
  During the reign of Pere I the Catholic, the city reaches around fifteen thousand inhabitants.

• Year 1287
  The construction of a second wall circuit begins.

• Year 1347
  In the time of Pere III the Ceremonious, the Black Death devastates Barcelona and affects the rest of the Principality.

• Year 1364
  The course of the Riera de la Rambla is used as a sewer to the Atarazanas.

• Year 1377
  The construction of a third walled enclosure begins.

• Year 1440
  The course of the Riera de la Rambla is slightly diverted, gradually turning into a promenade, and the place where the pig fair is held for Saint Thomas during Christmas, and the sale of grapes in the autumn.

• Year 1470
  Barcelona is the center of armed struggle of the Generalitat against King Joan II, of the Castilian Trastámara dynasty. Civil war.

• Year 1536
  During the reign of Emperor Charles I, from the House of Austria, the first stone of the General Studies (embryo of the University) is laid between Santa Ana and Talleres. The current Canaletas fountain collects water in the same place where the Studies fountain was.

• Year 1553
  The Jesuits build the Belén convent on the Rambla.

• Year 1586
  The barefoot Carmelites - called "los josepets" for spreading devotion to Saint Joseph - found the San José convent on the site now occupied by the San José or Boquería Market.

• Year 1593
  The Cordelles teaching college is founded next to the Jesuits' Belén College. It was sold and demolished during the Napoleonic occupation.

• Year 1616 (or 1626?)
  The Capuchins settle in Santa Madrona, the lower part of present-day Rambla.

• Year 1637
  The Council of One Hundred appoints La Mercè as the patroness of Barcelona.

• Year 1640
  Start of the Reapers' War or Separation War.

• Year 1641
  An agreement is signed between Barcelona and Paris by which the Principality of Catalonia separates from the Hispanic monarchy and submits to the obedience of France.

• Year 1652
  End of the Separation War. Catalonia returns to the obedience of the Spanish monarchy, governed by Philip IV.

• Year 1681
  Construction of the new Belén church.

• Year 1703
  The first trees - elms, poplars, and poplars - are planted along the Rambla.

• Year 1714
  Barcelona is occupied by the Bourbon troops of Philip V. The old Constitutions of Catalonia are abolished and replaced by the laws of Castile.

• Year 1720
  The University of Barcelona is closed and turned into an artillery barracks.

• Year 1756
  The Royal Barcelona Trading Company is established, with Fernando VI of the House of Bourbon reigning.

• Year 1767
  Expulsion of the Jesuits by order of King Charles III.

• Year 1774
  Construction begins on the Moja Palace, on the corner of Portaferrissa.

• Year 1775
  Construction of the Marc Palace begins.

• Year 1776
  Manuel d'Amat, Viceroy of Peru, commissions the construction of a palace on the Rambla. The residence will be known as "La Virreina," a popular name for the woman María F. de Fiveller.

• Year 1777
  The section of the wall from Portaferrissa to the Boquería plain, along with the cannon foundry attached there, is demolished.

• Year 1778
  The Rambla becomes the city's main promenade.

• Year 1781
  The rental service of chairs on the Rambla is inaugurated.

• Year 1812
  Catalonia is annexed to Napoleon's French Empire.

• Year 1814
  The French troops withdraw. Catalonia is again under the dominion of the Spanish monarchy.

• Year 1815
  King Ferdinand VII decrees the reestablishment of the Society of Jesus.

• Year 1833
  The population reaches around 122,000 inhabitants.

• Year 1835
  Reign of Isabel II. Popular agitation. Convent burnings.

• Year 1836
  The construction of the Boquería Market is completed.

• Year 1842
  Gas street lighting replaces oil street lighting. The University reopens. The Grand Fonda de Oriente, later known as the Hotel Oriente, is constructed on the site created by the collapse of the old San Buenaventura convent.

• Year 1843
  The old building of the General Studies is completely demolished.

• Year 1844
  The Liceo Theater is built on the former site of the Trinitarians' convent on the Rambla. The Bank of Barcelona is inaugurated in a building near the Marc Palace.

• Year 1848
  The Royal Plaza is built on the former location of the Capuchins' convent.

• Year 1853
  Stalls for the sale of flowers on the Rambla are officially established.

• Year 1854
  The remaining walls are beginning to be demolished.

• Year 1860
  All the old trees on the Rambla are replaced by plane trees coming from the dehesa de Girona.

• Year 1861
  Liceo fire.

• Year 1862
  A flood inundates the Rambla. Liceo reopens.

• Year 1872
  The city's first tram links the port area with the town of Gracia.

• Year 1884
  The Rambla is illuminated using electricity during the reign of Alfonso XII.

• Year 1886
  The monument to Christopher Columbus is erected at the end of the Rambla in recognition of Catalonia's contribution to the discovery of America. It is the tallest monument in the world dedicated to the navigator.

• Year 1888
  Universal Exposition of Barcelona. Alfonso XIII reigns in Madrid.

• Year 1893
  Bomb attack at the Liceo: 20 dead.

• Year 1900
  The urban development increases contrary to the urban planning regulations set by Ildefonso Cerdá. The city reaches 533,000 inhabitants.

• Year 1909
  Tragic Week.

• Year 1912
  The public and domestic lighting is starting to be generalized.

• Year 1920
  The Bank of Barcelona suspends payments. The population reaches 710,000 inhabitants.

• Year 1924
  The first metro line is inaugurated.

• Year 1929
  International Exhibition of Barcelona.

• Year 1931
  The Republic is declared. Alfonso XIII leaves Spain.

• Year 1932
  A fire destroys the "El Siglo" warehouses, located on part of the former Cordelles College site. With the Republic, Barcelona regains its status as the capital of the Principality of Catalonia, lost in 1714.

• Year 1936
  Start of the Spanish Civil War. The Belén church on the Rambla is set on fire by the "uncontrolled" anarchists.

• Year 1938
  The bombardment of Barcelona by Franco's airforce causes, among many other misfortunes, the fire and collapse of the central nave's vault of the Belén church.

• Year 1939
  End of the Civil War. The military dictatorship of General Franco is imposed. Barcelona again loses its status as the capital of the Principality.

• Year 1952
  International Eucharistic Congress.

• Year 1957
  Josep M. de Porcioles is appointed mayor.

• Year 1960
  Establishment of the ASSOCIATION OF FRIENDS, NEIGHBORS, AND TRADERS OF THE RAMBLA OF BARCELONA.

• Year 1962
  The first television station is installed on the Tibidabo mountain.

• Year 1971
  Joan Miró donates a spectacular mosaic to Barcelona, which will be later installed on the Pla de l'Os pavement.

• Year 1975
  General Franco dies.

• Year 1979
  Establishment of the first democratic regime city council.

• Year 1980
  The Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia is enacted.

• Year 1982
  Pasqual Maragall is appointed mayor.

• Year 1992
  XXV Olympic Games of the Modern Era. The population is around 1,700,000 inhabitants.

• Year 1994
  The Liceo is set on fire.

• Year 1998
  Barcelona consolidates its position as one of the preferred destinations for global tourism.

• Year 1999
  The new Liceo is inaugurated.

• Year 2000
  Commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the creation of L'associació d'Amics, Veïns i Comerciants la Rambla de Barcelona.