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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.

Santa Caterina, opened in 1848, was the first covered market in Barcelona. Since 2005, the roof has become its stand-out element. It is this last alteration which has made the market a benchmark for contemporary architecture and a point of interest for tourists. The undulating and colourful roof has already become a new symbol of Barcelona.

In 1997, the architects Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue reformed the market that was originally designed by Josep Mas i Vila. The project maintained 3 out of the 4 original facades and raises up a skeleton of iron, steel and concrete, to the interior of the building, standing between the structure of wooden arches that form the ceiling.

But certainly the starring role of the new market goes to the roof: a huge wavy structure covered by 200,000 ceramic hexagons in 67 different colours. The work of ceramicist Toni Cumella, it represents the fruit and vegetables sold from the market stalls and fills the area with light and colour.

The launch of the market has helped to re-energise the neighbourhood. Now, brought together under the same roof as the stalls of fresh produce, is a supermarket, restaurants and the display of the remains of the old Dominican convent.

One must touch science. It was with this premise that the Museu de la Ciència of the "la Caixa" Foundation was born in 1981, the first interactive Science Museum in Spain. And this goal continues to be valid with the remodelling that took place at CosmoCaixa, and which was inaugurated in 2004.

With an area four times larger than the first, the CosmoCaixa Science Museum is divided into several areas to spread scientific knowledge through experimentation. For example, the geological wall shows several geological structures; the sala de la material (matter room) offers a tour from the Big Bang to the present time; the children's rooms are home to educational and recreational spaces such as the Planetari Bombolla (Bubble Planetarium), the Flash and Click room or the Touch! touch! room.

The CosmoCaixa even exactly replicates a section of a flooded Amazonian forest of more than 1,000 m². You can see the flooded section as well as terra firma, and the underground section, with the tropical rain included.

The CosmoCaixa is one of the most modern science museums in the world. Even so, it remains true to its origins. And it retains part of the modernist building where the first Museum was located: an old asylum for the blind by the architect Josep Domènech i Estapà built in 1904 at the foot of Tibidabo mountain.

In the old building of the Casa de la Caritat in Barcelona, in a totally modern facility, there is a cultural centre of European renown. It is the Centre of Contemporary Culture (CCCB), which since 1994 has been working on creative research and the production of knowledge. It has, as its central focus, the city and urban culture and aims to link the academic world with creativity and citizenship.

It does this through its own projects. The most significant are the thematic exhibitions, which generate debate and awareness around the issues that shape the present. At the same time, it has also instituted forms of cultural exchange such as international discussions, the CCCB Lab, the Kosmopolis literature platform and the Xcèntric project in experimental cinema. All of these are projects which deal with the culture of the 21st century and the great transformations of the digital age in an integrated manner.

The CCCB has a collection (CCCB Archive and Xcentric Archive) where the documentation related to all the projects that have been realised since its inauguration is stored. This archive has been available to everyone since 2008.

Visiting the Centre of Contemporary Culture is to enter a space for reflection about what urban culture is. The same building, remodelled by Helio Piñón and Albert Viaplana, structured around the Pati de les Dones, brings one in. It is advisable to go up to the observation deck before the end of the visit.

The Seu Vella is formed by a set of buildings strategically located on Turó de Lleida(Lleida Hill), which dominates the city and the surrounding plain. It is one of the most important cathedrals of Catalonia, especially noted for its sculptural work and for the cloister, one of the largest and most spectacular in Europe.

As is usual in these types of works, the Seu Vella was built and extended over the centuries, combining different architectural styles. The first Christian Cathedral began to be built in 1193 with the aim of catering for the growing population of the city. Of the Romanesque construction, the portals currently stand out.

At the end of the 13th century elements of new Gothic style were introduced. During this period the most important works of the church were completed and the chapels, the cloister, the bell-tower and the Portal of the Apostles, were built, which carried on during the 14th and 15th centuries.

The cloister is right in front of the main façade of the Church; an unusual position in Christian constructions, which recalls the entrance courtyards of Arabic mosques. The richly ornamented capitals deserve special attention, as do the splendid views over the city of Lleida which can be had from there.

When she was just a little over 30 years old, the Queen Elisenda de Montcada withdrew from the world, remaining a widow. And she did it in the Monastery of Pedralbes, which she had founded in 1326 in the mountains of Sant Pere Màrtir (Barcelona). She lived there 37 years, with only the claretian nuns and the Gothic architecture for company.

The Monastery of Santa Maria de Pedralbes was built in just 13 months and is noted for its great architectural homogeneity in the Gothic style. The white stones (petras albas), used to build the complex, gave their name to the area: Pedralbes.

Among the jewels of the monastery there is the small chapel of Sant Miquel, which is noted for the fresco and oil paintings (14th century), an exceptional testimony of the Catalan Gothic painting; the Gothic stained-glass windows of the interior of the church (considered the most important in Catalonia both for their antiquity and their good state of preservation) and the cloister. This is one of the largest and most impressive in the world.

