Since 1988, the Museu de la Vida Rural (Museum of Rural life, MVR) has been showing visitors the characteristics of traditional life in Catalonia, concentrating in particular on the peasantry. It is one of the leading centres of conservation and ethnological research in the country, with a varied collection which allows you to explore the history of the Catalan rural world through a modern and innovative museum project.
The permanent exhibition displays objects related to the peasantry, the arts and artisanal crafts: pieces that represent an authentic cultural basis of our society. The tour is organised by areas of work: those of agriculture, the trades of the village (priest, teacher, cafe owner, pastry chef, spinner, apothecary, barber ...) and the domestic.
The centre, integrated into the Network of Ethnological Museums, forms part of the Lluís Carulla Foundation and is housed in the ancestral home of the Carulla family in L'Espluga de Francolí. The old building was restored and remodelled to accommodate the collection of the Museu de la Vida Rural. In 2010 a new annex building was constructed and the whole of the museum was renovated to accommodate its exhibition scheme in order to facilitate understanding of the rural world from a contemporary perspective.
The Drassanes Reials, the Royal Shipyards of Barcelona, were the great factory for the galleys that the Crown of Aragon needed at the height of its Mediterranean expansion. Located by the sea and at the foot of Montjuïc, for many years it was thought that they were the largest and most complete medieval shipyards in the world to have been preserved. But the excavations in 2012 showed that, at the end of the 16th century, on top of the old medieval building,a new shipyard had been constructed that corresponds to the current building.
The King Jaume I instigated the creation of the shipyards, even though it was Pere III who, in collaboration with the city and the Government of Catalonia, gave the final impetus at the end of the 14th century. The first building of this infrastructure was a large walled construction with a tower at each corner; later it was covered and expanded. The large gothic hall of eight naves that we see today dates from the 16th century, although it maintains the original gothic style. It is a wide and well-illuminated space thanks to the large windows and is covered with a wooden roof.
Currently the building is home to the Museu Marítim de Barcelona (Barcelona Maritime Museum). The collection was started in 1929 and has been enriched over the years. Highlights include the models of ships, nautical instruments, votive offerings, maritime paintings, figureheads and cartography. Also very popular are the replicas of the Royal Galley of Joan d’Àustria and the schooner of Santa Eulàlia.
The Cabdella Power Station, located in the municipality of La Torre de Cabdella, was the first hydroelectric power station in Catalonia. Its gestation was at the end of the 19th century when Emili Riu, journalist and politician from Sort, found a way to take advantage of the large water reserve of the Vall Fosca, which exceeded 50 million m3.
In 1914 the company, Energia Elèctrica de Catalunya (Electricity Energy of Catalonia) put the hydroelectric power station in operation. It was an ambitious plan that took advantage of the waters of the Lake Gento system through a 5 kilometre long canal with an elevation of 836 metres. In addition, they had to install new infrastructure: a funicular railway, access roads, narrow-gauge railways, homes for employees, etc. Even so, the project was finished in just two years.
After a time, the power station was transferred to La Canadenca company (now Fecsa-Endesa). Currently, in one part of the installation, we can find the Cabdella Hydroelectric Museum, belonging to the network of museums of the Museu de la Ciència i de la Tècnica de Catalunya, which appreciates what the power station meant both for industry and also for the region.
Montserrat is a symbol for Catalonia and a point of pilgrimage for believers. The main attraction is the Mare de Déu (the mother of God), the patron saint of Catalonia. This Romanesque Virgin is popularly known as La Moreneta, due to the colour of the face and hands, darkened by the smoke of lighted candles.
The monastery was founded in 1025 on the orders of the Abbot Oliba, on top of a small chapel that Guifré el Pilós had donated to the Monastery of Ripoll.
The visit to Montserrat starts at the 16th-century basilica with Romanesque remains and a Gothic structure. Starting from here, the Plaça de Santa Maria, the epicentre, you can go over the whole complex, thanks to the great 19th-century renovation led by Josep Puig i Cadafalch.
