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What was the process of industrialisation like around the Ter River, one of the axes of the Industrial Revolution in Catalonia? How did the landscape and human activity coexist? The Museu del Ter, or Museum of the Ter, which forms part of the Territorial System of the mNACTEC (Science and Technology Museum of Catalonia), was created in Manlleu in 2004 specifically to promote the industrial and natural heritage of the central basin of the river Ter.

The Museum of the Ter is based at Can Sanglas, a former cotton spinning factory, located in the last section of the industrial canal of Manlleu. It dates from 1841 and is one of the oldest examples of the factories that were set up on the banks of the canal to take advantage of the hydraulic power.

Thanks to the first of the permanent exhibitions, The River Factory, Can Sanglas looks back at its period of industrial activity. This exhibition highlights the historical aspects of the industrialisation process of the central section of the Ter: from manufacturing jobs to mechanisation. Several experimental machines help to understand how the process of transforming cotton thread has evolved historically.

During the tour we find ourselves in the two power rooms that Can Sanglas had in order to take advantage of the hydraulic energy: the Francis turbine, which allows one to see how electricity is generated; and the Fontaine turbine, one of the first hydraulic motors installed on the Ter.  You can even see how the mechanical system operated the spinning machines!
This first section of the route connects with the second of the permanent exhibitions, The Industrial Society, which explains all the social changes caused by industrialisation.

Finally, the exhibition The Mediterranean Rivers takes a journey through the landscapes, hydrology, ecology, the natural heritage, the socio-environmental aspects and the sustainable management of Mediterranean fluvial courses. And the Ter Museum also houses the Centre d’Estudis dels Rius Mediterranis (Centre for the Study of Mediterranean Rivers, CERM) dedicated to environmental education and awareness-raising.

The Museu del Suro (Cork Museum), situated in Palafrugell, interprets and promotes the heritage that surrounds the world of cork in Catalonia, both before and after the industrial revolution.

Beyond its importance from an industrial point of view (the manufacture of cork and corks was consolidated during the 19th century and had a major impact on the Alt Empordà and Baix Empordà regions), the museum highlights aspects such as the shaping of a landscape, a way of life and an identity around this product. The centre explains the process of both artisanal and industrial cork production, from the ecological environment, the bark of the cork,  transportation, manufacture of bottle corks and their marketing.

The former Can Mario factory, symbol of the power of the Catalan cork sector, is currently the headquarters of the Museum. With ashlar walls with brick decoration, enamelled ceramics and wrought iron, this modernista style building is home to the permanent and temporary exhibition spaces, the workshops and an auditorium with the capacity for a hundred people.

From the 1960s, the Diputació (Provincial Council) of Tarragona had been acquiring a significant artistic collection which was not open for public viewing. So, in 1976, they created the Museum of Modern Art, whose purpose was to promote the study and knowledge of the modern and contemporary art and, at the same time, to preserve and display these collections.

The original location chosen was Casa Martí, an 18th century stately home located in the upper part of Tarragona. In 2008, the museum renewed its permanent exhibition and opened a new, more modern and educational museum project.

The museum devotes some rooms to the Taller - Escola de Pintura i Escultura (Workshop - School of Painting and Sculpture) which the Republican Government built in Tarragona and the subsequent Escola Taller d’Art de la Diputació de Tarragona (Workshop and School of Art of the Provincial Council of Tarragona). Also exhibited are works by contemporary artists of the 1980s from the region, such as Bruno Gallart or James Solé.

One of the most important collections of the museum is the legacy left by the sculptor Julio Antonio. In the permanent exhibition, you can see various facets of his work, placing emphasis on the Monument als Herois de 1811 (Monument to the Heroes of 1811), located on the Rambla Nova in Tarragona. Other representatives of the transition from the 19th century to the 20th century, such as Joseph Tapiró, are also on display.

However, the most renowned work in the Museum of Modern Art in Tarragona bears the signature of Joan Miró. This is the Tapís de Tarragona (Tapestry of Tarragona), a large-scale project that the painter made together with Josep Royo. In 1970, Miró gave this tapestry to the Hospital de la Cruz Roja in Tarragona, then directed by Rafael Orozco, in thanks for the care this doctor gave to his daughter. When the institution was closed down, the work was given over to the Museum where it occupies a place of honour.

