"Everything I know I learned in Horta" said an already established Pablo Picasso about his relationship with the village of the Terra Alta. These emotional and artistic links have been on display at the Centre Picasso since 1992.
Based in the Old Hospital of Horta de Sant Joan, a Renaissance building from the 16th century, this private organisation permanently exhibits facsimile reproductions of all works made by the painter from Malaga in his two visits to the town, in 1898 (invited by his friend Manuel Pallarès to convalesce after an illness) and in the summer of 1909 (accompanied by his girlfriend, Fernande Olivier). Also displayed are works evoking Horta that were made in Barcelona and Paris. In this way, the Centre allows works from two stages (his beginnings and Cubism) to be seen side-by-side which are otherwise currently distributed in museums and collections around the world.
The exhibition is complemented by objects, photographs and testimonials that illustrate Picasso’s time in the village, such as the table and the chairs from the bar where Picasso and Fernande played dominoes, chatted and drank Anís del Mono, or the easel the artist used during his stay at the Llotja de Barcelona.
Since the first excavations in the 19th century, the significant archaeological heritage in the Pla de l'Estany has been revealed. And it is here that some of the most outstanding archaeological sites in Catalonia are found. The results of this work carried out in the region are brought together in the Banyoles Regional Archaeological Museum. Thus, it comes as no surprise that the Museum houses one of the most important collections of palaeontology and archaeology in Catalonia.
The Museum officially opened in 1943 and since then has been housed in the Gothic palace of Pia Almoina. From 2000 to 2009, the museum was refurbished, bringing it up-to-date with modern museum standards. Currently, the Banyoles Regional Archaeological Museum has three permanent exhibition rooms (the Palaeontology, Prehistory and History rooms) that allow you to take a tour from the upper Tertiary period until the 18th century.
In the Palaeontology room, highlights include fossils of large animals from the Tertiary period and the Quaternary periods, such as the skull of a saber-toothed tiger from the archaeological site at Incarcal. The Prehistory room gives pride of place to the Neanderthal jaw bone from Banyoles found in the Pla de la Formiga in 1887 and also displays several pieces from the Neolithic settlements of La Draga and the Caves of Serinyà.
The History room explains what the Pla de l’Estany was like through the finds made principally in the Iberian village of Mas Castell de Porqueres and the Roman villa of Vilauba. In terms of the Medieval-Modern period, the display focuses mainly on the old town of Banyoles.
Since 1990, the old steam locomotive depot at Vilanova i la Geltrú has hosted one of the most important railway collections in Europe. More than 60 vehicles from all eras, technologies and countries, including 28 steam locomotives from the late 19th century, make up the bulk of the displays at the Museu del Ferrocarril de Catalunya (Catalonia Railroad Museum).
The history of the Spanish railway can be traced through its collection, starting with a replica of the first train to operate on the Peninsula, the Mataró. You can also see the oldest original locomotive in Spain, the last steam-powered vehicle and the first Talgo train. In addition, there are objects from the railways that explain what the stations were like and how the railway traffic was controlled. Among other items, there is an interlocking lever frame and a signal box originating from the Estació de França in Barcelona.
As well as the technical and historical aspect, the Museum invites you to discover the social and emotional aspects of the world of the train. For this reason, it has been designed as an experience space. And so visitors can go inside the locomotives, travel on the passenger trains and even watch audiovisual projections inside a freight wagon.
The important work of the Museum in preservation and dissemination is demonstrated by its documentation centre, with more than 10,000 photographs, 5,000 bibliographic records and 400 videos.
To talk about wine in the Penedès is to talk about the identity of an entire region. This symbiosis between history, culture and territory is reflected in the
Museum of Wine Cultures of Catalonia (VINSEUM) in Vilafranca del Penedès,
the first wine museum in Spain.
VINSEUM was created in 2007 as a space for visitors to experience the culture of wine. It is the conceptual evolution of the
Museum of Vilafranca – Wine Museum, which was founded in 1935 to house various collections related to the Penedès. The collection has already exceeded 17,000 items which cover subjects such as archaeology, art (with an important collection of ceramics), ethnology and natural history.
