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600 metres away on a hill of Montseny, the Montsoriu Castle is a fusion between the Romanesque fortification of the exterior and the Gothic palace interior. A medieval fortress of great beauty that has withstood the passage of time and the onslaught of various battles.
The building extends from the 10th century to the 15th century. Over these 500 years, the architectural complex has been transformed to meet different uses. The fortress is divided into 3 concentric and tiered walled precincts: the Sobirà enclosure, the parade ground and Jussà enclosure.
The Sobirà enclosure (10th-12th century) is the highest and is noted for the Torre de l'Homenatge (the keep), which gives the Castle its appearance. We can also find the pre-Romanesque chapel of Sant Pere, in which Romanesque paintings are preserves and the Gothic Hall.
At a lower level there is the Pati d’armes (parade ground), the central area of the castle. Built between the 12th and 14th centuries, it was partially covered by an arcaded gallery. From the 14th century, the castle was transformed into a residential palace and several rooms were built such as the dining room and the kitchen.
Finally, the Jussà enclosure is a uniform space with 4 rectangular towers designed to protect the small access door to the Castle.
Currently, at the top of the hill, a large part of the Romanesque defensive wall remains standing, its towers and the Gothic interior that was the luxurious residence of the Viscounts of Cabrera.
Founded in the early 12th century, Santa Maria de Vallbona de les Monges is the most important female Cistercian Monastery in Catalonia. From the time of its construction, in 1153, it has always been inhabited by nuns and currently forms part of the Cistercian Route (along with Santes Creus and Poblet).
The complex is representative of Cistercian art, faithful to the Rule of Saint Benedict. As can be seen in Vallbona de les Monges, it bypasses ornamentation, achieving sober and functional spaces.
During the visit to the Church, it is worth looking up for a moment. On the main portal (13th century), one can find one of the first reliefs of Santa Mariato appear on a tympanum in Catalonia. Once inside, the church is characterised by simplicity and the wonderful play of light. To the right of the altar there is the simple and plain sarcophagus of Queen Yolande of Hungary, wife of Jaume I the Conqueror.
The simplicity and austerity continues in the cloister, where one can clearly see the stages of construction. The south nave, primitive Romanesque, does not have any kind of decoration. The eastern nave, 13th-century Romanesque, features small rosettes. The northern nave is Gothic and, finally, the western nave is a Renaissance building from the 16th century, but it follows the general style of the Romanesque galleries.
The Cathedral of Santa Maria was built between the 12th and 14th century on the highest point of the city, in a place full of history. Previously there had been a 10th century mosque, a Christian Visigothic basilica and, earlier, a Roman temple. The Cathedral in Tarragona hides, within its foundations, an ancient temple dedicated to Augustus.
The existence of this building was known through numismatic and written references, although its location wasn’t stated. The most logical idea was that it would be found in the forum of the ancient ‘Tàrraco’ (the Roman name for Tarragona), where centuries later Christian temples were erected. In 2010, a team of archaeologists excavated the central nave of the Cathedral and laid bare the remains of the Roman temple.
The Cathedral itself, however, is a transitional work between Romanesque and Gothic periods; the former was then still current, and spread in the 12th century to many parts of the New Catalonia. In Tarragona later styles such as Gothic, coexisted with the Renaissance and the Baroque.
Notable are the three portals of the church, which correspond to its three naves: the main one is Gothic and the other two Romanesque. Looking up, however, you can see that the Cathedral is unfinished, due to the ravages caused by the black death.
The Gothic cloister, which leads to the Diocesan Museum, stands out for it extensive sculptural decoration. The more curious visitors can find an Arabic inscription dating from the year 960 from the ancient mosque and the representation of the popular legend of the burial of a cat by rats.
Inside, the presbytery and the central apse have a fully Romanesque element that one might pass without noticing: the pavement. It is made of stone and marble, coloured white, black, orange and yellow, and with geometric interlaced designs.
What doesn’t go unnoticed is the large organ. It was made in the 16th century, although in 1929 the mechanism and the pipes were replaced by those of the Romantic organ from the Palau Maricel in Sitges.
