VERY INTERESTING: BARCELONA

 Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about 

FACTS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT BARCELONA THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND

Barcelona is a very elegant city, famous for its impressive history, culture, monuments, fantastic architecture, museums, galleries and interesting people.

There is a lot that can be said about this city, so below we've made up a list of 5 interesting and fun facts about Barcelona just for you.

1) SANT JORDI'S DAY IS THE CATALAN VALENTINE'S DAY

Saint George Day, known in spanish as Día de Sant Jordi, is a national Catalan holiday. It is also called the Day of the Rose, which in spanish is el Día de la Rosa, because of the amount of roses that one can find all over the city. This meaning that Sant Jordi is more or less Barcelona's version of Valentine's Day.

Moreover, this day is also Book Day, in spanish Día del Libro, which is an international holiday that is greatly celebrated in Spain and in Barcelona.

The story of Sant Jordi tells that he slayed the dragon of Montblanc before it ate a beautiful princess. Due to this romantic act, Sant Jordi Day is celebrated as a romantic occasion.

The tradition is to exchange gifts between sweethearts, loved ones and friends. The man gives a rose to a woman as a sign of love, and the women gives a book, as a sign for eternal love in return. So in a way, Barcelona integrates Book Day into their own Valentine's Day.

2) BARCELONETA BEACHES ARE ARTIFICIAL

There were no beaches in Barcelona until 1992. The seaside of Barcelona was full of local industries up until the city decided to host the Olympic Games.

Thanks to this, one can now find several beaches. Barcelona's beaches were listed as number one of the top ten beach cities in the world, according to National Geographic and Discovery Channel.

Barcelona has seven beaches with a 4.5 km coastline. Around this area, there are the greatest bars, restaurants and hotels.

In this city, July and August are the warmest months with temperatures from 25 to 31°. With its Mediterranean climate of mild, humid winters and warm, dry summers, Barcelona is an ideal place for a beach vacation.

3) THE SAGRADA FAMILIA HAS TAKEN LONGER TO BUILD THAN THE GREAT PYRAMIDS.

The great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt only took 20 years to build with ancient tools, and so far, la Sagrada Familia has taken around 200 hundred years to be constructed with modern tecnology.

The main feature of this building is its height, which equals 984 meters. However, Gaudí believed that the highest point in the city should be a natural god made structure, with this he was referring to the mountain of Montjuic, which is 984 feet above sea level.

4) THE REAL STORY BEHIND THE COLUMBUS MONUMENT

The approximately 60 meter high elevator ride to the platform of the monument gives you a great view of the Ramblas, the yachting port of Barcelona in Port Vell and the shopping center Maremagnum.

The Columbus Monument was built in 1888 for the World Exposition. After reconstruction works, the monument was reopened in June 2013. It unites two of the most important roads of Barcelona: the traditional Ramblas and Passeig de Colon, right in front of the port of Barcelona.

There are many interpretations about the location Columbus is pointing. A commonly mistaken idea is that he is pointing towards America, but America is in the opposite direction.

Some believe the creator decided to create the statue pointing his hand out to sea, illustrating his achievements.

Other opinions say that he points towards India, the destination he was originally trying to reach via a new route when he bumped into America.

Finally, another school of thoughts believes that the statue points out the route to Genoa, which many say is his hometown.

5) THE FC BARCELONA MUSEUM IS THE MOST VISITED MUSEUM OF BARCELONA

In 2011, the FC Barcelona museum at Camp Nou was the most visited museum in Barcelona, and the third most visited museum in the whole of Spain, with 1,629,990 visitors.

It was founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, British, Spanish and Catalan footballers led by Joan Gamper.

In 2009, FC Barcelona established a unique achievement, becoming the only European club to win every possible major tournament in one year.

Today FC Barcelona is the world's second-richest football club in terms of revenue, with an estimated annual turnover of $ 613 million and the third most valuable, with an estimated worth of $ 2.6 billion.

The club's home stadium, the Camp Nou, is the biggest stadium in Europe with capacity for 100,000 people.

And as always have a chilled day from the Viking