Bread, wine and oil. The essence of the Mediterranean diet, shared by Iberians, Celts, Greeks, Romans, Barbarians and Arabs, and based on these three ingredients. A combination of simple food--varied and balanced-- that throughout the centuries, without losing its own identity, has been enriched by the contributions and the mixing of ancient cultures.
As such, from theMiddle and Far East came cereals, legumes and many fruits and vegetables such as carrots, onions and apples. From Europe, cabbage and asparagus. From the Far East, chickpeas and aubergines. From Southeast Asia and Oceania, rice, pepper and sugar cane. From Africa, melon.From America, potatoes and tomatoes.
The existence of this cuisine is due in large part to the characteristics of the region, with the dry and rough nature of the Mediterranean Basin, where olive trees, vineyards and grain adapt perfectly. Orchards and small woods complement the landscape, along with a warm climate.
Since 2010, the Mediterranean diet has been included in UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List. One of the reasons for the bid, submitted jointly by Spain, Greece, Italy and Morocco, was to protect this model of healthy eating against socio-cultural changes resulting from globalisation.
Located in the Sierra de Godall of Ulldecona, the Abrics de l'Ermita (the hermitage rock shelters) are the most important set of Levantine cave paintings in Catalonia and have been on the Unesco World Heritage list since 1998 and form part of the Route of Rock Art.
In this exceptional complex, the Neolithic man drew a world of beliefs or mythical stories related to the hunt. The steep cliffs of Godall were a place conducive to capturing animals and so you can see in the paintings through the various species of animals in the area, of the archers and, even, of divinities and specialists in charge of carrying out rituals. Experts say that the Neolithic society used the cave painting as a means of communication with the aim to point out places of meeting and celebration of certain rites.
The first paintings of the Sierra de Godall were discovered in 1975 in a cave in the ravine. Currently we have located up to fourteen shelters decorated by man 8,000 years ago. Just next to the shelters, the Abrics de l’Ermita Interpretation Centre for Rock Art, created by the Museum of Archaeology of Catalonia, allows the visitor to discover the artistic and historical heritage of Ulldecona through graphical, photographic, audiovisual resources and replicas of the paintings.
Man has always needed to express his concerns and thoughts. When writing did not exist, artistic expression was the perfect resource to convey these ideas. The set of Rock Art of the Mediterranean basin on the Iberian peninsula consists of 757 sites with paintings, and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1998. This is the largest set of rock art sites in Europe. In Catalonia there are the hermitage shelters of the Serra de la Pietat (Ulldecona), Roca dels Moros (Montsià) and the Cave of Vilasos or Els Vilars (Os de Balaguer), among others.
The humans who inhabited the coastal and interior mountains of Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia, Castile-La Mancha, Murcia and Andalusia chose shallow caves and shelters in which to paint and engrave symbols and scenes from their daily life. In every way, the decorated walls also raise many questions about their beliefs, organisation and other aspects which are difficult to understand.
The paintings of the Mediterranean basin were made from the late Palaeolithic period up to the bronze or the iron age. Classified as Levantine art, they express ideas that until that point had been non-existent: man showing his relationship to his environment, the links with nature, beliefs and, at the same time, expressing his power and intervention in the environment in which he lives.
The creators of the cave paintings used different techniques and colours, creating various styles that scholars have classified as naturalist, schematic and macro-schematic. These last two were imposed in the final phase, and tend towards an increasingly accentuated stylisation of the expressions and by an increasing prominence of signs and symbols. The most widely used colour is red, in all its varied tones.
The Museu d’Arqueologia de Catalunya (MAC) is organised around its 6 regional centres (Barcelona, CASC, Empúries, Girona, Olèrdola and Ullastret). Of them all, Barcelona is the centre that offers a more cross-cutting view because it explains the social, technological, economic, and religious developments from early man up to the middle ages in Catalonia and the Mediterranean.
