The Monastery of Sant Pere de Galligants, from the 12th century, is one of the most important Romanesque monuments in Girona. It is located within the urban setting of the city, an unusual fact given that most monasteries are found in places of isolation. But this Benedictine Abbey is also unique for its chancel and the bell tower.
The chancel of Sant Pere is unique for having a complicated asymmetrical form: it is formed by a main apse with two apsidioles on one side and one on the other, while at the end of the arm of the transept there is another lateral apse which makes one think about the reuse of elements from a previous church. Within this space is found the perfectly symmetrical eight-sided bell tower, with Lombard decoration.
Most notable is the sculpture found on the capitals of the main nave and, above all, those of the chancel. It is these for which Sant Pere de Galligants is most famous; and which have generated most controversies... some historians are firmly convinced that they bear the hand of the Master of Cabestany and his workshop; others, however, believe that they are influenced by the School of Toulouse.
From 1857, Sant Pere de Galligants was used as a museum of archaeology and fine arts, one of the oldest in Catalonia. Currently it is the headquarters of the Girona branch of the Museum of Archaeology of Catalonia and includes the archaeological materials found in the excavations of several sites in the Girona region, from prehistory to the Middle Ages.
Devoted to the culture of the object, the Museu del Disseny de Barcelona (Design Museum of Barcelona) offers visitors unique collections formed of more than 70,000 pieces which cover, in chronological order, items from the 4th century BC to the present day. The object and all that it means to society is the common denominator of all collections: from its conception, creation and production up to its use according to the period.
Contemplating many of the pieces of the museum is to return, often, to the everyday environment: the Montesa Impala motorcycle, the poster of the opening of the Camp Nou or the Olympic mascot Cobi, among many others, are objects that appeal directly to the sentimental memory of the spectator.
The vast wealth of the new museum in Barcelona is formed by the merger of the collections of the Museu de les Arts Decoratives (decorative arts), the Museu de Ceràmica (ceramics), the Museu Tèxtil i d'Indumentària (textiles and clothing), and the Gabinet de les Arts Gràfiques (graphic arts).
But if the content is outstanding, its container, the Museu del Disseny itself, is not far behind: the building, designed by the MBM team of architects and popularly known as the la grapadora (the stapler), is already a new icon of the contemporary architecture of the city.
What life was like in Catalonia 7,000 years ago? Providing an answer to this question has become easier since the discovery of the archaeological site of La Draga, in Banyoles. This neolithic settlement, currently submerged beneath the waters of the lake, is one of the oldest settlements of agricultural and livestock farmers in Catalonia and is an exceptional site: it is the only one on the Iberian Peninsula where tools made entirely of wood have been recovered intact.
In 1994, the Centre for Underwater Archaeology of Catalonia (CASC) began its excavation and study, work which is underway both on the land and underwater. The wooden tools that have been found are bows, javelins, digging sticks, spindles, ladles, mixers and wedges, as well as handles, also of wood, adzes, sickles and arrow stems. The flooring recovered from the cabins where they sheltered has allowed the reconstruction of some of these prehistoric dwellings.
Currently, the La Draga Neolithic Park, located next to the lakeside village, allows the visitor to discover daily life in the Neolithic period and get to know a little more about its ancient settlers. These shelters, built on the banks of the lake, enjoy surroundings that offer resources in abundance.
"A great mountain of pure salt that grows as it is extracted." This is how, according to Aulus Gel·li Cató described, in the second century, one of the most important potassium salt mines in the world, located in Cardona. It is a depression of land shaped like an elongated ellipse with an area of 100 hectares and containing unique natural and geological features. It has been exploited as an open mine since the Neolithic era, and from 1900 to 1990 through extraction, following the discovery of potassium salts by the engineer Emili Viader i Solé.
"La Muntanya de Sal de Cardona" (the Salt Mountain of Cardona) is now a cultural and tourist centre dedicated to promoting the importance of the geological site and its utility for man through the centuries.
The museum area is an open space that explains the geology, mineralogy and botany of the "Vall Salina de Cardona" (Salt Valley of Cardona), included since 1992 in the Plan for Areas of Natural Interest in Catalonia.
You can also learn about the history of the exploitation of salt throughout the centuries. Entering the old mining pit, you can see a unique piece of industrial archaeology: salt extraction machinery designed and built during the 1920s.