But what has made the Museum into a benchmark is the
collection related to viticulture: tools of the field, amphorae, ceramic pitchers, cups made of tin and silver, pieces of glassware from Bohemia, etc. Notable are
the wine dioramas that narrate the history of viticulture. Thus, you can see scenes from the wineries of Egypt and Rome or the
Monastery of Poblet. In addition to the objects, VINSEUM also has an important documentary collection on vines and wine.
The tour of the permanent exhibition begins on the third floor of the main building, a former royal palace of the Kings of Aragon (12th-13th century). A careful and modern museum display draws the visitor into an immersive tour through the various collections. It even has a multi-sensory module known as the "La Mirada Tàctil" or the Tactile View. The tour ends in the
Museum’s Tavern, where you can taste wine or cava.
On the upper floor of the building of the Llotja de Mar in Barcelona, is one of the key institutions in the cultural life of Catalonia in the 19th and early 20th century. The
Real Academia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi in Barcelona (Royal Academy of Fine Arts), was created in 1850 to oversee Catalan heritage and encourage the teaching of fine arts through the School of La Llotja. Now, no longer tied to its educational activities, it is focused on the dissemination of its
art, archival and bibliographic collection.Its art collection is made up of more than 700 paintings, 250 sculptures and various drawings and engravings by artists from the 16th century to the 20th century: from Annibale Carracci and Juan Ribalta to Modest Cuixart and Josep Maria Subirachs. Notable are the collections of drawings by Pau Milà i Fontanals and Lluís Rigalt. Above all, though, the Academy Museum offers a benchmark in
Catalan art from the 18th-19th centuries, with paintings of Marià Fortuny and Ramon Martí Alsina, among others.
Many of the works come from the School of La Llotja. Others from convents and churches, or through donations or purchases. The bulk of the collection can be seen in the Llotja de Mar building, occupying the different rooms of the Academy, which have maintained their original appearance. Even so, some of its most outstanding pieces are on loan to the
MNAC and other museums.
The Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi also has an important library and an archive that brings together documentary material relating to the fine arts as well as photography.
The Ecomuseum of Valls d'Àneu is a living museum. It is not contained within a single building but it is made up of several monumental, ethnographic and natural elements, spread out among the municipalities of Àneu which, together, explain how the inhabitants of these Pyrenean valleys have lived from the end of the 19th century. It’s an innovative project that was born in 1994 and which carries out research, conservation, dissemination and recovers the past of the territory in which it is based.
The central point is the Casa Gassia, a house typical of the Valls d'Àneu in the 18th century. It maintains its original structure and the current exhibition space shows what domestic life was like during the first half of the 20th century. Starting from here, the Ecomuseum is spread over 10 further heritage centres.
There are churches - Sant Joan d’Isil, Sant Julià d’Unarre, Sant Pere de Sorpe, Sant Pere del Burgal, Santa Maria d’Àneu and the Son monumental complex - which explain what the popular religion, beliefs and rituals were like. And also defensive buildings, distant in time from each other, such as the medieval castle of Valencia d'Àneu and the post-war bunkers of Guingueta d’Àneu. At the same time, the industrial facilities, which include the hydraulic sawmill at Alos and the cheese dairy of Roseta de Gavàs, are a testament to the economic activities of the area.
In addition, through the objects and items situated in their place of origin, the Ecomuseum shows the transformations that this territory has undergone in recent decades, and allows the natural and monumental elements to be related to the social, cultural and ethnographic traditions.
Driven by the spirit of the Catalan Renaixença and aware that a large part of the traditional Catalan heritage was on the verge of disappearing, in the late 19th century a group of intellectuals, headed by folklorist Rossend Serra, began to meticulously compile the stories, legends and songs from the county of Ripollès. Resulting from these efforts, in 1929 they created the Folkloric Archive Museum of Sant Pere, which gave rise to the Ripoll Ethnographic Museum.