Unmissable is the Museum of Montserrat. Its collection began with the materials of the biblical East brought back from his travels by Father Buenaventura Ubach. Since then, the collection has expanded with outstanding works from painters such as Caravaggio, Rusiñol, Casas, Nonell, Picasso, Monet, Sisley, Degas, Pissarro and Dali.
The museum being here is no coincidence. From the 17th century, Montserrat has been a cultural centre of the highest order as demonstrated by the exceptional library with more than 250,000 volumes from the monastery. Notable among the suggested activities is as visit to the Escolania, which is one of the oldest boys' choir schools in Europe, documented since the 14th century.
Near the Abbey, the neighbouring Monestir de Santa Cecília, is still preserved, which currently functions as the Sean Scully Art Space. Notable as well is the Romanesque church, also renovated in the 1930s by Puig i Cadafalch. Few know that this monastery was Abat Oliba’s first choice to extend his domains to Montserrat, but met with refusal of the community.
The musicians Lluís Millet and Amadeu Vives, founders of the Catalan Choral Society in 1891, commissioned Lluis Domenech i Montaner to construct a building as the headquarters of the organisation. However, they didn't want just any building, rather a unique building that would reflect the sentiment of the Catalan bourgeoisie of the late nineteenth century. On 23rd April, 1905, construction was started and the Barcelona high-society did not miss its opening on 9th February, 1908.
A particularly outstanding feature of the façade is the sculptural cluster representing Catalan popular music. Once inside, the visitor encounters main foyer, a baroque area full of colour, before they are presented with the real jewel of the building: the concert hall. Domenech i Montaner used a steel structure that supports the weight of construction in order to obtain a large, open and clean space. In addition, the ceiling is adorned with a large skylight in the shape of an inverted dome that represents a sun surrounded by female faces. The stage is the other big attraction of the hall, flanked by the most important sculptures of the building.
Domenech i Montaner designed a palace where architecture is combined with sculpture, joinery, marquetry, glasswork, mosaic and ceramics. This is what we know as a true work of art.
In 1885, Eusebio Guell commissioned Antonio Gaudi to construct his residence in the heart of Barcelona, specifically in the street Nou de la Rambla. Gaudí conceived a solemn and ostentatious building, and used rich and expensive materials such as marble, hardwood and wrought iron. The sobriety of the façade, most likely due to its location on a small site on a narrow street, contrasts with the lavishness of its interior. Parabolic arches on the façade are decorated with wrought iron railings, and give away to a wide entrance, allowing for the entry of horses and carriages.
The building is accessed through a magnificent central hall covered by a dome that exceeds the height of the roof and, through perforations shaped like a star, lets in sunlight. The hall, with a chapel attached, is richly decorated with columns, windows and grilles and leads to other rooms, all replete with windows and ornate furniture. The palace also has a large stable basement, a feature that few houses had.
There is also innovation in the use of chimneys located on the roof of the building; elements frequently used in the imaginative decoration of Gaudí. In fact, it is in the design of these chimneys that the architect first used a decorative resource that became most representative of his work: the 'trencadís' (mosaic).
The Casa Milà is one of Antoni Gaudí's most unique works. Situated right on the Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona, it breaks with the physiognomy of the avenue. It is a building constructed with two interior patios and a basement, lower floor, main floor, four apartments, attic and roof. Gaudí established the building's structure based on stone pillars, brick and iron and the main support of the catenary archand parabolic arch.
Its construction generated a great deal of controversy in the early 1900's. Barcelonans gave it the nickname "La Pedrera," (the quarry) which refers to the type of creamy white stone used that comes from the quarries in Garraf and Vilafranca del Penedès.
Many also described it as a large boat that rowed along the Passeig de Gràcia. The building's façade is characterised by theundulations and openings in the stone to facilitate interior lighting and ventilation.
