Universitat Central

Universitat Central Review

Barcelona's Central University was built in 1889 by Elies Rogent. In its neo-Romanesque style alluding, no doubt, to classical knowledge, the university's two-tiered Pati de Lletres (Literary Patio) is its most harmonious element, along with the vestibule, gardens, and Paraninfo (main assembly hall). Originally founded as a medical school in 1401 by King Martí I (dubbed "the Humane"), the university was exiled to the town of Cervera 100 km (62 mi) west of Barcelona in 1717 by Felipe V as part of his program to dismantle Catalonia in reprisal for supporting the Habsburg contender in the War of the Spanish Succession. The town became Catalonia's version of Oxford or Cambridge until the university was invited back to Barcelona in 1823.