Opened in 2001 in the former manor house of Can Budallés, having been closed for 10 years, the current museum carries out research, conservation, interpretation and dissemination of the tangible and intangible ethnological heritage, largely from Ripoll and Girona Pyrenees. The new museum displays, in a modern and educational way – incorporating audiovisual material, audios and interactive screens – more than 5,000 items.
The tour is organised into 12 collections that explain, among other things, how things were for the peasantry, trades people, shepherds, about life in the home and the popular religion. Highlights include the collection dedicated to the forge and to iron, fundamental elements in the economy of the region since the Middle Ages. And in particular, the collection of portable firearms from Ripoll, a product that achieved world renown.
Since 2002, the “Tinglado”, an old warehouse in the port of Palamos, has been home to a unique museum dedicated to the preservation, study and dissemination of the natural, social and cultural heritage of fishing on the Catalan coast.
The Museu de la Pesca (Museum of Fishing) offers an educational journey through the past, present and future of this economic activity on the Costa Brava. It shows everything from the biological diversity of the Mediterranean up to a who's who of the fishing world. All this within a building that, in 2001, was awarded the National Design Prize, and where we find the marine environment recreated, a fishing boat included.
But the experience does not end in the exhibition area: its location in the port allows you to complete the tour with a visit to the Fishing Boats, a floating extension of the Museum, and to take part in the Espai del peix (fish area), which includes seafood cookery workshops.
The Museu de la Pesca also carries out in depth research and documentation within the maritime and fishing sector through the Documare service and the Chair of Maritime Studies at the Universitat de Girona.
L’antiga Casa Pedrós, al centre de Castellterçol, és on va néixer i morir una de les figures clau del segle XX a Catalunya: Enric Prat de la Riba . Convertit en museu, ens apropa a la figura fundacional de la Lliga Regionalista, el primer president de la Mancomunitat de Catalunya i un dels principals teòrics del nacionalisme català.
Acompanyat d’una exhibició audiovisual, podem seguir la seva carrera professional i la ideologia del polític i escriptor. Al mateix temps, ens endinsem en el seu àmbit més personal, ja que l’arquitectura i els mobles són originals de la casa. Així, podem descobrir com era la vida en una casa de camp ben feta a principis del segle XX.
A excepció de l’oficina, que conté els mobles que Prat de la Riba tenia a Barcelona, la resta de la casa es conserva intacta. Destaquen la cuina, el centre de la vida familiar i el menjador, reservat per a ocasions especials. La religiositat de la família es reflecteix en la presència d’imatges religioses a la majoria d’habitacions, particularment a les habitacions.
The politician and writer Victor Balaguer, as a man of the Catalan Renaixença, was convinced that culture was the basis for the people’s progress. For this reason, in 1884, he commissioned the first public building in the country intended to function both as a museum and a library, to be built at Vilanova i la Geltrú, and in which to make his art, book and ethnographic collections available to the public.
Currently, the Museum has a collection of more than 8,000 items that include an archaeological and ethnographic collection donated by some illustrious friends of Víctor Balaguer. The highlight being the mummy of a child from ancient Egypt, popularly known as Nesi.
As regards to the art exhibits, part of the original collection can be seen in the Pinacoteca (art gallery) room which recreates the atmosphere of the Fine Arts salons of the 19th century. Pictures by Marià Fortuny, Ramon Martí Alsina, Joaquim Vayreda and Joaquin Sorolla show the bourgeois tastes of the time. Complementing this room are the works by El Greco, Ribera, and Rubens, donated at the beginning by the Prado Museum.
The tour continues through Modernisme, Post-modernisme and Noucentisme with small-format works by Santiago Rusiñol, Ramon Casas, Anglada Camarasa, Francesc Domingo and Xavier Nogués. It also has the most comprehensive collection of informalist art in Catalonia that comes from the first Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art.
As for the bibliographic collection, it is one of the richest of the 19th century in Catalonia, with more than 50,000 books and a total of 100,000 documents. Among these are the collected letters of Víctor Balaguer.