The building featured 20 homes that were rented to affluent families of the era. The Milà couple, the owners of the property, lived in the penthouse apartment. La Pedrera, however, is not a conventional residential building. Gaudí's objective was to create dwellings in movement, where everyone could have their own layout according to the needs of each tenant
The building is crowned with a rooftop terrace, finished with seven chimneys, covered withlime, white 'trencadís' (mosaic) and glass. The heads of seven mythological warriors are featured, which, from the almost imaginary rooftop, watch over the city.
The Basílica Expiatòria de la Sagrada Família (Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Sagrada Familia) is one of the most remarkable examples of Catalan ‘modernisme’ (Art Nouveau) and has become a symbol of Barcelona. Undoubtedly it is the unfinished monument that attracts most visitors in the world. Moreover, Antoni Gaudí poured all his efforts and knowledge into the project right up until his death, although he only saw completion of the crypt, the apse and the façade of the Nativity with one of the bell towers. Together, these areas were declared World Heritage Site in 2005.
Construction of the Sagrada Familia began in 1882 with the crypt located under the apse, according to a preliminary neo-Gothic design. When the commission was handed over to Gaudí, he completely changed the design and adapted the project to his naturalist ideals. One of the treasures of the crypt is the Roman-style mosaics on the floor. Another feature that cannot be missed is the framed altarpiece dedicated to the Holy Family by the sculptor Josep Llimona. And it is precisely in this intimate and mystic setting that Antoni Gaudí is buried, specifically in the chapel of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
Once the crypt and apse were finished, Gaudí started on a more ambitious and complex project based on detailed symbolism and great formal construction innovations based on the parabolic arch. This led to the Nativity façade. According to Gaudí: "If instead of creating this decorated, ornate and bombastic façade, I had begun with the Passion, hard, bare and bone-like; people would have expressed disapproval". Thus he turned the façade into a detailed stone book relating the episodes of Jesus’s childhood.
After Gaudí’s death, the building went through decades of slow evolution. With the revival of interest in the work of Gaudí, the number of visitors has greatly increased in recent years and construction work on the temple has advanced quickly, following the models and notes left by the master. The interior of the nave of the church is a new attraction and it is hoped that in 2026 the building of Gaudí’s dreams will be completed.
Eusebi Güell, faithful defender of the works of Antoni Gaudí, commissioned the architect to design a church for the textile village that he had constructed in Santa Coloma de Cervelló, close to Barcelona.
Construction didn't begin until the end of 1908, two years after its commission. Moreover, Gaudí abandoned the project in 1914 and work was suspended indefinitely in 1916, at which point only the crypt was built.
But for Antoni Gaudí, both the project and the construction of the crypt in Colònia Güell were a testing laboratory, where he experimented with architectural solutions and new structural techniques that he later used in the Sagrada Família. He made bold attempts, using brick and stone that pushed the limits of the construction of architectural structures, such as the parabolic arches and the sloping walls and columns.
At the end of the Spanish Civil War, the Battle of the Ebro was the turning point of the conflict that led to the loss of Catalonia for the Republicans. An intense combat that took place at Matarranya, Ribera d'Ebre, Baix Ebre and Terra Alta. Nowadays, the combination of the historical spaces and interpretation centres form the Espais de la Batalla de l’Ebre (the Sites of the Battle of the Ebro), living testimony to one of the most tragic episodes of the recent history of the country.
The Old Town of Corbera d'Ebre remains a silent symbol of the barbarity of this conflict. Walking among the ruins of the streets and houses recalls the bombardments and the misery of its former inhabitants. From Els Barrancs, (the gullies), in Vilalba dels Arcs, one can see a line of trenches 700 metres long which were part of the Republican defence network. At Fatarella there is a military refuge and the walls of the Castle of Miravet which served as a refuge for national soldiers who manned the town.
The Sites of the Battle of the Ebro has a total of 19 historical locations and five Interpretation Centres: 115 days (Corbera d’Ebre), Soldiers in the trenches (Vilalba dels Arcs), Blood hospitals (Batea), Voices from the front (Pinell de Brai) and Internationals at the Ebro (La Fatarella).
