Romanticism and Industrialization

Frederic Marès, in addition to being a sculptor, developed a passion for collecting from a very early age. Over a period of more than 80 years, he assembled a large number of works of art (particularly sculpture) and more than 50,000 objects. In 1944, he gave his collections to the city of Barcelona which exhibited the collection two years later at the Museu Frederic Marès (Frederic Marès Museum), located in the former Royal Palace of the Counts of Barcelona.

In the basement and on the first two floors the collection of Hispanic sculpture from ancient times until the 19th century are concentrated . One of the jewels in the crown is L’aparició de Jesús als seus deixebles al mar (The Appearance of Jesus to his Disciples at the Sea), attributed to the Master of Cabestany, a masterpiece of the Catalan Romanesque which came from the monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes. Sculpture of the Spanish Renaissance and Baroque periods are also well represented. To a lesser extent, other artistic collections are on display (painting, metalwork, furniture and textiles).

Also displayed in the same building are the objects that Marès had collected: dolls, clocks, fans, pipes, playing cards, daguerreotypes, pharmacy jars, tin soldiers, etc. This area is known as the Gabinet del col·leccionista, or the Collector’s cabinet (Marès called it the Sentimental Museum). The visitor can take a tour through 17 rooms, in which the thousands of curious and endearing objects have been brought together which reflect the life and customs of the past, especially from the 19th century.

Finally, those who wish to delve more deeply into the figure of Frederic Marès can visit the study/library of the artist. This space has a set of sculptural works by Marès, which he himself chose to display to the public, as well as a number of personal items.

In the 17th century, the Papiol family settled in Vilanova de Cubelles, what is now Vilanova i la Geltrú. Their power and their properties increased until they became one of the most influential families of the time. A good demonstration of this can be seen in the house: a 5-storied mansion right on the main street, something which few families could afford.

The house was built in 1790 for Francesc de Papiol i Padró and it took 11 years to finish. An austere neo-classical façade hides opulent lounges in which, right up until the 1950s, the local high society would gather. In 1961, it was opened to the public as the Museum of Romanticism, following in the footsteps of the Can Llopis in Sitges. It has kept the original structure, layout and decoration.

The piano nobile (main floor), the main residence of the family, reflects a refined nineteenth century taste in which the grisailles on the walls stand out. During the visit you can see the music room, the billiards room, and in particular the large ballroom, where the family received guests. The tour also takes in the private rooms of the master of the house and the bathrooms and dressing rooms. The house also has a small private chapel, in the neo-classical style, and a library of about 6,000 volumes dating from between the 16th and 19th centuries.

The mansion is further divided into two areas: the servants area (which includes a kitchen, a bread oven and pantry) and farm labourer’s area (barn, cellar and stable). At the rear of the residence there is a romantic garden that houses carriages and bicycles from the time.

The Llopis family were dedicated to the cultivation of vineyards. In fact, the winery produced the Malvasia Llopis, a sweet wine characteristic of the town of Sitges. The last member of the family, the diplomat Manuel Llopis i Casades, bequeathed the family home to the Government of Catalonia, together with the furniture and other objects, for the purpose of setting up a museum dedicated to Romanticism. And thus the Can Llopis Romantic Museum opened its doors in 1949.

The building is a house built at the end of the 18th century in the sober and elegant neoclassical style. The interior reflects how a bourgeois family lived in the 19th century, evolving from the aristocratic tastes at the beginning of the century to the splendour of the romanticism. This evolution also can be seen in details such as the lighting, which combines candle chandeliers with gas lighting.

The Museum has a series of dioramas which illustrate daily life and the popular traditions of the 19th century. It also houses the collection of dolls and toys of the artist Lola Anglada, made up of more than 400 pieces from the 18th and 19th centuries. Before leaving, visitors can’t miss seeing the carriage with seating for up to 14 people and the collection of velocipedes.

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.

On the upper floor of the building of the Llotja de Mar in Barcelona, is one of the key institutions in the cultural life of Catalonia in the 19th and early 20th century. The Real Academia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi in Barcelona (Royal Academy of Fine Arts), was created in 1850 to oversee Catalan heritage and encourage the teaching of fine arts through the School of La Llotja. Now, no longer tied to its educational activities, it is focused on the dissemination of its art, archival and bibliographic collection.

Its art collection is made up of more than 700 paintings, 250 sculptures and various drawings and engravings by artists from the 16th century to the 20th century: from Annibale Carracci and Juan Ribalta to Modest Cuixart and Josep Maria Subirachs. Notable are the collections of drawings by Pau Milà i Fontanals and Lluís Rigalt. Above all, though, the Academy Museum offers a benchmark in Catalan art from the 18th-19th centuries, with paintings of Marià Fortuny and Ramon Martí Alsina, among others.

Many of the works come from the School of La Llotja. Others from convents and churches, or through donations or purchases. The bulk of the collection can be seen in the Llotja de Mar building, occupying the different rooms of the Academy, which have maintained their original appearance. Even so, some of its most outstanding pieces are on loan to the MNAC and other museums.

The Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi also has an important library and an archive that brings together documentary material relating to the fine arts as well as photography.

