Terrassa

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Terrassa
Flag Coat of Arms
Location
Coordinates : 41°33′40 N°2′0 Time Zone : CET (GMT +1) - summer: CEST (GMT +2)
General information
Native name	Terrassa (Catalan)
Spanish name	Terrassa
Postal code	08221-08229
Area code	34 (Spain) + 93 (Barcelona)
Website	http://www.terrassa.cat/
Administration
Country	Spain
Autonomous Community	Catalonia
Province	Barcelona
Comarca	Vallès Occidental
Administrative Divisions	6
Neighborhoods	38
Mayor	Pere Navarro (PSC)
Geography
Land Area	74.65 km²
Altitude	286 m AMSL
Population
Population	201,442 (2006)
- rank in Spain:	25
Density	2,698 hab./km² (2006)

Terrassa is a Catalan city, the fourth according to the number of the inhabitants, located in the plain of Vallès Occidental of which it is the co-capital and the largest city. Its area of influence reaches more than one quarter of million people.

The Masia Freixa of Terrassa, see of parabolic archs

[edit] Situation

The city is located at the Catalan Prelitoral depression (Depressió Prelitoral), to the feet of the Prelitoral mountain range (Natural reserve of Sant Llorenç del Munt), the average altitude of the city is 277 meters over sea level. It is 28 and 20 kilometres from Barcelona and Montserrat respectively.

Castle of Vallparadís

[edit] History

The found vestiges indicate that the zone where Terrassa is placed was inhabited since prehistory. The year 2005, during the building work of a tunnel for one of the railway lines of the city, was found in the Park of Vallparadís a prehistoric site with stone tools and fossils of hunted animals of an antiquity among 800.000 and 1.000.000 years, which implies this is one of the oldest prehistoric sites in Europe. Terrassa has the origin in the old Roman municipality of Ègara (Municipium Flavium Egara) founded during the time of the emperor Vespasian (69-79 bc) placed alongside the torrent of Vallparadís (nowadays an urban park) close to old iberian town of Egosa, from where was found some ceramic and coins.

Towards the half of the 5th century, in 450, the episcopal see of Ègara already was there, where was celebrated into 615 a Provincial Council, and there remained until VIIIth century,718, when occurred the Muslim conquest. At this placement there is today the monumental ensemble of the Visigothic-Romanesque churches of Sant Pere de Terrassa. Other important vestiges of the Middle Ages are the castle of Vallparadis (from the 1344 to the 1413 a Carthusian monks monastery and today a Municipal Museum) and the tower of Palau (of the Castle-Palace of the Count-king).

In the XIXth century the city played an important role in the development of the industrial revolution with a special devotion to wool fabrics, today there is an important art nouveau legacy fruit of the importance that the city obtained. Buildings style art nouveau like Masia Freixa (1907), the vapor Aymerich Amat i Jover (1907), current Museum of the Science and the Technique of Catalonia, the Principal theater (1920), the Town hall (1902), the house-museum Alegre de Sagrera (1911), the Industrial School (1904), the Gran Casino (1920), the Parc de Desinfecció (1920), or the Independència market (1908) to only quote some of the most excelled. Terrassa is a partner city of the Art nouveau network [1] a European network of co-operation created in 1999 for the study, safeguards and development of the Art nouveau.

[edit] Demographics

* Estimated

Saint Mary old Cathedral

[edit] The monumental ensemble of the churches of Sant Pere (Saint Peter)

The three churches were built close to the placement of old Ègara as see of Ègara Diocese, created about the year 450 and which remained until VIIIth century. The episcopal ensemble follows the Byzantine model of antiquity, with two churches (Sant Pere and Santa Maria) and a baptistery (Sant Miquel). After a long constructive process, the churches are finished in the current manner about the XIth and XIIth centuries and in Romanesque style, are built on old pre-romanesque buildings of the Visigothic time. The walls of Santa Maria keep outstanding artistic pieces, like a museum, there are murals which go from the Romanesque style to the Gothic. There is also an altar stone of Xth century and medieval and romanesque sepulchral stones (in one of them there is written documentation of the name of the Roman town of Egara). In the transept there are three Gothic altarpieces of great value.

Saint Michael

• Santa Maria (Saint Mary) the old Cathedral
  • Horseshoe shaped apse from VI century
  • Nave from XI century with exterior lombardic decorations
  • Romanesque frescoes of Saint Thomas Becket from XII century
  • Frescoes from XIII century

• Sant Pere (Saint Peter)
  • Transept and apse from IX & X centuries
  • Nave from XII century
  • Mosaic from X century (geometric designs)
  • Stone altarpiece of Sant Pere from X century
  • Gothic frescoes from XIII century

Altarpiece of Sant Abdó i Sant Senen

• Sant Miquel (Saint Michael)
  • Shape in greek cross and walls are the originals from VI century
  • Frescoes from VI and VIII centuries in the apse

• Other outstanding elements
  • Altarpiece of Sant Pere (1411) by Lluís Borrassà
  • Altarpiece of Roser (1587)
  • Altarpiece of Sant Ruf (XVII century)
  • Altarpiece of Sant Miquel (1450-51) by Jaume Cirera & Guillem Talarn
  • Gothic altarpiece of Sant Abdò i Sant Senèn (1460) by Jaume Huguet
  • Polichromed sculpture of saint Mary from XIV century

[edit] Culture

The city, heiress of a rich medieval, art nouveau and industrial inheritance, takes into account a wide network of libraries, Historical Archives and museums.

