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.
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.
El poder dels monjos de l’orde de Sant Bruno, establert a Escaladei des del segle XII, era tan important que van arribar a posar el nom de tot el comtat: el Priorat . De l’antiga esplendor només es conserven les ruïnes de la cartoixa Santa Maria d’Escaladei , la primera de les que es van construir després a tota la península Ibèrica.
El monestir d'Escaladei va ser fundat el 1163 per petició del rei Alfons I la casta, amb la intenció de colonitzar i cristianitzar la Nova Catalunya dels musulmans. El lloc escollit va ser la Vall d’Oliver, als peus de la serra del Montsant, on consta la llegenda que un pastor havia somiat amb els àngels que ascendien al cel per una escala: Escaladei, l’escala de Déu .
Al sòl rocós de la zona es va estendre el conreu de vinyes i olives per a l’oli , dos elements que van permetre la revitalització comercial de tota la regió. El moment de major esplendor va començar al segle XVI, quan va ser el focus de l’inici del renaixement a Catalunya i va durar fins al segle XVIII, aquests tres segles, el complex monàstic s’amplia fins a la seva configuració final.
Actualment, es conserven les estructures de l’antic complex cartoixà d’Escaladei, ara com una ruïna romàntica. La visita permet fer un recorregut exterior dels 3 claustres (un d’ells reconstruït), l’Església, el refectori i una cel·la reconstruïda. Són les restes de 600 anys d’història d’ un dels monestirs medievals i moderns més importants de Catalunya .
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.
The Monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes stands on one of the peaks of the Serra de Rodes, a mountain range right by the sea in the north of Alt Empordà. It is one of the many testimonials of Catalan Romanesque architecture, but it may also be one of the most architecturally sophisticated.
From the 11th to the 14th century it was the main spiritual centre of the county of Empúries and its splendor can be seen in the large dimensions of the monastic complex. This comprises the church, the bell tower, the cloister, the sacristies, the conventional rooms for everyday living and the Palau de l’Abat (the Abbot's Palace).
The monastery is built in terraces in order to adapt to the terrain and the various buildings are arranged around the cloister and the church, built between the 10th and 11th centuries. In these two buildings you can see an exceptional example of Romanesque sculpture: the columns (original) and the capitals that crown them tell us about the classical influence that has marked this unique church.
On the outside, the ‘portalada’, designed by the Mestre de Cabestany, showed different scenes from the life of Christ carved in white marble. The scarce fragments that remain, give us a sample of their extraordinary quality, probably one of the best of its time.
From the monastery you can enjoy one of the best views of Cap de Creus. Shortly before reaching it, you will see the ruins of the medieval village of Santa Creu de Rodes, the most notable of these being the Church of Santa Helena de Rodes.
Military strategy and religious worship are united on the highest peak of Cardona. From the 9th century, the Castle and the Collegiate Church of Sant Vicenç have dominated the region and control the salt basins. During the War of the Spanish Succession, when they become a symbol of the resistance for the supporters of the Archduke Carles against the defenders of Philip of Anjou: the castle was the last fortress to surrender to the Bourbon troops and it fell after the capitulation of Barcelona on 18th September 1714.
The medieval complex is divided between the stately pavilions and the canonry of Sant Vicenç. The Castle was built in 886 under the command of the Count of Barcelona, Guifré el Pilós, but was not completed until several centuries later. Of the most notable elements of the first building from the 9th century only the Torre de la Minyona remains. During the first half of the 11th century, it was constructed within the precinct of the Church of Sant Vicenç, an imposing building and one of the best samples of the first Catalan Romanesque.
A great example of medieval military fortification, between the 11th and 15th centuries, the castle was the residence of the Lords of Cardona but eventually it lost its residential function and gained strategic importance. From the 17th century, the fortress updated its defensive system with a ring of bastions.
Despite being one of the most emblematic sites, Cardona was not the only setting linked to the War of Succession. The "Route 1714", organised as part of the programme of activities for the tri-centenary, includes 10 locations, such as El Born in Barcelona, the University of Cervera and the Rafael Casanova House Museum, among others.
With more than 300 works, the Fundació Antoni Tàpies (Barcelona) has the most comprehensive collection of the Catalan artist, which reflects all the creative periods of the artist. Driven by Antoni Tàpies, the Foundation is a Museum and cultural centre that also works for the study and promotion of contemporary art.
Including paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints and books, it displays all aspects of Tàpies’ artistic activity. The collection includes a selection of drawings and portraits from the 1940s (Creu de paper de diari - Newsprint Cross), an important example of the matter works of the 1950s and 1960s (Forma negra sobre quadrat gris - Black form on grey square) and a significant representation of the object works of the late sixties and early seventies (Palla i fusta - Straw and wood).
The visitor will discover the different typologies, techniques and materials used by Tàpies: works made of rubber-foam and spray, varnishes and sculptures in refractory clay and objects and sculptures made with metallic plates or bronze.
The Fundació Antoni Tàpies is located in a modernista building designed by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner. This construction is unique as it was the first in the Eixample district to combine the use of exposed brick and iron within the urban setting. Currently the building is crowned by the Núvol i cadira (Cloud and chair) sculpture by Tàpies himself, a work which has become a symbol of the Foundation.
The Natural Sciences Museum of Barcelona is located in the Parc del Fòrum. Built by the architects Herzog and de Meuron in 2004, the museum occupies 9,000 m2 and is considered, architecturally, to be one of the most iconic buildings in the city.
In the entrance hall is the most emblematic piece on display in the museum, the skeleton of a whale that was found on a beach in Llançà in 1862. By popular vote, it was named Brava.
The narrative of the permanent exhibition is the interpretation of the present-day Earth as the result of the interaction between the planet’s chemical and physical environment and living beings. All this is shown in an educational way and through tactile screens and display cases with the museum’s collection – fossils, naturalised animals, plants, algae, rocks and minerals. There are also areas dedicated to fungi and the microscopic world, including the reproduction of viruses and microbes. A total of 4,500 of the over 4 million pieces the museum owns are exhibited.
The Natural Sciences Museum of Barcelona is an institution with over 140 years of history. It started off with the legacy of the collections of the naturalist Francesc Martorell i Peña. In addition to the Fòrum building, the Museum has other sites located in different parts of the city: the Jardí Botànic de Barcelona (Botanical Garden of Barcelona) and the Jardí Botànic Històric (Historical Botanical Garden), situated on Montjuic, the Centre Martorell (Martorell Exhibitions Centre), and the Castell dels Tres Dragons in the Parc de la Ciutadella.