It is in the chapels, built in the 14th century, where the shift towards the Gothic and later styles is most evident. The most outstanding piece is the polychrome, alabaster altarpiece, which has sculptures of Santa Tecla, Santa Maria and Sant Pau.
The greatest monument in Catalonia is also the largest bastioned fortress in Europe. The Castle of Sant Ferran occupies an area of 550,000 m² at the top of the hill of Figueres. As a good frontier Castle, the location is unbeatable: It has good views of the Serra de l’Albera, which creates the border with France, and the Gulf of Roses.
Undoubtedly it was constructed to meet the need to reinforce the border after the Peace of the Pyrenees of 1659 and owes its name to King Ferran VI (Ferdinand VI). The fortification, which was begun in 1766 but was only completed in 1892, consists of two enclosures.
The interior, of more than 325,000 m2, consists of six bastions connected by stretches of wall. The size of the building cannot go unnoticed: stables with capacity for 500 horses, warehouses to store food for 10,000 people for a year, the main square, new pavilions for the accommodation of the officials and their families, and four big cisterns with a total capacity of nine million litres of water.
The exterior enclosure, with a perimeter of 3,120 metres, made up of three hornworks, seven ravelins and two counterguards. It is separated from the outside by a large moat of 10 hectares, which can currently be visited, including the underground galleries.
Its monumental dimensions have always made military activity both difficult and very costly which has frequently meant that it has not been used to its full potential. Since 1997 regular guided tours of the Castle of Sant Ferran have been organised.
During the 14th and 15th centuries, Tortosa was a commercial enclave of the highest order. This splendour can be seen in buildings such as the Cathedral, the noble palaces, the Episcopal Palace, the walled enclosure or the llotja (the exchange). In the 16th century Tortosa was one of the most important cities in Catalonia politically, economically and demographically. It is from this period that the Royal Colleges date, the most important Renaissance complex in Catalonia.
The monumental complex consists of three buildings. The most important thing is the College of Sant Jaume i Sant Maties, from 1564, which started out to educate young Muslim converts. It is a large two-story building organised around a central courtyard – the only Renaissance courtyard in Catalonia - noted for its rich sculptural ornamentation with a strong Italian influence.
The other building is the College of Sant Jordi i Sant Domènec, from 1578. It was originally a Dominican convent, but Francoist shelling (1937-1939) left only the simple Renaissance portal of two buildings standing.
Completing the complex is the Church of Sant Domènec, from 1585. It is a church with a single nave, in Gothic style, with side chapels. Currently the central nave is dominated by the storage-archive from the now disappeared town hall. Since 2008, it has hosted the Renaissance Interpretation Centre.
Montserrat is a symbol for Catalonia and a point of pilgrimage for believers. The main attraction is the Mare de Déu (the mother of God), the patron saint of Catalonia. This Romanesque Virgin is popularly known as La Moreneta, due to the colour of the face and hands, darkened by the smoke of lighted candles.
The monastery was founded in 1025 on the orders of the Abbot Oliba, on top of a small chapel that Guifré el Pilós had donated to the Monastery of Ripoll.
The visit to Montserrat starts at the 16th-century basilica with Romanesque remains and a Gothic structure. Starting from here, the Plaça de Santa Maria, the epicentre, you can go over the whole complex, thanks to the great 19th-century renovation led by Josep Puig i Cadafalch.
Unmissable is the Museum of Montserrat. Its collection began with the materials of the biblical East brought back from his travels by Father Buenaventura Ubach. Since then, the collection has expanded with outstanding works from painters such as Caravaggio, Rusiñol, Casas, Nonell, Picasso, Monet, Sisley, Degas, Pissarro and Dali.
The museum being here is no coincidence. From the 17th century, Montserrat has been a cultural centre of the highest order as demonstrated by the exceptional library with more than 250,000 volumes from the monastery. Notable among the suggested activities is as visit to the Escolania, which is one of the oldest boys' choir schools in Europe, documented since the 14th century.
Near the Abbey, the neighbouring Monestir de Santa Cecília, is still preserved, which currently functions as the Sean Scully Art Space. Notable as well is the Romanesque church, also renovated in the 1930s by Puig i Cadafalch. Few know that this monastery was Abat Oliba’s first choice to extend his domains to Montserrat, but met with refusal of the community.