[edit] Museums

• the museum of Terrassa, municipal owned, has various sections:
  • Castle Cartoixa de Vallparadís, in the Park of Vallparadís
  • Visigothic-Romanesque churches of Sant Pere (Saint Peter)
  • Casa Alegre de Sagrera, house style art nouveau in the Font Vella street
  • Tower of Palau, the only vestige of the castle-palace of the count-kings of Catalonia in Terrassa
  • Center of medieval interpretation of the city of Terrassa
  • Convent of Sant Francesc, cloister decorated with polichromed ceramics (1671 - 1673)
• Museum of the Science and the Technique of Catalonia, installed in the old vapor Aymerich Amat i Jover, managed by the Generalitat de Catalunya

The Town hall

• the Documentation centre and Textile Museum of the Barcelona Diputation
• the Parochial Museum of Sant Esperit, in the cathedral.

[edit] Municipal Government

The Municipal Council has 27 seats and according to the result of the local elections of 2003 is formed by:

• PSC 13 seats (34.298 votes, 43,59%)
• CiU 5 seats (14.084 votes, 17,90%)
• ICV 3 seats (10.091 votes, 12,82%)
• PP 3 seats (9.713 votes, 12,34%)
• ERC 3 seats (8.517 votes, 10,82%)

The municipal government is formed by a coalition between PSC, ICV and ERC. The Mayor is Pere Navarro (PSC).

[edit] Communications

Motorways

Terrassa is well communicated with Barcelona and its port and airport by motorway, C-58 and C-16 also links the city with the interior (Manresa), the north (Girona and France) or the south (Tarragona).

The railway arrived to Terrassa in 1856, nowadays two lines arrive to the city. The first one, operated by RENFE, connect with Barcelona and Lleida, and the second one, operated by FGC, with Barcelona. FGC is expanding its line to the north of the city building three new stations, one of them will act as a rail hub with RENFE line.

Diverse lines of interurban buses connect Terrassa with the closest cities and towns like Sabadell, Castellar del Vallès, Martorell, Rubí, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Vacarisses, etc.

The transport inside the city is served by 14 bus lines operated by a municipal company (TMESA). In the future, when the three FGC new stations and the two planned in RENFE line will be in use, railway will become a urban transport.

[edit] Sports

Terrassa was a pioneer in the introduction of the field hockey and the korfball in Catalonia, and played an important role in the case of the basketball. The most important sport in the city is the field hockey. During the Olympic Games of Barcelona in 1992, Terrassa was the city where the field hockey competition was played. The great number of hockey players from Terrassa which took part in the various editions of the Olympic Games cause that the city would be known like the “most Olympic city of the world”, between 1928 and the 2004 the city sent 124 people to the Olympic Games and the majority of them were hockey players. Currently there are the following clubs playing the main Spanish league championship:

• Atlètic Terrassa Hockey Club (also the female team)
• Club Egara
• Club Deportiu Terrassa (also the female team)

Atlètic Terrassa and the Club Egara are winners of the EuroHockey Club Champions Cup.

Other sports where there is excelled participation are the water polo, with the Club Natació Terrassa (plays the LEN Trophy 2006); the football, with Terrassa Futbol Club or basketball, with Sferic Terrassa.

Romanesque monastery at the top of la Mola (1107 m) the higher point of the natural reserve of Sant Llorenç del Munt i Serra de l'Obac

[edit] Twinning

Terrassa is twinned with:

[edit] See also

• List of municipalities in Barcelona

[edit] External links

• Terrassa City Council
• Chamber of commerce
• University
• Tourism
• "Castells" human towers
• Terrassa blogs directory

edit	Municipalities of Vallès Occidental
Barberà del Vallès | Castellar del Vallès | Castellbisbal | Cerdanyola del Vallès | Gallifa | Matadepera | Montcada i Reixac | Palau de Plegamans | Polinyà | Rellinars | Ripollet | Rubí | Sabadell | Sant Cugat del Vallès | Sant Llorenç Savall | Sant Quirze del Vallès | Santa Perpètua de Mogoda | Sentmenat | Terrassa | Ullastrell | Vacarisses | Viladecavalls del Vallès

Coordinates: 41°34′N 2°00′E