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The Royal Shipyard building, where many of the boats that would set sail during the Medieval and Modern period, are now gathered in the Maritime Museum of Barcelona (MMB). Therefore, there is no better place to explore and learn about the maritime culture and history of Catalonia.

The large gothic naves House the boats of the permanent collection of the museum, such as the Royal Galley, the boat República or the catboat Jean et Marie, going through shipbuilding between the 13th and 18th centuries.  Other pieces of note in the collection are the multiple figureheads that the museum holds and marine instruments such as octants and sextants, mechanical sonar devices, compasses and nautical astrolabes, among others.

The restored Royal Shipyards of Barcelona opened their doors on 16 February 2013, once the restoration was finished for this extraordinary heritage site. The renovation also includes the Museum, which now displays elements that facilitate interactive dialogue, life experience and cross-disciplinary knowledge of maritime culture and history using multiple disciplines.

How does a Barça player feel when he is about to go out onto the field? Lovers of football can experience that here in the flesh at this museum. Currently it is one of the most visited museums in Catalonia, with an annual average of more than 1,200,000 people.

The idea to make a Barça Museum was by Joan Gamper, the founder of the club. It was finally inaugurated in the year 1984. Since then, visitors have been able to see the trophies won by all the sporting sections of the Catalan club throughout its history and all kinds of objects related to the team, the players and the followers.

It also has a sport art collection, with works by Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, Antoni Tàpies and Josep Maria Subirachs. Additionally, it holds the Futbolart Collection, owned by Pablo Ornaque, considered to be one of the best private collections in the world concerning football.

Starting in the year 2010, the Camp Nou Experience project began, a tour that places the visitor in a leading role using immersive technologies (video walls, touchscreens, audio, recreations, etc.). Apart from the museum, you visit the Stadium, the Messi Area and the Multimedia Area. During your visit, you can go through the locker room tunnel and transport yourself to a big final or photograph a replica of the European Cup in the press room.

You can discover the history of Tortosa in one of the most significant buildings of the city. This is the old abattoir, a modernista work by the architect Pau Monguió, built on land reclaimed from the River Ebro. In 2012, on the centenary of the Museum of Tortosa it was moved and advantage was taken of the pavilions to display a completely renovated Museum project.

The museum has a collection of more than 4,000 pieces among which include prehistoric flint tools, Roman funerary stones, Andalusian pottery, Gothic capitals, signs of flooding, the tools of one of the last potters of Tortosa, and paintings and sculpture by artists from Tortosa, among others.

The tour of the permanent exhibition provides information on the history of Tortosa and its surrounding regions, from the prehistoric times to the present day. Remains from Ilercavonia, Dertosa or Turtuxa are displayed. You can see the most representative pieces from each historical period from the museum’s own collection and from other museums that have made loans to the collection, such as the Prado Museum, the MNAC (National Art Museum of Catalonia), the National Archaeolgical Museum of Tarragona and the Museu de les Terres de l’Ebre. The contemporary work of the artist Leonardo Escoda interacts obliquely with the space and the content of the museum.

In 1927, the exiled Tsarist Colonel, Nicolai Woevodsky and his wife Dorothy Webster, an English Aristocrat fond of decorating, were looking for a Mediterranean paradise in which to settle down. Close to Calella de Palafrugell, on a cliff above Cap Roig, they built a castle which would connect them to this spot for the rest of their lives (they even asked to be buried there). The building was surrounded by an idyllic botanical garden, considered one of the most important in the Mediterranean.

Nicolai himself designed the mansion in the neo-medieval style (imitating the Monastery of Poblet), construction of which began in 1931 and was completed in 1975. It was popularly known as "Cal Rus" (the Russian House) after the origins of its owner. However, the couple always lived at the property which gives access to the botanical gardens. This is the main legacy of Dorothy Webster. She and a team of gardeners from the region took charge of preparing the seven hectares of land in order to plant various species. In 1935 there were more than 500 species of Mediterranean, tropical and subtropical flora.

When the couple died, the estate passed to the Fundació Caixa Girona and then to the "la Caixa" Foundation, which turned the land into a sculpture park for contemporary artists with works by Jorge Oteiza, Jaume Plensa and Xavier Corberó. Every summer the gardens are home to a prestigious concert series: the Cap Roig Festival.

Stroll around the Artigas gardens of La Pobla de Lillet and invariably you will be reminded of Park Güell in Barcelona. This is because they are the work of the same mind: Antoni Gaudí.