Also noteworthy is the tomb of Queen Elisenda. Located between the Church and the cloister, it is a bi-frontal tomb representing her two sides: from the Church she is seen dressed and crowned as a Queen and, from the cloister, she appears as a widow and nun, with the simple Franciscan habit.

Right next to Vic Cathedral, the Episcopal Museum is a reference point for medieval Catalan art and exhibits masterpieces of painting and sculpture from the Romanesque to the Gothic (between the 12th and 15th centuries). The centre, with a collection of more than 29,000 pieces, specialises in liturgical art.

The large Romanesque collection allows one to follow the precise stylistic and iconographic evolution of the Catalan Romanesque. One of the star exhibits in the Museum is the sculpture group of the Descent from the Cross from Erill la Vall. Discovered on an expedition by the Institute of Catalan Studies to Vall de Boí in 1907, this work of the Master of Erill is considered to be one of the most important sculptural groups of the 12th-century Romanesque in Europe.

Just as notable is the Baldachin from the parish church of Ribes, one of the masterpieces the Museum holds. Other items to consider are the altar frontal from Sant Andreu de Sagàs, the frontal from Sant Pere de Ripoll and the Mother of God from Santa Maria de Lluçà.

Aside from its collection, the Museum is also noted for its modern and innovative museum project. For this, in 2001 it was awarded the National Prize for Cultural Heritage for its contribution to the dissemination of medieval Catalan art.

The ‘cradle’ of Catalonia. This is how the monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll is known and no wonder. Founded by Comte Guifré el Pelós (Count Wilfred the Hairy) in the year 879, under the direction of the Abbot Oliba, it became a major religious and cultural centre, with a large and majestic Romanesque church and a scriptorium with great literary production, on a level with other abbeys in Europe during this period

The monastery’s 12th century portalada is the most outstanding feature of the complex. This doorway that welcomed the faithful and curious, is one of the great sculptures of European Romanesque. It is completely sculpted with scenes from the Old Testament and allegories. This is why it became known as "the Bible of stone". Its monumentality bears witness to Ripoll’s years of splendor. It is with good reason that for many years the monastery was also the pantheon of the counts of Besalú and Girona.

The building underwent several stages of enlargement and reconstruction due to the lack of space, fires, an earthquake and plunder.In 1886, the Bishop of Vic, Josep Morgades, commissioned the reconstruction of the monastery to the architect Elies Rogent. Ripoll recovered the church and the cloister of the 11th century monastery with a Romanesque Revival interpretation.

Today, you can visit Santa Maria de Ripoll and a Visitors’ Information Centre has been opened as well as a permanent exhibition focusing on the scriptorium, in which its importance is explained.

The history of Sant Feliu de Guíxols can be summarised based on this Benedictine monastery, which combines architectural styles from the 5th to the 18th century. The first monastery built here on top of former Roman structures dates back to the 10th century and retains the Porta Ferrada, which was integrated as a portico entrance. Later, other elements and constructions were incorporated, including the Gothic church and the new convent from the 18th century.

Today you can visit part of the building along with the Torre del Fum" (Smoke Tower) and the "Torre del Corn" (The Horn tower), located on each side of the church. In its day, these acted as defense towers. From the first of them, smoke signals were emitted using wet straw. From the second, a shell horn was sounded in times of danger.

The municipality of Sant Feliu de Guixols was established and grew up around the monastic complex. For this reason, this significant building was chosen to house the Museu d’Història de la Ciutat, the town’s history museum along with the permanent exhibition on health and the rural doctor.

Today, the history of the monastery is still being written. And in the rooms of the old Palau de l’Abat (Abbot's Palace) you will now find the Espai Carmen Thyssen dedicated to temporary exhibitions.

Is it possible to feel like a bourgeois of the early 20th century by visiting a Romanesque monastery? Sant Benet de Bages shows how heritage adapts to new uses over time. In this case, a medieval monastery that became the summer residence of Ramon Casas’s family and finally the tourist and cultural centre that it is today.

The first church (pre-Romanesque) was consecrated in 972 with a community of twelve monks. However, it was not until the 12th century that the abbey would experience its period of splendor, with the construction of a new church and the cloister. The latter of these is the true Romanesque star of the group. Between the pillars there are semi-circular arches that rest on double columns with sculpted capitals, all of them original.

As a result of the confiscation by Mendizábal, the monastery was abandoned. It was in the year 1907, that Elisa Carbó i Ferrer, mother of the painter Ramon Casas, bought the land of Sant Benet and adapted the quarters of the monastic community to create a residence. The renovation was designed by another illustrious name: Josep Puig i Cadafalch. Particularly outstanding is the modernista (Art Nouveau) terrace, which occupies part of the old cells of the monks.

Today, through the use of new technologies, the visitor can delve into the building’s monastic history and modernista past. Moreover, in 2007 in the surroundings of the monastery, a complex known as Món Sant Benet was opened, which in addition to disseminating heritage, also focuses on gastronomy and the landscape.