Since 1988, the Museu de la Vida Rural (Museum of Rural life, MVR) has been showing visitors the characteristics of traditional life in Catalonia, concentrating in particular on the peasantry. It is one of the leading centres of conservation and ethnological research in the country, with a varied collection which allows you to explore the history of the Catalan rural world through a modern and innovative museum project.
The permanent exhibition displays objects related to the peasantry, the arts and artisanal crafts: pieces that represent an authentic cultural basis of our society. The tour is organised by areas of work: those of agriculture, the trades of the village (priest, teacher, cafe owner, pastry chef, spinner, apothecary, barber ...) and the domestic.
The centre, integrated into the Network of Ethnological Museums, forms part of the Lluís Carulla Foundation and is housed in the ancestral home of the Carulla family in L'Espluga de Francolí. The old building was restored and remodelled to accommodate the collection of the Museu de la Vida Rural. In 2010 a new annex building was constructed and the whole of the museum was renovated to accommodate its exhibition scheme in order to facilitate understanding of the rural world from a contemporary perspective.
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.
Iesso, located in the present-day town of Guissona, is one of the few Roman cities in Catalonia on which the present-day city has not been completely superimposed. This gives it considerable archaeological potential. In addition, it is one of the most well-documented examples of urban activity that unfolded in Catalonia in 100 BC: a crucial historical moment in which the urban network inherited by our current cities, began to be constructed.
Ancient Iesso was an important inland capital of the empire. About 20,000 people lived there and it occupied twice as much ground as Barcino. In Roman hands, the city experienced 700 years of prosperity, based on agriculture and intense commercial activity. The original town was surrounded by walls and the streets arranged around two axes, the cardo maximus, on a north-south orientation, and the decumanus maximus, running from east to west, following the usual urban plan of Roman cities.
The constructive and commercial activity of Iesso continued up to the Visigothic period (6th century), even though the period that followed the dissolution of the Roman Empire in Guissona was a historic moment of unknown force.
Nowadays, the Archaeological Park of Iesso offers the perfect example in which to discover the development and the transformation of the Roman city over time. Notable are the large public baths, with an advanced system for the circulation of water, the remains of a facility to produce wine and a large manorial house organised around a central courtyard.
During the 14th and 15th centuries, Tortosa was a commercial enclave of the highest order. This splendour can be seen in buildings such as the Cathedral, the noble palaces, the Episcopal Palace, the walled enclosure or the llotja (the exchange). In the 16th century Tortosa was one of the most important cities in Catalonia politically, economically and demographically. It is from this period that the Royal Colleges date, the most important Renaissance complex in Catalonia.
The monumental complex consists of three buildings. The most important thing is the College of Sant Jaume i Sant Maties, from 1564, which started out to educate young Muslim converts. It is a large two-story building organised around a central courtyard – the only Renaissance courtyard in Catalonia - noted for its rich sculptural ornamentation with a strong Italian influence.
The other building is the College of Sant Jordi i Sant Domènec, from 1578. It was originally a Dominican convent, but Francoist shelling (1937-1939) left only the simple Renaissance portal of two buildings standing.
Completing the complex is the Church of Sant Domènec, from 1585. It is a church with a single nave, in Gothic style, with side chapels. Currently the central nave is dominated by the storage-archive from the now disappeared town hall. Since 2008, it has hosted the Renaissance Interpretation Centre.
The Cabdella Power Station, located in the municipality of La Torre de Cabdella, was the first hydroelectric power station in Catalonia. Its gestation was at the end of the 19th century when Emili Riu, journalist and politician from Sort, found a way to take advantage of the large water reserve of the Vall Fosca, which exceeded 50 million m3.
In 1914 the company, Energia Elèctrica de Catalunya (Electricity Energy of Catalonia) put the hydroelectric power station in operation. It was an ambitious plan that took advantage of the waters of the Lake Gento system through a 5 kilometre long canal with an elevation of 836 metres. In addition, they had to install new infrastructure: a funicular railway, access roads, narrow-gauge railways, homes for employees, etc. Even so, the project was finished in just two years.
After a time, the power station was transferred to La Canadenca company (now Fecsa-Endesa). Currently, in one part of the installation, we can find the Cabdella Hydroelectric Museum, belonging to the network of museums of the Museu de la Ciència i de la Tècnica de Catalunya, which appreciates what the power station meant both for industry and also for the region.
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 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.
2700 years ago a tribe of the ilergetes created a settlement on a plain near the current Arbeca (Les Garrigues). It was a good place to cultivate the land. But despite the serenity of the place, the ilergetes feared enemy attacks and therefore raised an imposing fortification which was almost impregnable. This makes Els Vilars a unique construction in the Iberian, Catalan and European worlds and one of the essential stops on the Iberian Route.
In an oval shape, the fortress was completely walled and had watchtowers. To access it there were only two, small doors. If entering the settlement was difficult, approaching it wasn’t an easy task either: in front of the walls, a barrier of stones stuck in the ground (chevaux-de-frise) prevented the passage of outsiders on foot or on horseback. A large moat completed the defensive works. Inside, the homes were arranged around a square dominated by a huge pit.
All these structures are visible today, thanks to the restoration and conservation of the site. Seen from the air, its perfectly oval plan can be appreciated and the edges of the rectangular homes that housed the hundred or so inhabitants that lived in Els Vilars.
The ilergetes lived there for 400 years and then left the site abruptly. Why they did is still a mystery. Its strength was so unique it became a model for the Iberians of the Peninsula.
History stops again and again at Roses. Founded as a Greek colony, its location makes it a strategic point in the Mediterranean. For this reason, the site has experienced various occupations and has been a target of numerous attacks. Today, the Ciutadella is a modern cultural centre and an extraordinary site.
Brought together over an area of 139,000 m2 are the archaeological remains of the Greek colony and later Roman colony of Rhode, the Romanesque monastery of Santa Maria and the structure of the old village of Roses, which even retains some medieval fortifications.
The current walls are fortified with large bastions dating back to the Renaissance and modern eras. It was in the 16th century that the King Carles V the Holy Roman Emperor, commanded the Ciutadella and the Castell de la Trinitat to be built to protect them from pirates and Turks.
In 1814 the French themselves were the ones who wanted the Ciutadella, which has been restored and was opened to the public at the end of the 20th century.
Since 2004 within the enclosure, you can visit the Museu de la Ciutadella, a contemporary building which summarises the history of the complex.
