Lovely Catalonia ancient

Catalonia  is an autonomous community in the northeast of Spain.

Running across the north, the Pyrenees rise to mighty 3000m peaks from a series of green and often remote valleys, dotted with villages that retain a palpable rural and even medieval air.

Its capital and largest city is Barcelona, the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the center of one of the largest metropolitan areas in Europe.

Catalonia has a very marked culture of its own, most evidently of Mediterranean tradition, and is distinguished of most other Spanish regions

Certainly it is one of the most cosmopolitan places in Spain, thanks to its long tradition of international commerce.

Catalonia has a great variety of different landscapes very close to each other, mountains on the Pyrenees, green hills on north of the country, agricultural planes on the west and beaches on the east.

These mountains provide some excellent walking and skiing.

The coast offers ideal facilities for all sorts of water sports, but everywhere you will realize about that special talent to combine the beauty of nature or monuments with modern attractions, a main reason why Catalonia developed into one of the preferred touristical destinations.

Another theory suggests that Catalunya (Latin Gathia Launia) derives from the name Gothia (or Gauthia), "Land of the Goths

Catalonia's excellent gastronomy is characterized by seafood, rice dishes, wines of great international reputation and traditional desserts like the famous "Catalonian Cream".

Throughout Catalonia the sense of difference from the rest of Spain is intense, not only in the use of Catalan  but in the festivals, cuisine and reminders of the region’s unique history.