History

Terrassa originates from the name Terracium castellum, 'Castle Land'. In the XVI century the name became Terrassa.

Terrassa, first known as the Roman town of Egara, was founded alongside the torrent of Vallparadís, close to the Iberian town of Egosa, on the site of which some ceramics and coins have been found.








What has been found indicates that the area today known as Terrassa has been inhabited since prehistory. During the construction of a tunnel for the city's railway lines in 2005, a prehistoric site was found in the Park of Vallparadís, with stone tools and fossils of hunted animals from 800,000 to 1,000,000 years ago, making this one of the oldest prehistoric sites in Europe so far discovered.

The Egara’s Episcopal see already existed by 450 CE, and a Provincial Council was held there in 615. The cathedral continued to exist until 718, when it was overtaken by the Muslim conquest. Today the ancient Visigothic-Romanesque churches of Sant Pere stand on this same site. Other important remains from the Middle Ages are the castle of Vallparadis (from 1344 to 1413 a Carthusian monastery and today a municipal museum) and the tower of the castle-palace of the count-king, one of the few remaining elements of the city's medieval defensive walls.

In the 19th century the city played an important role in the industrial revolution, specializing in textile fabrics, and today there is a great modernist legacy as a result of the city's importance at that time. Particularly notable modernist buildings are the Masia Freixa (1907), the Vapor Aymerich Amat i Jover textile mill (1907) (now the Museum of Science and Technology 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 city with a lot of history which can be seen even today just walking around the city, which makes Terrassa a special place for lovers of Catalan history.