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The home of the industrialist chocolatier Antoni Amatller is one of the greatest examples of the Catalan modernist architecture and one of the few that still have the ornamental richness of this style promoted by the bourgeoisie. Located on Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona, it is the work of the architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch who was commissioned to remodel the building, acquired by the industrialist, from head to foot.
The Casa Amatller stands out for the composition of the façade and for the restructuring and redecoration of the ground floor and the main floor, a reflection of the originality of the modernista architecture and decorative arts. The façade is a colourful composition that incorporates sgraffito on a white base, ochre and red ochre, glazed tiles, green woodwork, black wrought iron and grey stone from Montjuïc. In addition, there is unique sculptural decoration, notable for the relief of St. George and the Dragon, designed by Eusebi Arnau. The tiered gable at the top of the façade is reminiscent of the classic shape of a tablet of chocolate and is one of the most characteristic features of the building. Inside, one must admire the antique furniture, the columns, the floor, the ceilings and the lamps, original decoration of the residence.
Currently, the Casa Amatller is home to the Amatller Institute of Hispanic Art. It has about 400 objects of Roman, Medieval, Baroque and Modernista periods. But above all it is noted for its documentary resources. It maintains a large photo library specialising in Hispanic art, with about 350,000 items illustrating and cataloguing the works of art. Its consultation is essential for any researcher in the history of the art.
The Modernista Vapor Aymerich, Amat i Jover woollen mill is one of the finest examples of industrial Modernista architecture in Catalonia. Designed by the architect Lluís Muncunill and opened in 1908, it is currently the headquarters of the Museu Nacional de la Ciència i la Tècnica de Catalunya - MNACTEC (National Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia).
With its characteristic roof of Catalan-vaulted skylights supported by cast iron pillars, and a 42-metre high chimney, the building housed the entire process for transforming wool, from fleece to woven cloth. The name by which the mill is popularly known, 'El Vapor' (steam), refers to the steam engine that was its driving force until 1914.
The museum today reflects the building's industrial past as a woollen mill. The aim of the MNACTEC is both to conserve and raise awareness about Catalonia's scientific, technical and industrial heritage, while also demonstrating the social impact it had. The permanent exhibitions encompass the textile industry, sources of energy, computing, chemistry and transport, amongst others.
The MNACTEC also oversees a Territorial System that coordinates 26 museums and other centres specialising in industrial, scientific and technological heritage. Each of them provides a unique thematic perspective that helps explain the process of industrialisation in Catalonia, as well as the technical, social and cultural repercussions it had.
Because of its great number of plants and its considerable expanse, the Marimurtra Botanical Garden is the most important collection of living plants in Catalonia and one of the most outstanding in Europe. Each year it attracts a large number of visitors, seduced by a space for leisure and contemplation next to the Mediterranean.
Located in Blanes, this historic garden notable for the abundance of cacti and Mediterranean vegetation, however it is possible to see a great variety of plants from all over the world (with more than three thousand species). During the tour, visitors will enjoy the great wealth of botanic specimens as well as thebeautiful nooks in which to rest, sources of drinking water, the architectural legacy (the Carl Faust Library House and the Temple of Linnaeus) and viewing points with spectacular views over the Mediterranean.
The garden was created by the German industrialist, Carl Faust in 1924. He completed his naturalist hobby with the launch of the International Mediterranean Biology Station, the first in the country.
Beyond its great scenic interest, currently the institution follows the path marked out by its founder, making active efforts in conservation, research and dissemination in the field of botany.
Located in Barcelona's Gràcia district, Casa Vicens was the first major work of the architect Antoni Gaudí. The house is one of the seven buildings designed by the great architect which were declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 2005.
Built between the years 1883 and 1888, the house presents various spaces separated by stepped angles, in a concept opposite from that of La Pedrera in which wavy lines predominate. The construction shows oriental and Moorish, touches, fashionable at the time, with the facade covered in green and white glazed tiles. A clear allusion to Manuel Vicens i Montaner, exchange and stock exchange broker and the man who entrusted Gaudí to design his future home. For the decoration, Gaudí was inspired by the plants that grow in the garden of the estate, applying for the first time his principle of using nature as an inspiration for architecture.
