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Terrassa

Municipality in Catalonia, Spain

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Terrassa
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The name Terrassa derives from Latin Terracia, either from earlier Terracium castellum (“earthen castle”), or meaning "terrace", "area of flat land". Historically, the name of the city has been spelled Terraça, Terraza, Terraca and Tarrassa in the native Catalan language whilst it was traditionally spelled Tarrasa in Spanish. The Spanish spelling is now largely out of use given its ties with the Francoist Regime and the sole official spelling has been the Catalan Terrassa since 1978.

Terrassa is known for its industrial past and present, its lively cultural scene, its industrial modernist architecture, its status as a "City of Film" and as the seat of several universities such as UPC, ESCAC, Institut del Teatre and EUIT. It was also awarded in 2024 the Council of Europe's "The Europe Prize" for cities with an outstanding commitment to European values.

It is the site of Roman Egara, a former Visigothic bishopric, which became a Latin Catholic titular see. Since 2004, it has been the see of a bishopric.

The city is located in the Catalan Prelitoral depression (Depressió Prelitoral), at the feet of the Prelitoral mountain range (natural reserve of Sant Llorenç del Munt) and the average altitude of the city is 277 meters above sea level. It is 20 and 18 kilometres from Barcelona and Montserrat respectively. Terrassa's location as the most-inland city in the Barcelona Metropolitan Region means it is sometimes referred to as the "entrance to Central Catalonia".

As of 2024, Terrassa is the third largest city in Catalonia, after Barcelona and l'Hospitalet de Llobregat. Terrassa is also the largest municipality in what is considered the second most important urban, economic and cultural center of Catalonia, the Vallès region.

History

Prehistory

The remains that have been found indicate that the area where Terrassa stands has been inhabited since prehistory. In 2005, during the construction of a tunnel for one of the city's railway lines, a prehistoric site was found in Vallparadís Park, with stone tools and fossils of hunted animals dating back 800,000 to 1,000,000 years, making this one of the oldest prehistoric sites in Europe.

Ancient Egara

Terrassa originated as the Roman town of Egara (Municipium Flavium Egara), which was founded during the time of the emperor Vespasian (69–79 CE), alongside the torrent of Vallparadís (nowadays an urban park) close to the Iberian town of Egosa, on the site of which some ceramics and coins have been found.

Modern Terrasa

In the 17th century it was the site of the Terrassa witch trials, where 6 women were arrested, tortured and convicted of witchcraft. Five of them were hanged on 27 October 1619 near a present-day railway bridge.

Other important remains from the Middle Ages are the former cathedral, the castle of Vallparadís (from 1344 to 1413 a Carthusian monastery and today a municipal museum) and the tower of the castle-palace of the count-king.

In the 19th century the city played an important role in the industrial revolution, specializing in woollen fabrics, and today there is a major Modernista legacy as a result of the city's importance at that time. Particularly notable Modernista buildings include the Masia Freixa (1907), the Vapor Aymerich, Amat i Jover textile mill (1907) (now the Museum of Science and Industry of Catalonia), the Principal theater (1920), the city hall (1902), the Alegre de Sagrera house/museum (1911), the Industrial School (1904), the Gran Casino (1920), the Parc de Desinfecció (1920), and the Independència market (1908).

Terrassa is a partner city of the Art nouveau network, a European network of co-operation created in 1999 for the study, preservation and development of Art Nouveau.

Terrassa is a famous movie production center in Europe and was named a City of Film by UNESCO. The city is home to the largest film studios in Catalonia and the Iberian Peninsula, the Parc Audiovisual de Catalunya, where numerous movies and TV Shows such as REC, A Monster Calls and Operación Triunfo have been filmed.

Catastrophes

On 25 September 1962, after a long dry summer, between 212 and 252 litres of rain per square metre fell in three hours. It caused the rivers Llobregat and Besòs and their tributaries to overflow, creating a water avenue that caused 700 victims and heavy material losses.

The Vallès Occidental comarca was the most damaged. In particularly Terrassa, with 327 victims. The reason of these numbers was that building was permitted around two dry streams used to bring rain water to the Llobregat river. They met in a wedge shape and were not properly channelized. When the streams overflowed it created what was called "the dead triangle", with more than a hundred victims in the Ègara neighbourhood alone.

Ecclesiastical history

The episcopal see of Ègara already existed by about 450 CE, when it was established on territory split off from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Barcelona, under the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Tarragona. Pope Hilarius confirmed its autonomy by denying a request around 469 to unite it with the Barcelona under its own first bishop, Ireneus.

It comprised parts of these Comarques of Catalonia (Catalan districts) : Alt Penedès, Anoia, Baix Llobregat, Vallès Occidental and Vallès Oriental. A Provincial Council of Tarragona was held there in 615.

It effectively succumbed to the Arab (Muslim) conquest in the 8th century and was probably suppressed, its territory being (rather nominally) returned to the Diocese of Barcelona. The Marian cathedral continued to exist until 718, when it was taken over during the Umayyad conquest of Hispania, but was rebuilt in the 12th century, and remains part of a monumental complex of ancient Visigothic-Romanesque churches of Sant Pere de Terrassa and Sant Miquel on the site.

After the Catholic Reconquista of the region in the tenth century, the see was not restored, its territory being incorporated in the (mother) diocese of Barcelona. Why a request to restore the bishopric by its Metropolitan of Tarragona, Cesareo, wasn't honored by Pope John XII (955–964) is unclear.

In 2004, Pope John Paul II created the new Diocese of Terrassa on territory taken from the Archdiocese of Barcelona. Its seat is the Cathedral of Holy Spirit.

Diocese of Egara

Suffragan Bishops of Egara
  • Ireneo (450? – death 465)
  • Saint Nebridio (516? – 527?), who was possibly transferred to Barcelona, which had a homonym incumbent in 540.
  • Tauro (546? – ?)
  • Sofronio (589? – 592?)
  • Ilergio (594? – 610?)
  • Eugenio (633? – ?)
  • Vincenzo (653? – ?)
  • Giovanni (683? – 693?)
Titular see of Egara

In 1969 Pope Paul VI created the titular see of Egara.

The title has been held by:

  • Justo Goizueta Gridilla, O.A.R. (14 January 1970 – retired 15 February 1978), as Bishop-Prelate of Territorial Prelature of Madera (Mexico) (1970.01.14 – 1988.02.02), previously Apostolic Administrator of same Madera (1967 – 14 January 1970); died 1991
  • Juan Francisco Sarasti Jaramillo, C.I.M. (8 March 1978 – 23 December 1983) as Auxiliary Bishop of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cali (Colombia) (8 March 1978 – 23 December 1983); later Bishop of Barrancabermeja (Colombia) (23 December 1983 – 25 March 1993), Metropolitan Archbishop of Ibagué (Colombia) (25 March 1993 – 17 August 2002), Metropolitan Archbishop of above Cali (17 August 2002 – retired 18 May 2011) and Apostolic Administrator of Buenaventura (Colombia) (21 February 2004 – 29 April 2004)
  • Paulius Antanas Baltakis, O.F.M. (1 June 1984 – 17 May 2019)
  • Luis Miguel Romero Fernández, M. Id. (20 March 2020 – present), Auxiliary Bishop of Rockville Centre, New York City

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