From a manuscript of the tenth century, to the Proceedings of the Governing Council of the Republican Government, and including archives and personal collections of illustrious personages of the Catalan society in the 19th and 20th centuries such as Francesc Macià, Prat de la Riba, Eugeni D'Ors and Carles Riba. Since 1980, the National Archive of Catalonia (Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya, ANC) has been the institution in charge of gathering, preserving and disseminating the documentary heritage of the country.
As the general archive of the government, the ANC receives, restores and manages the documentation generated by the political and administrative actions of the Generalitat de Catalunya. As a national historical archive, it is dedicated to the restoration of documentation which is key to the knowledge of our past.
In addition to the archives from the administration, associations and foundations, and from the Church, particularly notable among its more than 900 holdings and documentary collections are the personal holdings and the manuscript, scroll and printed collections.
The history of the national archives of Catalonia began in 1936, during the Spanish Republic, and was restarted with the end of Franco's dictatorship. The current headquarters in Sant Cugat is a modern building featuring the latest technologies to ensure the best preservation of documents.
Under the protection of Kings and noblemen, the monastery of Poblet became the nerve centre of medieval Catalonia. The royal pantheon during the middle ages, the complex has become a cultural and historical symbol where the Cistercian monks have come back to live.
The construction of the monastery began in the 12th century and in avariety of architectural styles such as Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque. However, the complex enjoys complete harmony both among its architectural elements (which contain all the splendour of theCistercian order) as well as in its relationship with the surroundings of the Prades mountains.
Some of the most notable elements of the monastery include: the Church, which follows the style of Cistercian temples, and where one must admire the altarpiece from the high altar, a Renaissance group in white alabaster by Damià Forment; the beautiful gothic chapel of Sant Jordi, built in the time of Alfonso the Magnanimous (15th century), and the royal gate, a magnificent Gothic construction flanked by two octagonal towers.
It was the king, Pere III El Ceremoniós, (Peter the Ceremonious, 1319-1387) who tied the monastery to the Crown of Aragon, constructing the royal pantheon there, which until then had been in Santes Creus. Here they installed the sepulchres of Alfonso I, Jaume I el Conqueridor (James the Conqueror), Pere III and many of his successors. The sepulchres, made of white Alabaster, were worked by some of the best sculptors of the time.
The Born Cultural Centre in Barcelona is a benchmark facility for Europe: it is both a historical site, the core of the collective Catalan memory and a modern cultural centre.
As a historical site, the old market of Born (1876) was the first large building using iron architecture in the city, demonstrating its prominent role as a European metropolis during the 19th century.
With regard to the historical memory, in the subsoil of the market an exceptional archaeological site, both for its state of conservation and for its dimensions, is preserved. Contemplating the remains of 42 streets and 60 houses that were part of the Barri de la Ribera (the Ribera neighbourhood) you can explore the history of Barcelona and Catalonia, from the Roman era until the early eighteenth century.
The stones speak to us especially of the outcome of the War of Succession for the city, which resisted the siege by Felip V's troops up to the capitulation on 11th September 1714. As a result, the centre of the Born was destroyed in order to build the military stronghold of the Ciutadella.
After years of excavation work, restoration and exhibits, this location has been converted into a cultural centre. Opened in 2014, it acts as an interpretation centre for the War of the Spanish Succession, and at the same time offers a programme that includes literary, musical, and theatrical activities.
At the top of a hill overlooking the "Conca de Tremp" (Tremp Basin), there is a group of monuments that could be represent a large part of medieval life: the Castell de Mur and, at barely one hundred metres in size, the Col·legiata de Santa Maria de Mur. These two buildings are symbols of spiritual and military domination of a border territory that had just been conquered by Muslims. They were lands under the jurisdiction of one of the prominent names of the medieval Pallars: Arnau Mir de Tost.
The architectural structure of the castle is simple but very unique and consists of a walled perimeter and boat-shaped ground floor, which has a unique gateway with southern access. The area is 31 metres long and the one-metre-thick wall has a height that varies between 14 and 18 metres. It forms a slightly irregular triangle, because of the rock on which it is constructed, with rounded corners. It is an exemplary piece of the civil military architecture of the eleventh century, with exceptionally well-conserved perimeter walls.
All the work is constructed with a small and regular bond, characteristic of the First Romanesque, and conserved within the enclosure, there lies the circular master tower; about 16 metres high, divided into four floors and bearing loophole windows.
600 metres away on a hill of Montseny, the Montsoriu Castle is a fusion between the Romanesque fortification of the exterior and the Gothic palace interior. A medieval fortress of great beauty that has withstood the passage of time and the onslaught of various battles.
The building extends from the 10th century to the 15th century. Over these 500 years, the architectural complex has been transformed to meet different uses. The fortress is divided into 3 concentric and tiered walled precincts: the Sobirà enclosure, the parade ground and Jussà enclosure.
The Sobirà enclosure (10th-12th century) is the highest and is noted for the Torre de l'Homenatge (the keep), which gives the Castle its appearance. We can also find the pre-Romanesque chapel of Sant Pere, in which Romanesque paintings are preserves and the Gothic Hall.