"Architecture is not like sculpture. It is a living thing. It is experienced in sections and is reconstructed in the head of each of us. It should be experienced on different days, hours, and moods." With this premise Albert Viaplana, together with Helio Piñón, revolutionised contemporary Barcelona and opened the doors to a new way of understanding public space. One of the major projects to demonstrate this is the Plaça dels Països Catalans of Barcelona (1981-1983), opposite the Estació de Sants.

Viaplana and Piñón designed a space from cement, without vegetation and with two large copper sheet roofs. They sought out a timeless and minimalist proposal, expressed in abstract, simple and anonymous lines, so that anyone could use it. This project, at the forefront of architectural deconstructivism, earned them the FAD Prize for architecture.

The Plaça dels Països Catalans became the model for the new public squares promoted in the 1980s by the City Council, known as "hard squares", which at the time caused public controversy for their coldness. But beyond the abstraction, the square is full of human and poetic details like the silhouette of a cat on the roof, of natural size, made with metal plate; an opening in the manner of a window; and some fountains.

The Mediterranean climate - long dry summers, mild winters and rain in spring and autumn - is found on only 5% of the Earth’s surface, in five regions. These are present in the Jardí Botànic de Barcelona (Botanical Garden of Barcelona), opened in 1999 and located on the hill of Montjuïc. Arranged over 14 hectares of gently sloping ground are botanical collections from Australia, Chile, California, South Africa and the Mediterranean basin, including the Canary Islands.

The area has been designed by the architects Carles Ferrater and Josep Lluís Canosa, the landscape architect Bet Figueras, the biologist Joan Pedrola and the horticulturist Artur Bossy. Within what seems to be a large, natural amphitheatre, the planting is organised geographically, as well as being grouped for ecological affinities. The designers took advantage of the terrain in order to create the areas and roads while avoiding excessive earth movement.

Notable among its objectives is the conservation, documentation and dissemination of the natural heritage of Catalonia. For this reason, the grounds also houses the building of the Institut Botànic de Barcelona (Botanic Institute of Barcelona), which has an important library and one of the largest herbariums in Catalonia.
Montjuïc botanical garden exists side-by-side with the Jardí Botànic Històric (Historic Botanical Garden), opened in 1941 in the Foixarda area. Its location promotes the growth of the Euro-Siberian species of plants. In 1986, it had to close because it was affected by the construction of the Olympic facilities, although it reopened in 2003.

Located in the heart of La Rambla, the Mercat de Sant Josep, known as La Boqueria, is one of the most popular areas in the old town of Barcelona. It even receives more visitors each day than the Sagrada Família. The current building dates from 1836, but its commercial function dates back to the 12th century.

On the area of the Pla de la Boqueria, an open-air street market was established where the farmers and traders from the surrounding villages would come together to sell their products. This was set up outside the city walls, in front of the Portal de la Boqueria (the Boqueria Gate), to save themselves the tax on bringing goods into the city.

The space where the market is held today is on the site of the former Convent of Sant Josep, founded by the Discalced Carmelites in 1586. It was demolished in 1835 and in its place was planned the construction of a monumental square that would have been the largest in Europe, of which the neoclassical portico is preserved. It was decided to move the market inside on a temporary basis, but eventually it was moved there permanently. It was expanded into the surrounding area, including the site of the Convent of Sant Joan de Jerusalem, from the 14th century, which had been knocked down.

In 1914, responding to the demands of vendors and shoppers, the market was enclosed with a metal and glass roof, using iron as the architectural element. Even so, La Boqueria is unlike the other public covered markets in Barcelona, such as the Born (1876) or the Mercat de Sant Antoni (1882), which were purpose-built from new. It is dominated by a hybrid architecture that explains the unique history of what was the first market to have existed in Barcelona.

La fundació del Monestir o la Casa dels Cànons de Santa Maria de Vilabertran és un símbol del moviment de reforma de finals del segle XI que lluitava contra les imposicions de la noblesa en cites eclesiàstiques.
 
Amb aquesta postura, el clergue Pere Rigau pot reunir una comunitat de sacerdots que viuen a la casa annexa a l'Església de Santa Maria de Vilabertran. El 1080, el monestir, que segueix la regla de Sant Agustí, és fundar en terrenys donats per famílies de la zona. Avui és considerat una de les primeres comunitats d'oficines a Catalunya que, a més, va deixar el llegat als exemples més ben conservats d' arquitectura canònica medieval .
 
