Terrassa
From Free net encyclopedia
Terrassa (Latin Egara) is a municipality and one of two major cities of the comarca of Vallès Occidental in Barcelona province of Catalonia, Spain (the other being Sabadell). It is located at 277 metres above sea-level. Population: 200,000 (2005). Terrassa is close to the city of Barcelona.
The city was an olympic sub-site for the field hockey competition during the Barcelona 1992 Olympics, where the Spanish women's team (most of them from Terrassa or nearby villages) won the Olympic gold medal for this sport.
The city's origins can be traced with certainty to the Roman era when it was called Ègara, though there is evidence of earlier occupation.
The city has had a long association with the arts, at one time being referred to as the Catalan Athens. Amongst the many notable modernist buildings is the Gaudiesque Masia Freixa, originally intended to be a textile mill, it now serves as a conservatoire.
The city was also home to a large textile industry during the 19th century.