A visit to
Berguedà can be like
time travel because the district has a unique past that can transport you to the
industrial Catalonia as it was at the beginning of the
20th century. We would suggest a car journey that you can take over the course of
two days to visit the
Riutort asphalt mine and the
Cercs Mines Museum, as well as taking a trip along the
Cement Railway.
THE RIUTORT ASPHALT MINEYou could start your tour by visiting the
Riutort asphalt mine, which can be reached along the main road that goes from
Guardiola de Berguedà to
Pobla de Lillet (taking the track there just before the Espelt campsite). This is one of the few
underground petroleum mines there are in the world.
Two French engineers started work on the perforation of the mine in 1905 but, after 12 years of exploitation, and after digging 350 metres of underground galleries, no more than
500 tons of asphalt had been extracted.
CEMENT RAILWAYReturning again to the main road to
Pobla de Lillet, you come to the historic
Cement Railway, a line that used to run from the former
Asland cement factory in
Castellar de n’Hug to
Guardiola de Berguedà. Its current route takes approximately
20 minutes and passes through four stations: La Pobla de Lillet, La Pobla Centre, Jardins Artigas (designed at the beginning of the 20th century by
Antoni Gaudí) and the Castellar de n'Hug Cement Museum. You could spend the night in one of the
hotels or country houses in Guardiola de Berguedà, or Cercs.
SANT CORNELI COAL MINESThe following day you could visit the
Sant Corneli coal mines in the municipality of
Cercs. The
Colònia de Sant Corneli, a company town, formed part, together with the neighbouring company towns of
Sant Josep La Consolació, of the largest mining centre in Catalonia. The mines were exploited by the
Carbones de Berga, S.A. company, which was founded in 1911 and remained active until 1991. Today you can find out more about the history of these mines at the
Mines Museum in Cercs, which is devoted entirely to the mining of coal and which is located in the former company town of Sant Corneli.
Guided tours inside the mine are also available.
BERGUEDÀ CUISINEHaving finished your visit, drop down into
Berga for a good lunch. Some of the region's
local specialities are
pèsols negres (black peas) and
patates emmascarades (a kind of bubble-and-squeak or hash).
Bon profit!Have we managed to inspire you? If you have any other interesting suggestions please send them to us on Facebook or publish your photos on Instagram with the hashtag #patrimonicultural 