At a lower level there is the Pati d’armes (parade ground), the central area of the castle. Built between the 12th and 14th centuries, it was partially covered by an arcaded gallery. From the 14th century, the castle was transformed into a residential palace and several rooms were built such as the dining room and the kitchen.
Finally, the Jussà enclosure is a uniform space with 4 rectangular towers designed to protect the small access door to the Castle.
Currently, at the top of the hill, a large part of the Romanesque defensive wall remains standing, its towers and the Gothic interior that was the luxurious residence of the Viscounts of Cabrera.
The Palau de la Generalitat, located in the Gothic quarter of Barcelona, is one of the few buildings of medieval origin in Europe that have been maintained as a seat of Government and for the same institution for which it was built.
The original house, on Carrer Sant Honorat, was acquired in 1400 and during the 15th century it was expanded and converted into a new gothic palace, the work of Marc Safont. Among the best preserved elements from this period are the Gothic Gallery and the Chapel of Sant Jordi.
During the 16th century, the Palau de la Generalitat grew with a new part which respected the previous Gothic style such as the Cambra Daurada (Golden Chamber) and the first Pati dels Tarongers(courtyard planted with orange trees). The most radical changes came with the extension towards the Plaça Sant Jaume (1597-1619): the current main façade was inspired by the Italian Renaissance, and there are four Doric columns of Roman origin dating from the 2nd century.
The last major changes in the building happened in the period of the Mancomunitat de Catalunya, the Catalan Commonwealth, (1914-1925): items such as the staircase of honour and the equestrian statue of Sant Jordi were added. Notable from the 1970s is the acquisition of more than a hundred pieces of modern, avant-garde and contemporary art by artists such as Montserrat Gudiol, Josep Maria Subirachs, Antoni Clavé, Joan Hernández Pizjuán, and Antoni Tàpies.
Under the waters of El Port de la Selva bay, resting for more than 2,000 years, the Cap del Vol, a Roman vessel that sank with its cargo of wine and which has been baptised with the name of the beach where the wreck remains. From the outset, the researchers realised that the Cap del Vol was not a conventional Roman ship: the characteristics of its naval architecture were quite different from other wrecks (sunken ships) from the same period.
In particular, the draught of the vessel (the distance between the waterline and the keel) is lower than that of other ships and its keel is not pronounced. Features that made it ideal for sailing in shallow waters or in wetland areas and the scholars believe that in reality it was a ship built by the indigenous population of the area.
El Cap del Vol was carrying a load of wine stored in amphora and it is believed that it made the trip between the Catalan coast and that of Narbonne. Among the most remarkable finds there is a coin from Arse (Sagunt) and the cork in one of the amphora.
The Historic Archives of the City of Barcelona (AHCB) is the institution in charge of custody, preservation, treatment and dissemination of historical documents generated by the government of the city since the 13th century, when the Barcelona municipal government was created, and until the liberal revolution of the mid-19th century.
Over time, a wide range of archival materials, bibliographic and newspaper collections of historical interest have been incorporated and it has become one of the most important archival centres of Catalonia and an essential reference for historians.
From the 1920s the headquarters of the archive has been the
Currently the holdings and collections of the historical archive of the city of Barcelona are divided into three main sections: documentary collections, the library and the newspaper library.
The Regional Archives Network (XAC) is made up of regional archives that work to ensure the principles of provenance and regionality in the treatment and access to documents.
Each of the 41 archives of the network is responsible for organising, preserving, disseminating and facilitating access to the documentation and documentary heritage of their region, and also collaborates with the various public administrations.
In addition, they are also in charge of the custody of the documents of the municipalities of less than 10,000 inhabitants, notary protocols more than 100 years old, the documentation regarding the administration of Justice, the public records of the State, and any other documentation of historic or cultural interest for the area.
Since 1981 the three provincial archives (Girona, Lleida, Tarragona) also form part of the Regional Archives Network of the Catalan Government.
With the aim of cataloguing, preserving and disseminating the bibliographic heritage of Catalonia, in 1983 the Catalan Government created the Collective Catalogue of Catalonia’s Bibliographic Heritage (CCPBC).
Managed by the Biblioteca de Catalunya, the CCPBC is a cooperative cataloguing project open to all types of institutions that have bibliographic collections relating to heritage. It contains bibliographic descriptions of printed documents that range from the very beginnings of printing until the start of the 20th century, as well as manuscripts and other types of documentary heritage interest conserved in the libraries of Catalonia.
Some of the major libraries with bibliography of patrimonial interest are, in addition to the Biblioteca de Catalunya, the institutions such as the Historical Archive of the City of Barcelona, the Abbey of Santa Maria de Poblet, the Ateneu Barcelonès, the Library of Montserrat, the Episcopal Library of Vic, Casa Asia, the Centre Excursionista de Catalunya, the Josep Pla Foundtion, the Institute of Catalan Studies, the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya and the Archaeological Museum of Catalonia, among others.
The CCPBC has collaborated in the preparation of the bibliographic heritage of the Spanish State since 1992, and from 2007 has also formed part of the Collective Catalogue of Catalan Universities (CCUC).
