Archaeological remains continue to surface in the city of Barcelona. This time they were found during the renovation works of the Rambla and cover different historical periods, from the 15th to the 18th century. The vestiges found are at the bottom of the emblematic promenade on both sides, between the monument to Columbus and the Shipyards. “There is an archaeological control in the works and we already knew that historical remains would come out due to previous knowledge, previous excavations or old plans. There is a lot of archeology in this area”, Xavier Maese, archaeologist from the City Council’s Archeology Service, emphasized yesterday during a visit to the media to show the vestiges. Despite some foresight, there were some surprises. The most prominent corresponds to the base of an ornamental fountain from the 15th century with a floor of glazed tiles with floral motifs, elements located just below a pedestrian crossing on one side of the Rambla. Archaeologists believe that it belonged to the house of someone with an important purchasing power at that time, who could afford this type of decoration. These pieces have already been dismantled and moved to the warehouses of the Barcelona History Museum to restore them.
Since it is a work in which different trenches have been opened, the vestiges have appeared in different spaces. Thus, in front of the building of the Military Government of Barcelona, ??remains of the 16th century Drassanes bastion and of the old convent of Sant Francesc have emerged, such as the laundries, located in the courtyards that were affected by the construction of the ‘defensive structures.
On the other hand, a few meters from the Comandància Nadal de Barcelona, ??the pavement that was part of the old armory of the Drassanes barracks, erected in 1792 after the War of Succession to accommodate the soldiers, is preserved of the Bourbon army. And a little further on, on the side of Plaça Portal de la Pau, the entrance to this military building and what were apparently the kitchens have been discovered. The barracks began to be dismantled from 1935 and were large, because they extended to the current royal shipyards. “In a quarter of a century this space changed a lot. First with the construction of the semi-bastions, then the barracks and also with the beginning of the urbanization of the Rambla”, explained Carles Carbonell, director of the archaeological intervention, which began a few months ago. After documenting and protecting the remains with a cloth, the vestiges will soon be covered up so that the works can continue. Regarding the rhythm, the archaeologists point out that the archaeological intervention is included in the forecasts of the works and they do affect, but in this case not excessively in an action that is already long in itself. The long-awaited reform began in October with more than six years of delays since the final approval of the Rambla special plan in 2016. The remodeling is being undertaken in different sections in five phases, each lasting 18 months for do not lift the entire ride at once.