Located in the former Pavelló d'Arts Gràfiques, (Graphic Arts Pavilion), built for the 1929 Universal Exposition of Barcelona, the MAC Barcelona renovated 11 rooms between 2010 and 2013. The permanent exhibition, consisting of more than one million original pieces, takes the visitor on a journey through pre-history, protohistory, the Greek and Phoenician colonisation and the establishment of the Roman Empire.
To accompany the visitor, there are learning resources, pictures, scenery and also audiovisual pieces such as the funeral rituals of prehistoric times compared with those of today.
One of the most emblematic pieces of the museum is the statue of the Roman God Aesculapius, now a reproduction because the original was moved to the Empúries centre in 2008. Other notable exhibits include the Paleolithic materials, the 53,200 year-old Neanderthal jaw from Sitges, the Iberian treasure of Tivissa, the Phoenician votive figures, Greek ceramics and the Roman statue found in the street Carrer Paradís, and considered to be the highest quality sculpture recovered from ancient Barcino, the Roman name for Barcelona.
The Monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes stands on one of the peaks of the Serra de Rodes, a mountain range right by the sea in the north of Alt Empordà. It is one of the many testimonials of Catalan Romanesque architecture, but it may also be one of the most architecturally sophisticated.
From the 11th to the 14th century it was the main spiritual centre of the county of Empúries and its splendor can be seen in the large dimensions of the monastic complex. This comprises the church, the bell tower, the cloister, the sacristies, the conventional rooms for everyday living and the Palau de l’Abat (the Abbot's Palace).
The monastery is built in terraces in order to adapt to the terrain and the various buildings are arranged around the cloister and the church, built between the 10th and 11th centuries. In these two buildings you can see an exceptional example of Romanesque sculpture: the columns (original) and the capitals that crown them tell us about the classical influence that has marked this unique church.
On the outside, the ‘portalada’, designed by the Mestre de Cabestany, showed different scenes from the life of Christ carved in white marble. The scarce fragments that remain, give us a sample of their extraordinary quality, probably one of the best of its time.
From the monastery you can enjoy one of the best views of Cap de Creus. Shortly before reaching it, you will see the ruins of the medieval village of Santa Creu de Rodes, the most notable of these being the Church of Santa Helena de Rodes.
In 1900, the businessman Eusebio Guell commissioned Antonio Gaudi with a building consisting of 60 single-family homes for affluent families on the outskirts of Barcelona. Despite the project's modernity, it was a commercial failure that forced its promoters to close it in 1914. It is currently one of the most important public parks in Barcelona.
Gaudí experimented with architectural forms closely resembling the landscape and nature . The chosen site, with almost no vegetation, was stony and with significant ground irregularities. Gaudí took advantage of these characteristics by creating winding paths and using materials from the area, such as stones, to build covered spaces and porches supported with sloping columns.
Perhaps the most spectacular part of the park is a double set of steps with a central fountain in the shape of a dragon , all of which is covered in colourful "trencadís" mosaic (by the architect Josep Maria Jujol). The double set of steps leads to a large covered area that projects outwards like a large market, and is supported by 86 majestic Doric columns. The ceiling is adorned with colourful medallions. Above this area there is a large square, bordered by a long bench that defines an original meandering path.
The house that was built as a model of the dwellings of the future housing estate, and that was called Torre Rosa in reference to the Virgin of the Rosary, was inhabited by Antoni Gaudí himself from 1906 to 1925.
Military strategy and religious worship are united on the highest peak of Cardona. From the 9th century, the Castle and the Collegiate Church of Sant Vicenç have dominated the region and control the salt basins. During the War of the Spanish Succession, when they become a symbol of the resistance for the supporters of the Archduke Carles against the defenders of Philip of Anjou: the castle was the last fortress to surrender to the Bourbon troops and it fell after the capitulation of Barcelona on 18th September 1714.