In 1905, the modernista architect who, having stayed for a few days at the home of the textile industrial Joan Artigas i Alart, wanted to thank him for his hospitality by designing a naturalistic garden for an area (known as the Font de la Magnèsia) which was next to his factory, on the banks of the river Llobregat. Thus, it is as though it copied – on a small scale – the fundamentals of Park Güell, where he was working at that time. In this case, however, it is not an urban garden. Gone, therefore, are the great open spaces and colourful ceramic tile shards or trencadis. Everything is made largely with rocky stone and mortar, taking advantage of the vegetation of the area. It is as though the park had pushed its way between nature.

Along the route the visitor will find a waterfall; an artificial cave with catenary arches from where the Font de la Magnèsia gushes forth; fountains; two stone bridges; a square; and, at the highest point, the Glorieta or gazebo, which acts as a lookout point.

Gaudí's universe is present in every detail of the complex. Jardinières, handrails, benches ... Everything imitates the forms of a fanciful nature. Nor does it lack Christian references: thus there are the sculptures of the eagle, the lion and the bull, distributed around the complex, together with an angel that has now gone, which are the symbols of the four evangelists and are arranged in the shape of a cross on the plan of the garden.

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.

To talk about wine in the Penedès is to talk about the identity of an entire region. This symbiosis between history, culture and territory is reflected in the Museum of Wine Cultures of Catalonia (VINSEUM) in Vilafranca del Penedès, the first wine museum in Spain.

VINSEUM was created in 2007 as a space for visitors to experience the culture of wine. It is the conceptual evolution of the Museum of Vilafranca – Wine Museum, which was founded in 1935 to house various collections related to the Penedès. The collection has already exceeded 17,000 items which cover subjects such as archaeology, art (with an important collection of ceramics), ethnology and natural history.

But what has made the Museum into a benchmark is the collection related to viticulture: tools of the field, amphorae, ceramic pitchers, cups made of tin and silver, pieces of glassware from Bohemia, etc. Notable are the wine dioramas that narrate the history of viticulture. Thus, you can see scenes from the wineries of Egypt and Rome or the Monastery of Poblet. In addition to the objects, VINSEUM also has an important documentary collection on vines and wine.

The tour of the permanent exhibition begins on the third floor of the main building, a former royal palace of the Kings of Aragon (12th-13th century). A careful and modern museum display draws the visitor into an immersive tour through the various collections. It even has a multi-sensory module known as the "La Mirada Tàctil" or the Tactile View. The tour ends in the Museum’s Tavern, where you can taste wine or cava.

Nature and Modernisme. This is the pairing that defines the Colònia Güell. Standing among the pine trees is an architectural complex that still preserves the industrial essence of the late 19th and early 20th century and has a star name: Antoni Gaudí.

The colony was built in 1890 on land owned by Eusebi Güell at Santa Coloma de Cervello. The entrepreneur wanted to move the textile industries he owned at Vapor Vell Sants away from labour conflicts that were prevalent in Barcelona at that time.

The complex was structured around the factory, which was equipped with the most advanced technology of the time. As well as the homes of the workers, there were educational, cultural and religious facilities which together formed a "small town".

In addition, Eusebi Güell, a patron of Modernisme in Barcelona, made it unique by hiring some of the best architects of the time. His friend Antoni Gaudí led the project, taking charge of the mapping out the complex and of the Church, of which only the crypt was built (declared a World Heritage Site in 2005). The remainder of the buildings (the school, the cooperative, the parish house and the cultural centre, among others) were the work of Joan Rubió, Francesc Berenguer i Mestres and his son Francesc Berenguer i Bellvehí.

The complex made a display of innovations in construction at the time such as the use of 'trencadís' (mosaics of ceramic shards), iron work and brick. Special attention should be given to the facades of the teacher's house, Ca l’Espinal and Ca l’Ordal, which show that, despite being functional architecture, no detail was overlooked.

Contemporary art in Barcelona is MACBA. The Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona stands at the heart of the Catalan capital in a Richard Meier building that is itself a work of art. It is located in touching distance of the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB), an reference point for lovers of 20th and 21st century art and culture.

MACBA, which was started in 1995, has established itself internationally as a model in contemporary art. Its collection of 5,500 works, allows a journey to be traced through the main artistic references of today. Beginning with materic abstraction from the 1950s, incorporating works of the European pop art and of the avant-garde of the 1960s and '70s. There are also works around the photographic figurative representation and minimalist sculpture.

Among the most important pieces you can see: Dins el roig, by Albert Ràfols-Casamada; Between the Frames: The Forum, by Antoni Muntadas; La saison des pluies II, by Miquel Barceló; Rinzen, by Antoni Tàpies; Beschwingte Bindungen, by Paul Klee; Thames Circles, by Richard Long, and Atomic Kiss, by Joan Rabascall, among others.