In the interior the Moorish style continues to predominate, which manifests in a very pronounced manner in the room known as the "fumador" (smoking room). On the ceiling, ornamentation in the form of colourful plants and flowers complete an exotic and surprising ensemble that he made all the rage among the elite of Barcelona at 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.
The MNAC (Catalan National Museum of Art) is located in the Palau Nacional de Montjuïc, built for the international exhibition of 1929. The Museum opened its doors in 1934, bringing together the medieval collection, which was gradually expanded to include works from other periods. Among the most emblematic works are the magnificent paintings from the apse in Sant Climent and Santa Maria de Taüll.
Regarding Romanesque art, other exceptional pieces include the mural paintings of Santa Maria d'Àneu and Sant Quirze de Pedret, the Batlló Majesty and the altar frontal of Avià. Notable from the Gothic period are masterpieces by painters such as Jaume Huguet, Lluís Dalmau, Bernat Martorell and Lluís Borrassà, among others.
Modern art also has a prominent place and especially since 2014 when the collection, the exhibition rooms and the museography of this period was renovated. La vicaria (The Spanish Wedding) by Marià Fortuny, is one of the star works, followed by pieces of the most representative artists of Modernisme, such as Gaudí or Casas, and those of the avant-garde, such as Picasso or Miró.
There are also great artists from the European Renaissance and Baroque such as Titian or Velazquez, for example, and the photographic exhibits complete the collection.
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.
This house in the centre of Moià is a 17th-century manorial building with a remarkable architectural and artistic value. But if there is one thing that makes it special, it is that in around 1660 Rafael Casanova, was born here, hero of the defence of Barcelona on 11th September 1714.
Casanova was the son of a well-to-do family of Moià who made their money from trading in grain and wool. Their wealth can be seen in the features of the home, especially in the richly decorated interior. Made up of ground floor, first floor and attic, with a rear garden and basement, highlights include the main façade with sgraffito (decorated plasterwork).
Currently, the house is home to an exhibition which shows the keys to conflict of 1714: from the outbreak of an international war to determine the successor to the Spanish Crown after the death of the heirless Carles II, until the fall of the city of Barcelona at the hands of the Bourbon troops, Rafael Casanova was responsible for the defence of the city as a Mayor and Commander-in-Chief of La Coronela, the armed forces of Barcelona.
Perched in the Puig de Sant Andreu, in the Baix Empordà, the Iberian town of Ullastret is the largest Iberian settlement discovered so far in Catalonia. The city, flanked by towering walls, served as the capital of all the indiketa territory, which exploited agriculture, livestock farming, mines and quarries. It was the centre of an important commercial interchange with the Greek city of Empúries, which exported its products and also imported foreign production. Ullastret dominates the landscape of the Empordà and has been testimony to one of the most important archaeological finds of recent years: that of the severed heads of Ullastret.
This exceptional discovery was made in the year 2012, when the excavations in a stretch of the street uncovered 15 human cranial fragments, among which were two embedded heads. It is a ritual of Celtic origin which had already been described by classical authors such as Posidonius of Apamea or Diodorus of Sicily, and which consisted of displaying the heads of the defeated enemy as trophies of war.
Although the Ullastret complex consists of two Iberian villages, it is only the ruins of Puig de Sant Andreu, which are visitable, corresponding to the last stage of occupation of the town by the indiketes (3rd century BC). The route allows you to view the largest and oldest muralla ibèrica in Catalonia, reinforced with six circular towers.
Visitors can ‘enter’ the rectangular houses, from the most modest up to the constructions made for the most important families of the Iber aristocracy, walk down the cobbled street and discovered the water collection system using cisterns in the rock, a copy of those still existing in the Greek colony in Empúries. The spiritual life of the ancient inhabitants of Ullastret has left its mark with the remains of three temples, from the 4th and the 3rd century BC. The complex is completed with the Ullastret Monographic Museum, which allows interpretation of the site and also to find out about the Iberian culture in the north-east of Catalonia. The Ullastret complex is one of the branches of the Museum of Archaeology of Catalonia.
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.
