La Sagrera is a

neighborhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...

of Barcelona.

Geography

La Sagrera is bordered to the north by Sant Andreu del Palomar and to the east by the neighborhood of La Verneda; included by the south end is the zone named Navas, and to the west the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

area. The neighborhood of is integrated with the 9th district of the city of Barcelona, officially taking the name of (Saint Andrew), although it was instead part of . keeps closer links with than with other nearby neighborhoods.

History

This name La Sagrera dates to the 11th century when the farmers of Catalonia lived under the feudal system. The

Abbot Oliba Oliba (; 971–1046) was the count of Berga and Ripoll (988–1002), and later abbot of the monasteries of Santa Maria de Ripoll and Sant Miquel de Cuixà (1008–1046) and the bishop of Vic (1018–1046). He is considered one ...

, seeing the need to protect farmers, created a space of 30 acres around the churches in which people and goods would be secured from assault. In these spaces, the farmers built some small buildings called in

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #13 ...

, which they used to store their harvests. The first documented mention of is dated 998 and references a group of houses, some with fortified towers, around the of the parish church of . The population remained small for centuries, and by 1877 only some 48 houses could be found in the settlement's core. From the last third of the 19th century, the area became an industrial neighborhood, dominated by metallurgy and textile sectors. The name was retained only for the core zone of pre-existing housing. In 1877, a steam

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

way was built connecting the neighbourhood with . By 1885 the connection linked with Barcelona, strengthened by the 1901 electrification of the line. The industrialisation of the district saw the opening of the factory in 1911 (renamed

ENASA ENASA (Empresa Nacional de Autocamiones S.A.) was a Spanish motor vehicle manufacturing company that was incorporated in 1946 after having bought the automotive assets of the Spanish Hispano-Suiza and the Italian Fiat in Spain. It produced trucks ...

in 1946). This factory moved south to the by 1971. Currently, a group of apartment buildings, schools and a park named is there. In this (continuing) process, houses and workshops have been replaced by many blocks of apartments. The transformation of the neighbourhood continues, particularly with

Sagrera railway station Sagrera railway station (, ) is a major through station under construction in the Barcelona districts of Sant Andreu and Sant Martí, in Catalonia, Spain. It is intended to serve as the central station for northern and eastern Barcelona, wit ...

, currently under constriction, which will link up the

Barcelona Metro The Barcelona Metro (Catalan language, Catalan and Spanish language, Spanish: ) is a rapid transit network that runs mostly underground in central Barcelona and into the city's suburbs. It is part of the larger public transport system ...

with local, regional and high-speed rail, with urban buses and with

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

services. The neighbourhood of La Sagrera is well-supported by underground transport, with R3 and R4, plus Metro lines L1, L5, L9 and L10, (the last two under construction).

Popular culture

Since 2003, La Sagrera has had a "gegantera group". The so-called "gegants", which translates as "Giants", are a popular folk that amuse children throughout Catalonia. A gang of such giants is found in La Sagrera.

Entities

* Drac i Diables de la Sagrera * Colla Gegantera de la Sagrera * Esbart L'Estel de la Sagrera * Associació Esportiva Districte IX Sant Andreu * Centre de Documentació de la Sagrera * Esplai 'la Sagrera'

References

External links