Centre de Cultura i Memòria Born (CCM) - Born Cultural Centre
Spectacular exhibition space & archaeological ruins. Designed by Antoni Rovira i Trias as a food market for the wholesale of fruit & vegetables
About Born Cultural Centre
The Born Cultural Centre, Centre de Cultura i Memòria del Born, Designed by Antoni Rovira i Trias and inaugurated in 1876 to serve as Barcelona's wholesale food market. The Mercat del Born was Barcelona's first cast-iron framed covered market and at the time of construction, it was the largest wrought iron framed building in Barcelona and Europe. It was the city's central distribution food market right until 1971 when the new Mercabarna wholesale market opened in the Zona Franca port area of the city.
Mercat del Born Building History
- 1714: A substantial part of La Ribera district was levelled to obtain space to construct the fortress, leaving its inhabitants homeless. The land that is now occupied by the Born Market was flattened to provide cannon sightlines from the fortress into Barcelona city.
- 1848: General Espartero Demolishes the Citadel fortress.
- 1869:, A the political climate liberalised enough to permit it, General prim decided to turn over what was left of the fortress land.
- 1872: The Citadel Ruins and remains of the site was to be turned in to Parc Cuitadella.
- 1873-1876: Mercat del born by architect Antoni Rovira i Trias was built on the flattened Ribera district, burying the ruins of this neighbourhood in the foundations of the market.
- 1971-2002: The market closes and is replaced by Mercabarna in the Zona Franca port industrial area. The Born market falls into a state of disrepair.
- 2002: Work begins to transform the abandoned market building into provincial library. However, during excavations, extensive ruins of the medieval city La Ribera district were discovered. It was then decided to preserve the archaeological ruins and move the library project to another location.
- 2013: The plan that finally came to fruition was to expose the subterranean ruins for visitors while preserving space around the exterior of them for mixed use, cultural centre, in addition to having a museum about the War of Succession onsite. The official inauguration of the restored market was September 11 2013.
Image Gallery for Born Cultural Centre
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