Casa Masó is the birthplace of the architect Rafael Masó , a symbol of the development of "Noucentisme" in Girona. Perfectly integrated into the urban environment, the building consists of a ground floor, three apartments and the roof.
The current house is the union of four craftsman-type houses purchased by the Masó family. The façade in Carrer Ballesteries combines the Secessionist style with Barroque-inspired elments. At the rear, glass and ceramic collonades frame the Onyar river.
Rafael Masó made two major alterations to the house. The first, in 1911, when his father commissioned him to adapt the house to the needs of a large and socially ascending family. The second renovation was in 1918, when his brother inherited the house. In addition to unifying the façades, he designed the staircase, the stained glass windows and much of the furniture inside.
For the renovations, the architect turned to the "Modernista" (Catalan Art Nouveau) style prevailing at the time, although he continued to introduce more elements of the nascent "Noucentisme" movement.
Since 2006, this affluent house has been the home of the Rafael Masó Foundation and is currently the only house along the Onyar open to the public.
2700 years ago a tribe of the ilergetes created a settlement on a plain near the current Arbeca (Les Garrigues). It was a good place to cultivate the land. But despite the serenity of the place, the ilergetes feared enemy attacks and therefore raised an imposing fortification which was almost impregnable. This makes Els Vilars a unique construction in the Iberian, Catalan and European worlds and one of the essential stops on the Iberian Route.
In an oval shape, the fortress was completely walled and had watchtowers. To access it there were only two, small doors. If entering the settlement was difficult, approaching it wasn’t an easy task either: in front of the walls, a barrier of stones stuck in the ground (chevaux-de-frise) prevented the passage of outsiders on foot or on horseback. A large moat completed the defensive works. Inside, the homes were arranged around a square dominated by a huge pit.
All these structures are visible today, thanks to the restoration and conservation of the site. Seen from the air, its perfectly oval plan can be appreciated and the edges of the rectangular homes that housed the hundred or so inhabitants that lived in Els Vilars.
The ilergetes lived there for 400 years and then left the site abruptly. Why they did is still a mystery. Its strength was so unique it became a model for the Iberians of the Peninsula.
History stops again and again at Roses. Founded as a Greek colony, its location makes it a strategic point in the Mediterranean. For this reason, the site has experienced various occupations and has been a target of numerous attacks. Today, the Ciutadella is a modern cultural centre and an extraordinary site.
Brought together over an area of 139,000 m2 are the archaeological remains of the Greek colony and later Roman colony of Rhode, the Romanesque monastery of Santa Maria and the structure of the old village of Roses, which even retains some medieval fortifications.
The current walls are fortified with large bastions dating back to the Renaissance and modern eras. It was in the 16th century that the King Carles V the Holy Roman Emperor, commanded the Ciutadella and the Castell de la Trinitat to be built to protect them from pirates and Turks.
In 1814 the French themselves were the ones who wanted the Ciutadella, which has been restored and was opened to the public at the end of the 20th century.
Since 2004 within the enclosure, you can visit the Museu de la Ciutadella, a contemporary building which summarises the history of the complex.
During the transformation of the Cathedral of Barcelona in the 14th century, the parishes in the district of Ribera decided to erect a new church that would become one of the major benchmarks of Catalan Gothic.
Alfonso V of Aragon, ‘the benign’, laid the first stone of the temple in March 1329 to crown the conquest of Sardinia and the expansion of the Catalan dominion of the Mediterranean. The Cathedral of the Sea was built in record time: only 54 years. The whole district of Ribera participated with money and by taking, one-by-one, the stones from La Foixarda, the quarry of Montjuïc.
Observed from the outside, Santa Maria del Mar is compact, smooth, without large openings or ornaments. On the other hand, the arrangement is far from the typical configuration of the time, making room for a single open space. And the naves are built in such a way that they seem to be of a single piece.
One must pay special attention to the light. Its structure of a compact block makes it enter precisely on all four sides of the Church, without creating shadows and plays of light typical of Gothic churches. The rose window in the flamboyant style is especially remarkable.
The beauty of Santa Maria del Mar is rational and abstract and has come to captivate great architects such as Le Corbusier.