The medieval complex is divided between the stately pavilions and the canonry of Sant Vicenç. The Castle was built in 886 under the command of the Count of Barcelona, Guifré el Pilós, but was not completed until several centuries later. Of the most notable elements of the first building from the 9th century only the Torre de la Minyona remains. During the first half of the 11th century, it was constructed within the precinct of the Church of Sant Vicenç, an imposing building and one of the best samples of the first Catalan Romanesque.
A great example of medieval military fortification, between the 11th and 15th centuries, the castle was the residence of the Lords of Cardona but eventually it lost its residential function and gained strategic importance. From the 17th century, the fortress updated its defensive system with a ring of bastions.
Despite being one of the most emblematic sites, Cardona was not the only setting linked to the War of Succession. The "Route 1714", organised as part of the programme of activities for the tri-centenary, includes 10 locations, such as El Born in Barcelona, the University of Cervera and the Rafael Casanova House Museum, among others.
Around 65 million years old, more than 38,000 m2 in size and with 3,500 dinosaur footprints. These facts make this spot in Fígols-Vallcebre Fumanya one of the most important in Europe with Cretaceous fossil remains.
Located in Alt Berguedà, the paleontological area includes the old open mining coal operations in Fumanya Sud (Fígols) Fumanya Nord, Tumi (Vallcebre) and Coll de Pradell (Vallcebre-Saldes). In addition to the footprints (ichnites), paleontologists have identified fossil remains of dinosaur eggs and bones, a large number of plant remains (tree trunks, leaves of different kinds, algae ...) and animals (fossilised shells of mollusks and invertebrates).
The discovery of Fumanya area dates back to 1985 when Louis Viladrich and his wife, members of the group Berguedà Natural Sciences, were hiking in the area and suspected that the tracks they saw in the light in Fumanya Sud could be animal footprints. The subsequent investigations of Miquel Crusafont Sabadell Paleontological Institute confirmed their initial theory.
The Torre Glòries (The Glòries Tower), a modern office building located at the entrance of the 22@ (the technological district of Barcelona), has altered the city’s skyline since 2005. It is the work of French architect Jean Nouvel, who is inspired by the images of a geyser, the architecture of Gaudí and the mountain of Montserrat. A contemporary lighthouse that attracts the interest of locals and tourists in equal measure.
Rising from two elliptical, concrete cylinders, one inside the other, the Torre Agbar measures 142 metres high and is covered by two "skins". The innermost is an aluminium plate painted with earth tones, blues, greens and greys. The outermost is a transparent and translucent wall made up of nearly 60,000 sheets of glass. Thanks to this double façade an air chamber is created that allows the heating of the building to be delivered and provide ventilation. The glass used are pieces of a brie-soleil, a system that controls the sun's rays depending on the outside temperature.
These characteristics make the Torre Agbar an original, intelligent and sustainable building, the three principles on which Nouvel’s project is based. It is especially notable on weekend nights, when 4,500 points of LED light (the most efficient and least polluting system) illuminate the façade with colour.
Symbol of the city, the Cathedral of Girona is an imposing building, located on the highest point in the town and with a unique feature: its single nave is the second largest in the world (only surpassed by St. Peter's in the Vatican). But the temple hides many treasures beyond its dimensions. At the top of a spectacular staircase with 90 steps there is a compendium of 5 centuries of history.
Romanesque feet, Gothic body and Baroque face. This is the current appearance of the Cathedral of Girona. The Tower of Charlemagne, the cloister and sacristy are the only things left of the first Romanesque building from the mid-11th century. The cloister is one of the most important in Catalonia thanks to its sculptural wealth.
The church, of huge dimensions, was built between the 14th and 18th centuries and was dedicated to Santa Maria. The first stone of the facade of the Cathedral was placed in 1606, but it was not finished until well into the 20th century. The dilation in time means that the structure is between Baroque and Classical.
Attached to the Church we find the Cathedral Treasury with two notable pieces of great artistic value: the Tapestry of the Creation (one of the few examples of Romanesque textiles) and the Beatus de Girona (a 10th-century copy of the Commentary on the Apocalypse made by the Blessed of Liébana, with more than 100 full page miniatures).
