In the Neolithic period, there was already a human presence in the territory of Barcelona. But it was not until the end of the 1st century BC that the city was founded as a Roman colony under the name of Barcino. For 85 years, Barcelona was under Muslim rule, and with the Christian reconquest, it became a County of the Carolingian Empire and the permanent residence of the Crown of Aragon. The fruitful medieval period turned Barcelona into the economic and political center of the Mediterranean.