The MHC is a museum designed to stimulate interest in the evolution of Catalan culture. In the Palau de Mar, one of the few conserved buildings of the old port of Barcelona, visitors follow a thought-provoking story that is divided into eight stages, starting in prehistoric times and finishing in the present day to, and taken from a social, economic, political and cultural point of view.
During the tour, you will find objects and documents, historical recreations and audiovisual and interactive scenes, which in an entertaining way, illustrate the history of this nation.
The visitor even gets the opportunity to climb onto the horse of a Lord in the war of the Middles Ages and hide in a trench of the Civil War.
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.
Empúries is the only archaeological site in the Iberian Peninsula where the remains of a Greek city Empòrion coexist with those from the Roman city, Emporiae. It is also the gateway to the classical culture: Ten centuries of history that transformed, forever, the ancient Iberian peoples that inhabited it.
The first settlement of the Greeks was in the 6th century BCE on a small island off the coast of the Gulf of Roses (Palaia Polis, ancient city), and then moved to the mainland to establish what was known as the Neàpolis, the new city. In 218 BCE, the port of Empúries was used as an entry point to the peninsula for the Roman troops in their fight against the Carthaginian army. Between the 6th century BCE and the 5th century AD, Empúries has been a port, a commercial enclave, a western colony of Greece, the first Roman encampment on the peninsula, a prosperous Roman city...
The current Greek ruins belong to the city from the Hellenistic period. During the visit there we would find the precincts Asclepius and Serapis, the small industry which produced canned fish and sauces, the Agorá or public square and the remains of the floor of a banqueting room with an inscription in Greek.
Notable from the Roman period is the Domus 1 with the mosaics that decorated the ground, the Insula 30 (area occupied by the city’s public baths), the Forum, the remains of the Basilica and the Curia and the tabernae or shops.
Half way along the route you can visit the Museum of the Empúries excavations which houses the exceptional original sculpture of Asclepius found at the site.
It is therefore a privileged space for understanding the evolution of the Greek and Roman urban development and is a turning point in the history of the Iberian Peninsula. Currently it is one of the sites of the Museu d’Arqueologia de Catalunya (Archaeological Museum of Catalonia).
Olèrdola has known the presence of man from the Bronze Age until well into the 20th century. This fact shows the strategic importance of a settlement located on the hill of Sant Miquel, which overlooks the Penedès plain. Olèrdola is currently one of the sites of the Museu d’Arqueologia de Catalunya (Catalonia Archaeology Museum) and is part of the Iberian Route.
Its position made Olèrdola an ideal place in times of war but barely habitable during periods of peace. For this reason, the site also has known long periods of abandonment.
The population have left their mark. There is an Iberianoppidum, a fortified and walled village. There is also an impressive Roman fortification to control the territory and, in particular, the access road to Tarraco (the old name for Tarragona). Finally, within the group is a medieval town, with Romanesque and Pre-Romanesque churches (Sant Miquel and Santa Maria), the castle and anthropomorphic tombs dug out of the rock.
At the beginning of the 12th century, the decline of Olèrdola and the displacement of the population in the plain began.
Currently preserved are the remains of the Castle, the Church of Sant Miquel, a Romanesque building, and the Necropolis of Sant Miquel, an excellent display of the characteristic burials from the High Middle Ages.
Perched in the Puig de Sant Andreu, in the Baix Empordà, the Iberian town of Ullastret is the largest Iberian settlement discovered so far in Catalonia. The city, flanked by towering walls, served as the capital of all the indiketa territory, which exploited agriculture, livestock farming, mines and quarries. It was the centre of an important commercial interchange with the Greek city of Empúries, which exported its products and also imported foreign production. Ullastret dominates the landscape of the Empordà and has been testimony to one of the most important archaeological finds of recent years: that of the severed heads of Ullastret.
This exceptional discovery was made in the year 2012, when the excavations in a stretch of the street uncovered 15 human cranial fragments, among which were two embedded heads. It is a ritual of Celtic origin which had already been described by classical authors such as Posidonius of Apamea or Diodorus of Sicily, and which consisted of displaying the heads of the defeated enemy as trophies of war.
Although the Ullastret complex consists of two Iberian villages, it is only the ruins of Puig de Sant Andreu, which are visitable, corresponding to the last stage of occupation of the town by the indiketes (3rd century BC). The route allows you to view the largest and oldest muralla ibèrica in Catalonia, reinforced with six circular towers.
Visitors can ‘enter’ the rectangular houses, from the most modest up to the constructions made for the most important families of the Iber aristocracy, walk down the cobbled street and discovered the water collection system using cisterns in the rock, a copy of those still existing in the Greek colony in Empúries. The spiritual life of the ancient inhabitants of Ullastret has left its mark with the remains of three temples, from the 4th and the 3rd century BC. The complex is completed with the Ullastret Monographic Museum, which allows interpretation of the site and also to find out about the Iberian culture in the north-east of Catalonia. The Ullastret complex is one of the branches of the Museum of Archaeology of Catalonia.
This house in the centre of Moià is a 17th-century manorial building with a remarkable architectural and artistic value. But if there is one thing that makes it special, it is that in around 1660 Rafael Casanova, was born here, hero of the defence of Barcelona on 11th September 1714.
Casanova was the son of a well-to-do family of Moià who made their money from trading in grain and wool. Their wealth can be seen in the features of the home, especially in the richly decorated interior. Made up of ground floor, first floor and attic, with a rear garden and basement, highlights include the main façade with sgraffito (decorated plasterwork).