The Ecomuseum of Valls d'Àneu is a living museum. It is not contained within a single building but it is made up of several monumental, ethnographic and natural elements, spread out among the municipalities of Àneu which, together, explain how the inhabitants of these Pyrenean valleys have lived from the end of the 19th century. It’s an innovative project that was born in 1994 and which carries out research, conservation, dissemination and recovers the past of the territory in which it is based.

The central point is the Casa Gassia, a house typical of the Valls d'Àneu in the 18th century. It maintains its original structure and the current exhibition space shows what domestic life was like during the first half of the 20th century. Starting from here, the Ecomuseum is spread over 10 further heritage centres.

There are churches - Sant Joan d’Isil, Sant Julià d’Unarre, Sant Pere de Sorpe, Sant Pere del Burgal, Santa Maria d’Àneu and the Son monumental complex - which explain what the popular religion, beliefs and rituals were like. And also defensive buildings, distant in time from each other, such as the medieval castle of Valencia d'Àneu and the post-war bunkers of Guingueta d’Àneu. At the same time, the industrial facilities, which include the hydraulic sawmill at Alos and the cheese dairy of Roseta de Gavàs, are a testament to the economic activities of the area.

In addition, through the objects and items situated in their place of origin, the Ecomuseum shows the transformations that this territory has undergone in recent decades, and allows the natural and monumental elements to be related to the social, cultural and ethnographic traditions.

Driven by the spirit of the Catalan Renaixença and aware that a large part of the traditional Catalan heritage was on the verge of disappearing, in the late 19th century a group of intellectuals, headed by folklorist Rossend Serra, began to meticulously compile the stories, legends and songs from the county of Ripollès. Resulting from these efforts, in 1929 they created the Folkloric Archive Museum of Sant Pere, which gave rise to the Ripoll Ethnographic Museum.

Opened in 2001 in the former manor house of Can Budallés, having been closed for 10 years, the current museum carries out research, conservation, interpretation and dissemination of the tangible and intangible ethnological heritage, largely from Ripoll and Girona Pyrenees. The new museum displays, in a modern and educational way – incorporating audiovisual material, audios and interactive screens – more than 5,000 items.

The tour is organised into 12 collections that explain, among other things, how things were for the peasantry, trades people, shepherds, about life in the home and the popular religion. Highlights include the collection dedicated to the forge and to iron, fundamental elements in the economy of the region since the Middle Ages. And in particular, the collection of portable firearms from Ripoll, a product that achieved world renown.

Since 2002, the “Tinglado”, an old warehouse in the port of Palamos, has been home to a unique museum dedicated to the preservation, study and dissemination of the natural, social and cultural heritage of fishing on the Catalan coast.

The Museu de la Pesca (Museum of Fishing) offers an educational journey through the past, present and future of this economic activity on the Costa Brava. It shows everything from the biological diversity of the Mediterranean up to a who's who of the fishing world. All this within a building that, in 2001, was awarded the National Design Prize, and where we find the marine environment recreated, a fishing boat included.

But the experience does not end in the exhibition area: its location in the port allows you to complete the tour with a visit to the Fishing Boats, a floating extension of the Museum, and to take part in the Espai del peix (fish area), which includes seafood cookery workshops.

The Museu de la Pesca also carries out in depth research and documentation within the maritime and fishing sector through the Documare service and the Chair of Maritime Studies at the Universitat de Girona.

Integrated into the Regional Network of the Museu de la Ciència i de la Tècnica de Catalunya, the Ecomuseu-Farinera at Castelló d'Empúries has, from 2004, explained the story of the men and women of the region dedicated to the cultivation of the wheat grain and the various uses of the flour.

The building of la Farinera offers a tour of the Catalan industrial flour heritage. The machines, tools and structures exhibited are testimony of an activity that has developed since medieval times: first in the old flour mill, and from the end of the 19th century to 2001, at the modern flour mill factory.

The visit to the Ecomuseum is completed with a route that follows, up to the Pont de la Mercè, part of the five kilometres of the Rec del Molí (mill irrigation channel). This hydraulic infrastructure drove water from the weir at Vilanova de la Muga to the flour mill, skirting around and supplying the orchards and fields. Upon arrival at the flour mill, the water turned a Francis turbine from 1905, which was responsible for generating the energy necessary for the operation of the factory.

Right next to the Llobregat river, almost in touching distance of the town of Esparreguera, is one of the main witnesses to the industrial history of Catalonia: la Colònia Sedó. The large 1,400 CV turbine is one of the biggest attractions of the site, a cast iron machine which was the largest and most powerful in Spain and one of the most spectacular in Europe. Nowadays, water no longer drives it, but it has been converted into the Museum which houses the history of the colony.

In the former engine room you can see the model of the colony, where its story is told through a montage of light and sound, and a three-dimensional audiovisual is projected inside the turbine’s water pipe. The visit is rounded off with an explanation of the energy system that powered the industrial complex of Miquel Puig. The walk around the colony allows you to understand the social life and the production process of a 'small town' where the looms lived alongside the workers.

The Colònia Sedó industrial complex was founded in 1846, taking advantage of the waterfall of the old mill of Can Broquetes. Currently you can still see the halls dedicated to spinning the cotton, the canal and the lock of the waterfall, the roofs with their Catalan vault and the offices. Two of the defining features of the complex are the helical brick chimney of the old steam engine and the semicircular aqueduct that carried water from the river to the turbine.