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.
Nature and Modernisme. This is the pairing that defines the Colònia Güell. Standing among the pine trees is an architectural complex that still preserves the industrial essence of the late 19th and early 20th century and has a star name:
Antoni Gaudí.
The colony was built in 1890 on land owned by Eusebi Güell at Santa Coloma de Cervello. The entrepreneur wanted to move the textile industries he owned at Vapor Vell Sants away from labour conflicts that were prevalent in Barcelona at that time.
The complex was structured around the factory, which was equipped with the most advanced technology of the time. As well as the homes of the workers, there were educational, cultural and religious facilities which together formed a "small town".
In addition, Eusebi Güell, a patron of Modernisme in Barcelona, made it unique by hiring some of the
best architects of the time. His friend
Antoni Gaudí led the project, taking charge of the mapping out the complex and of the Church, of which only the
crypt was built (declared a World Heritage Site in 2005). The remainder of the buildings (the school, the cooperative, the parish house and the cultural centre, among others) were the work of Joan Rubió, Francesc Berenguer i Mestres and his son Francesc Berenguer i Bellvehí.
The complex made a display of innovations in construction at the time such as the use of 'trencadís' (mosaics of ceramic shards), iron work and brick. Special attention should be given to the facades of the
teacher's house, Ca l’Espinal and
Ca l’Ordal, which show that, despite being functional architecture, no detail was overlooked.
In the old district of Sant Joan de Sitges stands the architectural and artistic complex of Maricel, one of the most monumental examples of Noucentisme in Catalonia. It was built by Miquel Utrillo between 1910 and 1918, and had been commissioned by the American magnate Charles Deering, who established his residence here and used it to house his unique collection of Hispanic art.
After going through various uses, in 1970, art came back to the building. On the side facing the sea, the Maricel Museum was opened to display the art collection of Dr Jesús Pérez-Rosales: more than 3,000 Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque pieces, as well as pre-Columbian archaeology artefacts, oriental art, musical instruments, textiles and folk craft.
Today this collection is integrated into the Sitges Art Collection, along with other acquisitions, creating a complete and varied tour through the history of art, from the 10th century to the first half of the 20th century.
Particularly notable are the rooms dedicated to Romanticism (Marià Fortuny), to Noucentisme (Joaquim Sunyer, Pere Jou, Lola Anglada, Enric Casanovas, Ismael Smith, Pau Gargallo) and especially to Modernisme (Santiago Rusiñol, Ramon Casas, Josep Llimona), which has a close connection to Sitges. There is even a room displaying paintings that once decorated the Cau Ferrat Brewery.
One can’t leave the Museum without going through the Sert Room, with its large murals from 1915 dedicated to the First World War.
El convent de Sant Bartomeu de Bellpuig ofereix un gran exemple de la transició del gòtic tardà al renaixement . Al mateix temps, ofereix una visió de com l'individu buscava la transcendència del seu poder i honor més enllà de la mort.
Ramon Folc de Cardona-Anglesola, baró de Bellpuig i virrei a Nàpols i Sicília, volia un escenari solemne per al seu mausoleu . Per això, el 1507, va patrocinar la construcció d’un convent franciscà a la part superior de l’antiga capella de Sant Bartomeu. D’aquí que, en la decoració, hi ha un notable contrast entre l’austeritat franciscana i la noble esplendor que aporta el mecenatge de la família.
L’edifici, de forma rectangular, s’organitza al voltant de dos claustres. Al més petit dels dos hi ha un element amb un gran valor artístic: la galeria del primer pis, formada per deu columnes en espiral. Cal destacar l'escala de cargol del campanar, l'escala principal, la sala capitular i el mirador del Duc (mirada del duc).
Tot i així, l’element més monumental va ser el mausoleu del baró de Bellpuig , inicialment allotjat dins de l’Església però que ara es pot veure a l’església parroquial. Va ser creat el 1524 a partir de marbre de carrara per l'escultor napolità Giovanni Merliano da Nola. Té l'estructura d'un arc triomfal i va acompanyat de motius al·legòrics en referència a la personalitat del difunt. Per la seva qualitat, és una de les millors obres renaixentistes de Catalunya.
In 887 Guifré el Pilós (Wilfred the Hairy) founded the monastery of Sant Joan de Ripoll which was later known as Sant Joan de les Abadesses. And, for nearly 60 years between the 9th and 10th centuries, it was the only female monastery in Catalonia.
The first abbess was the daughter of Wilfred the Hairy, Emma of Barcelona. This community of Benedictine nuns remained until 1017 when the nuns, accused of leading a life which was hardly exemplary, were expelled. Subsequently, the monastery was occupied by a male community of Augustinian canons until the 16th century and then went on to be ruled by the archpriest until the 19th century.
The monastic enclosure that we see today has undergone modifications over time. The original Romanesque church was renovated in the 12th century in the monumental architectural style of the models in South-West France and it was partly reconstructed after the 1428 earthquake. Inside, one cannot miss the Santíssim Misteri or Holy Mystery, the only preserved Romanesque sculpture in Catalonia that remains in situ.
Attached to the Church is the Gothic cloister (15th century) and the Chapel of Dolors (18th century), with the baroque cupola by the sculptor Jacint Morató. Also preserved is the old Abbey Palace, 14th-15th century, which today houses the Interpretation Centre of the Myth of Count Arnau as this legendary character was connected to the first community of nuns at the Abbey.
The monastery museum, open since 1975 in the old rectory, displays a collection of paintings, sculptures, textiles and metalwork from the 8th century until the 20th century, most of which was designed for liturgical worship.