Currently, the house is home to an exhibition which shows the keys to conflict of 1714: from the outbreak of an international war to determine the successor to the Spanish Crown after the death of the heirless Carles II, until the fall of the city of Barcelona at the hands of the Bourbon troops, Rafael Casanova was responsible for the defence of the city as a Mayor and Commander-in-Chief of La Coronela, the armed forces of Barcelona.
Beyond speculations about whether the building was a mausoleum or a villa during the Roman era, the roman complex of Centcelles (Constantí) is unique for its 4th century mosaics. Exceptional architectural testament of the late-Roman period in Catalonia, since the year 2000, it has been included in the set of monuments of the ancient Tarraco which were declared a Unesco World Heritage Site.
The oldest remains of Centcelles are from a small rural building from the 2nd -1st Century BC, which later became a magnificent villa with a baths complex. The most notable area is the closed circular room with a dome where the mosaics are found. These are considered to be the oldest Christian-themed dome mosaics of the Roman world and are exceptional for their good state of preservation. They represent several scenes, organised into three areas: a hunt on the lower section, biblical scenes from the Old and the New Testament in the central part and figures of the four seasons at the top.
From the study of these mosaics and mural paintings, one could think that the villa was a mausoleum. Even so, its interpretation is still uncertain. The first hypothesis of the researchers suggested that the mosaics made reference to the tomb of Constant, son of the Emperor Constantine the Great. More recent researches, however, think that Centcelles was the late Roman villa of a notable person in the ecclesiastical or civil hierarchy.
The historical and monumental importance of the old Tarraco is reflected in the current Museu de Tarraco (Museum of Tarraco, MNAT), a reference centre for learning about life in this period. Formed during the first half of the 19th century, the MNAT is the oldest Museum in Catalonia within its field and its extensive collection masterfully illustrates the process of Romanisation of the Iberian Peninsula.
Located in a new building since 1960 in which a fragment of the wall has been preserved in situ underground. Among the most outstanding pieces recovered from ancient Tarraco, you can see part of a medallion (clipeus) with the representation of Jupiter-Ammon, the altar dedicated to the Numen of Augustuses (the divine power), a pedestal of a statue with an inscription dedicated to the genius of the Colonia of Tarraco, the statues of Bacchus, Hercules, Claudius and Minerva, the portrait of Nero Julius Caesar and the sarcophagi of the Lion and the Pedagogue.
Meriting their own chapter are the high-quality mosaics which are preserved in the Museum, such as the head of the Medusa -the best of those found in Tarraco- from the residential area of the city; one representing Euterpe, Muse of music, discovered in the Roman villa of Els Munts (Altafulla); the tombstone of Optimus, mosaic with inscription, found in the Early-Christian Necropolis in Tarragona; and the mosaic of the Fish which decorated a room of the Roman villa of Callípolis, in the municipality of Vila-seca.
Among the most extraordinary pieces at MNAT, is an articulated ivory doll found in the sarcophagus of a girl in the Necropolis of Tarraco and the bronze lamp decorated with a representation of a theatrical mask from the Roman villa of la Llosa.
In addition to the Archaeological Museum, MNAT manages the Necropolis of Tarraco, the Roman villa of Els Munts (Altafulla) and the Roman Complex of Centcelles (Constantí). It also includes the famous monuments of the Arch of Berà and the Tower of the Scipios – situated on the Via Augusta – as well as the Roman Theatre in the city. A complex of the highest order which has been a World Heritage Site since 2000 and which takes the visitor closer to a fundamental period in European history.
Built on an excellent vantage point, the medieval castle of Miravet is one of the best examples of the architecture of the Order of the Templars in Europe. This military and religious building is Arab in origin and was built in the defensive style of the castles Terra Santa, with majestic walls that rise up over the River Ebro.
After its conquest in 1153, it became the property of the Christians and Ramon Berenguer IV gave it to Pere de Rovira, master of the Knights Templar in Hispania and Provence, who reconstructed the castle transforming it into one of the main centres of Christian power on the Iberian Peninsula.
Its uniformity of construction shows that the Templars constructed the building in a relatively short time. Nevertheless, the remains of an Andalusian fortress are evident especially in the lower sections of the wall and in part of the buildings of the upper enclosure.
Beyond the Castle, Miravet is a walled citadel with constructions on different levels. Its forms are blunt and austere i, like a form of medieval hive, in that within the walls, the community had everything needed for day-to-day living.
A la riba del riu Gaià, trobem el monestir de Santes Creus , que era el centre d’un dels dominis monàstics més extensos i influents del Regne d’Aragó. Amb una arquitectura sòlida, seriosa i austera, l’abadia reflecteix el model canònic dels monestirs cistercencs (juntament amb Vallbona de les Monges i Poblet ). Visitar Santes Creus és reviure un moment en què la puresa i la distància del món de les persones es van concretar en un lloc ben arrelat a la terra.
Fundat el 1160, el punt àlgid de Santes Creus es trobava entre els segles XIII i XIV, per la seva estreta relació amb la noblesa i la família reial. Els reis, Pere el Gran i Jaume II el Just i la seva dona, Blanca d’Anjou, eren patrons del monestir i van optar per ser enterrats aquí, en dos mausoleus gòtics al costat de l’altar major. L’estudi i restauració de les tombes reials, el 2010, va permetre que es descobrissin intactes les restes de Pere el Gran i Blanca d’Anjou, les úniques restes dels Reis i Reines de la Corona d’Aragó.
El pla fonamental del monestir va organitzar els espais segons les necessitats de la comunitat. L’església, que es va obrir per al culte el 1225, és un exemple de la transició del romànic al gòtic. Tot i aportar sensació de lleugeresa i grandiositat, és un temple sòlid i auster. Contrasta amb l’esplendor del claustre, que data del segle XIV, el primer d’estil gòtic de la Corona d’Aragó.
