Barcelona

 

To find out about the city’s medieval past, the archaeological site of Adobería de los Ginebreda is a good starting point. This truly unique space allows you to do so by exploring a significant section of the wall that surrounded the town, the traces of the remaining towers and the tannery itself, the only one preserved in the city of the dozen that have been recorded. What’s more, it’s the best preserved one in Catalonia.

 

A city’s heritage can also be explained through nature. This is made possible at the Museum of Natural Sciences of Granollers, known as the Tela after the name of the modernist tower bult in 1912 that houses a part of it. It has several spaces, including the Planetarium, which allows you to decipher the night sky. The Antonio Jonch Cuspinera gardens are a highlight at the Museum, where you can see different plant species found in the Vallés. 

 

You can discover Granollers’ textile past at La Térmica, which houses part of the history of the cotton industry in the Vallés. Built in 1951, it was the location of the old Roca Umbert factory  —now a space for artistic creation— which transformed and distributed the energy to convert cotton into clothing. Now, thanks to audiovisual pieces, you can discover the original elements and pieces that were part of La Térmica during the fifties.

 

You can visit these spaces and many others by following several itineraries that run through the municipality and may even start at the city’s iconic Renaissance Porxada. For example, the modernist and noucentista route, which visits the buildings from these periods, or that of bombed Granollers, which shows some of the emblematic sites affected by these episodes and Can Jonch, Cultural Centre for Peace. 

An excursion proposed in collaboration with the magazine Descobrir.

Throughout the 19th century, on the banks of the rivers Ter and Llobregat, different factories were set up which used the power of water to operate their machinery. In some cases, these factories offered housing for their workers along with other services such as schools and shops, which were part of the so-called industrial colonies.

 

We propose a route to visit some of the most emblematic colonies along the Ter as it passes through Osona. Our journey starts at the El Ter Museum, in Manlleu. Inaugurated in 2004, it explains the industrial and natural heritage of the middle river basin. It reveals historical aspects of the industrialisation process as well as the more social side to industrial life. The two turbines on show also make it possible to truly understand the mechanical system of the factory. The El Ter Museum is part of the territorial system of the National Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia (MNACTEC).

 

Also in Manlleu, we find the origins of Colonia Rusiñol, formerly Can Remisa and residence of the painter and writer Santiago Rusiñol, which date back to 1845 when Josep Dulcet bought the land to build it. Cotton yarn was produced there until 2009 and it was the last colony in the middle part of the Ter to close. The El Ter Museum organises guided tours through the gardens and inside the buildings on the first Sunday of every month.

 

Colonia Imbern or El Pelut, in Orís, is one of the most unique of its kind in the middle section of the Ter. Dating from 1859, the gardens are a real highlight, designed by Rubió and Tudurí, as well as the modernist-style buildings, which were built using shaped river stone.

 

In Sant Vicenç de Torelló, we can reminisce about the past of two leading colonies. Opened in 1882, Colonia Vila-Seca was the first in the municipality. It consists of the factory, workers’ houses, church, inn, school and gardens. The historic homes are now privately owned. Colonia Borgonyà is the other well-known one, made operational in 1895 by J&P Coats, from Scotland. In 1903, they merged with Fabra, industrialists from Barcelona. The houses are currently inhabited by former workers, the factory buildings are occupied by several companies and the service facilities are owned by the Sant Vicenç de Torelló City Council. You can visit the colony on the third Sunday of each month through the El Ter Museum.

A proposal brought to you in collaboration with Descobrir magazine.

Did you know that Mataró is a city with a great wealth of modernist heritage? Here, you’ll find factories, markets, shops, houses and much more. We suggest discovering the legacy of architect, historian and local politician Josep Puig i Cadafalch, with works such the Rengle market, the La Confianza shop, or the Coll i Regàs house. What’s more, you simply must see Antoni Gaudí’s first building, the only trace left of the Mataró Workers’ Cooperative factory, known as the Nau Gaudí.
 
Another must-see on your getaway to the capital of the Maresme is the prison, by Elies Rogent i Amat. It’s a building of great importance in the history of contemporary prison architecture, a construction which is the first application example of the panopticon model in the state. In Mataró, you will also find an authentic jewel of the Catalan baroque: the Dolors set of paintings, an extraordinary collection that is housed in the Basilica of Santa Maria. It’s one of the most important examples of the Catalan baroque, work of Antoni Viladomat i Manalt, considered the best Catalan painter of the first half of the 18th century. This year, a historic intervention has been carried out to restore the famous bells of Santa Maria in an aim to preserve the manual chiming of the bells, which has been named Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
 
On the outskirts of the city, at the eastern end of Camí Ral, in the Havana district, you’ll find an authentic treasure: a small temple of maritime tradition, built in the 17th century. It’s the hermitage of Sant Simó, where the Coca de Mataró was located, a maritime ex-voto of great artistic value that is now kept in the Maritiem Museum Prins Hendrik in Rotterdam.
 
Finally, you simply can’t leave Mataró without visiting the archaeological site of the Llauder tower, where you can see the remains of the stately buildings of a Roman villa built at the end of the 1st century B.C. which belonged to the territory of the Roman city of Iluro (now Mataró). It’s also an important archaeological site which has been declared a Cultural Asset of National Interest.
 
To find out more about the history of Mataró, visit the museum of Can Serra, which has various permanent and temporary exhibitions related to the city’s past, or Ca l’Arenes, where you can delve deeper into the municipality’s artistic activity.