The musical heritage of Barcelona and Catalonia is immense, and one of the institutions that has done the most to conserve, study and disseminate it has been the Museu de la Música de Barcelona. Located on the second floor of the Auditorium, it has a collection of 2,000 musical instruments from all over the world and 10,000 sound documents received from legacies and donations. It is considered one of the most important music collections in Spain.
The permanent exhibition invites visitors to experience the world of music and to understand that instruments are the living documents of our past, full of meaning and information related to our musical heritage. On display along the route of the museum are more than 500 pieces, explained through audiovisual, sound and textual resources.
The itinerary for the exhibition enables the visitor to learn about the instruments through the history of music: from ancient civilisations, progressing on to the birth and diffusion of polyphony, Baroque, Classicism and Romanticism, until reaching the new colours and industry of sound in the 19th century and the new styles and new technologies of the 20th century.
String instruments are the most widely represented in the museum, with an outstanding collection of guitars and keyboard instruments. The museum also focuses, deservedly, on wind instruments, as they reflect the important Catalan construction tradition and its use in South American and Asian cultures.
The Museu del Cinema de Girona was created from the exceptional collection of objects related to the world of pre-cinema and the films of Tomàs Mallol made up of 8,000 objects, 10,000 documents (photographs, posters, prints, drawings and paintings), 800 films and 700 books and magazines. Opened in 1998, it became the first museum of its kind in Spain and one of the few existing in Europe./p>
Entering the Museu del Cinema is to embark on a process of discovery. And the permanent exhibition has in the spectator their own point of view. This is not surprising. Throughout history, man has been fascinated by the moving image, from the primitive Chinese shadows until the early years of cinema.
This discovery process is divided into 10 sections plus an audiovisual, which serves as a prologue to the exhibition, and an epilogue that refers to amateur and children's cinema.The main discourse ends in the 1930s, with the arrival of the first televisions.
Thus the visitor gets an educational and entertaining understanding of the workings of magic lanterns, optical boxes, cameras obscura, chronophotography, gadgets for giving movement to the first images (phenakistoscopes, zoetropes, etc.…), projectors... The visitor even gets to be fooled by several optical illusions, which demonstrate that, since ancient times, the most important thing has always been to surprise
The CaixaForum is located in the former fàbrica tèxtil Casaramona (Casaramona textile factory) in Montjuïc, which specialised in the manufacture of blankets and towels. This building designed by Josep Puig is an exceptional example of Catalan industrial "modernista" architecture of the early twentieth century. It comprises a set of single-story buildings, a horizontal construction to facilitate the transfer of goods through a system of internal streets that at the same time also served as a firewall.
The building was acquired by Obra Social "la Caixa" in 1963. In 2002, after a restoration and expansion project, it became a cultural centre for Barcelona. It offers social, cultural and educational programming that includes ongoing events such as lectures, film screenings, performances, concerts and family activities.
In addition, a quarter of the total 12,000 m2 building is occupied by ancient, modern and contemporary art exhibitions. It also has an outstanding collection of artistic and documentary art media.
Located in the foothills of the Serra de Collserola, the Laberint d’Horta (Horta Labyrinth) is a historic park of Barcelona and one of the oldest gardens that remain in the city. Designed in 1791 by Joan Antoni Desvalls, it is made up of 750 metres of trimmed cypress trees and is inspired by the myth of Theseus: whoever makes their way to the centre finds love as a reward.
Desvalls, Marquess of Llupià, Poal and Alfarràs, was a nobleman who loved science, nature and art, passions that came together in the construction of the maze. Following the ideas of neo-classicism and in collaboration with Italian architect Domenico Bagutti, he created a garden with a labyrinth of cypress trees, sculptures and reliefs depicting characters from Greco-Roman mythology who symbolise the different levels of love.
Currently, the park covers an area of 9 hectares and is divided into two parts: the neo-classical garden and the romantic garden. They are noted for their botanical variety and abundance of ornamentation, as well as the architectural elements of the romantic gardens (temples, water channels and sculptures, as well as the Palace of the Desvalls family). Despite not being the refuge of Minotaur, the labyrinth tests the sense of direction of those who enter.
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.
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.