El complex arquitectònic, construït entre els segles XII i XIII, tenia un format inicial per a una claustre central que dona a les habitacions del monestir ia l’Església. L’església és l’element més destacable del complex, especialment la creu processional del seu interior, considerada la peça més gran d'obra eclesiàstica gòtica de Catalunya.
 
El posteriors és ampliar la casa canònica amb la capella funerària del Rocabertí (segle XIV), el palau abacial (segle XV) i el pati emmurallat (segle XVIII) que van portar els edificis exteriors dins del recinte.

Can you imagine being able to touch a chimney of the Pedrera, and a few steps further on, to admire the starry dome of the Palau Güell? And to be able to enter the workspace that Gaudí had in the Sagrada Familia? The Gaudí Centre in Reus is much more than a tribute from the municipality of Tarragona to one of its most illustrious and universally known sons. It is a modern and interactive museum that, since 2007, has set out to explain the life and work of the architect in an educational way.
 
The 1,200 square metres of exhibition space is divided into three levels that lays out a journey starting with who Gaudí was and the Reus of his birth, and finishing with the keys to his architectural language, passing through a space in which to discover his work along the way.
 
Technology is key to this museum project. And it is through technology that a complete sensory experience is created, using a combination of tactile models, immersive audiovisual projections and special effects such as mappings. Visitors can experience firsthand how Gaudí played with space, light, air and water in his buildings. And at the same time they can find out about the enigmas and the hidden and mysterious aspects of his architecture.
 
The Museum also exhibits a few original objects such as the only surviving handwritten notebook of Gaudí.

This medieval building is the gift Dalí gave to Gala, his wife and muse. The Gala Dalí Castle house-museum in Púbol, open to the public since 1996, both encapsulates the relationship between the two lovers and, at the same time, allows the creative talent of the artist to be discovered in all sorts of decorative details.
 
In 1969, Salvador Dalí acquired the castle of the Barony of Púbol, a fortification from the 14th-15th century that was in a very poor state, but which had a captivating mysterious and romantic appearance. The artist himself personally took charge of the interior décor, creating pictorial representations on the walls and ceilings and faux architectural features. He gave the rooms antiques, Baroque textiles and romantic symbols, creating a sombre and sensitive atmosphere, designed as a refuge for his wife.
 
The whole building celebrates the cult of Gala, almost as if she were a feudal Lady. The couple even agreed that Dalí would not visit unless he had received an invitation from her in writing.
 
In the 1980s, the castle was transformed into Salvador Dalí’s last studio. Nowadays, one can see the paintings and drawings that Dalí gave Gala, sculptures of long-legged elephant sculptures in the garden and a collection of haute couture dresses. However, one of the most important elements is undoubtedly the mausoleum in the basement, designed by the painter, where Gala was buried, the Lady of the Castle.
 
The Gala Dalí Castle in Púbol forms, together with Salvador Dalí's House in Portlligat and the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres, the ‘Dalí triangle’ of Empordà.

Since the first excavations in the 19th century, the significant archaeological heritage in the Pla de l'Estany has been revealed. And it is here that some of the most outstanding archaeological sites in Catalonia are found. The results of this work carried out in the region are brought together in the Banyoles Regional Archaeological Museum. Thus, it comes as no surprise that the Museum houses one of the most important collections of palaeontology and archaeology in Catalonia.

The Museum officially opened in 1943 and since then has been housed in the Gothic palace of Pia Almoina. From 2000 to 2009, the museum was refurbished, bringing it up-to-date with modern museum standards. Currently, the Banyoles Regional Archaeological Museum has three permanent exhibition rooms (the Palaeontology, Prehistory and History rooms) that allow you to take a tour from the upper Tertiary period until the 18th century.

In the Palaeontology room, highlights include fossils of large animals from the Tertiary period and the Quaternary periods, such as the skull of a saber-toothed tiger from the archaeological site at Incarcal. The Prehistory room gives pride of place to the Neanderthal jaw bone from Banyoles found in the Pla de la Formiga in 1887 and also displays several pieces from the Neolithic settlements of La Draga and the Caves of Serinyà.
 
The History room explains what the Pla de l’Estany was like through the finds made principally in the Iberian village of Mas Castell de Porqueres and the Roman villa of Vilauba. In terms of the Medieval-Modern period, the display focuses mainly on the old town of Banyoles.