Defined by the playwright Àngel Guimèra as one of the cathedrals of wine, the modernista cellar of Pinell del Brai is the architectural expression of the agricultural cooperatives in Catalonia at the end of the 19th century. Its construction, in 1919, was the responsibility of Cèsar Martinell who used all the elements of the traditional Catalan architecture, the modernista aesthetic, and enriched it with the technical innovations of his teacher Antoni Gaudí.
The light that is filtered from the windows, the floor plan reminiscent of a church and the feeling of spaciousness recreates the interior of a Gothic Cathedral. But beyond the architectural beauty of the building, Martinell created a functional space designed for the production of wine. For this reason, some important technical innovations were incorporated: the structure of the warehousing based on parabolic arches, the ventilation system through large windows or insulation in the cavity walls of the containers in which the wine is made.
The most characteristic element of the winery is undoubtedly the glazed ceramic frieze on the façade designed by the painter Francesc Xavier Nogués, where there are scenes of the harvest and the production of wine and oil. Despite it being spectacular, due to the lack of budget, it was taken out of the initial project and was not incorporated until 1949.
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 Gardens of Santa Clotilde, located on a truly beautiful cliff top with views over the sea, are considered to be the model of the noucentista garden. They were made by the architect Nicolau Rubió i Tudurí, a close follower of Jean Claude Nicolas Forestier, who designed, among other things, the gardens of Montjuïc and the Parc de la Ciutadella.
In an attempt to restore the classical forms, the gardens were designed in the manner of the old gardens of the Italian Renaissance. They are structured on the basis of a terraced incline, where the diversity of species of Mediterranean plants alternate with small ponds and groups of sculptures.
Near the main entrance to the gardens is the casa original that is noted for the semicircular arches on the ground floor, a large terrace and a three-storey turret. To the south face of the tower there is a painted tile panel dedicated to Santa Clotilde dating back to 1930.
The gardens have been arranged around the main set of steps, known as the Escala de les Sirenes, (the steps of the Sirens), which runs from the terrace of the house. As one descends, there is the smell of resins, laurels and aromatic plants with the sea in the background.
Casa Masó is the birthplace of the architect Rafael Masó , a symbol of the development of "Noucentisme" in Girona. Perfectly integrated into the urban environment, the building consists of a ground floor, three apartments and the roof.
The current house is the union of four craftsman-type houses purchased by the Masó family. The façade in Carrer Ballesteries combines the Secessionist style with Barroque-inspired elments. At the rear, glass and ceramic collonades frame the Onyar river.
Rafael Masó made two major alterations to the house. The first, in 1911, when his father commissioned him to adapt the house to the needs of a large and socially ascending family. The second renovation was in 1918, when his brother inherited the house. In addition to unifying the façades, he designed the staircase, the stained glass windows and much of the furniture inside.
For the renovations, the architect turned to the "Modernista" (Catalan Art Nouveau) style prevailing at the time, although he continued to introduce more elements of the nascent "Noucentisme" movement.
Since 2006, this affluent house has been the home of the Rafael Masó Foundation and is currently the only house along the Onyar open to the public.
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.
Who says that a hospital has to be white and devoid of all decoration? Thanks to the legacy of the banker Pau Gil, in 1902 the modernist architect, Lluís Domènech i Montaner, planned a hospital full of beauty, rich in ornamentation, colour and vegetation.
It is a monumental complex consisting of 27 red brick pavilions located on the border between the districts of Eixample and Guinardó. It is a true hospital city where, surrounded by gardens, medical and general treatments are provided, and where apartments and a church are located. Everything is connected via a 2 km underground passage systemthat allows patients to move about without going outside.
The project by Domènech i Montaner, that would be finished by his son in 1930, is a completely innovative architectural and urban conceptin terms of the typical 20th century hospital. The hospital separated services to avoid contagion and favoured natural light and open spaces to freshen the air and provide a more pleasing environment for the patients .
After more than 80 years of healthcare activity, the hospital was moved to new buildings in 2009. Once vacated and renovated, Domènech i Montaner's modernist pavilions became the home of other institutions.
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.
Located in the heart of the city of Barcelona, the Parc de la Ciutadella is not only a reference point as a green space in the city: its great diversity of elements (museums, lake, waterfall, century-old vegetation, sculptures, etc.) make it especially valued by residents and visitors to the city. Built in the second half of the 19th century on the occasion of the Universal Exposition of 1888, the current park occupies the grounds of the citadel which Felip V ordered to be built in 1714 after the War of Succession.
Of the pavilions built for the Universal Exposition, the Castell dels Tres Dragons (headquarters of the Museum of Zoology of Barcelona), the Umbracle (the plant house), and the Hivernacle (greenhouse) survive. But where all eyes are focused is on the lake and the monumental waterfall. A young Antoni Gaudí took part in the construction of the fountain, topped by a wrought iron sculpture.
In the old Plaza de Armas of the fortress is the seat of the Parliament of Catalonia and very close by, you can see a copy of El desconsol (Desolation), by Josep Llimona. This replica is the most prominent of the hundreds of sculptures that the visitor can see in the Park.
The main entrance to la Ciutadella along the Passeig de Lluís Companys, which is headed by the imposing modernista Triumphal Arch and which forms one of the most beautiful urban postcards of the city.
For many years, the Ciutadella was the only park in the city, and the first of those currently existing which was designed specifically as a public space. Its versatility turns the green lung of Barcelona into a stage for leisure and cultural activities.
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).
The Exile Memorial Museum (MUME) is the first museum facility dedicated to preserving the memory and legacy of Republican exiles caused by the Spanish Civil War.
Located at la Jonquera, the border crossing where most of the exiles escaped, the MUME is defined as a space for memory, history and critical reflection. A project that is not only limited to the task of exhibition but which promotes historical research and educational outreach.
Its permanent exhibition presents the phenomenon of exile throughout history, placing the emphasis on the Civil War and the subsequent republican defeat and withdrawal. The dispersion of refugees through the Pyrenees on the path to France and the fate of several thousand refugees who crossed the border is one of the points of interest of the exhibition. The experiences of the exiles and their cultural legacy from testimonies and documentary heritage complete the exhibition.
