The Palau de la Música Catalana and the Hospital de la Santa Creu i de Sant Pau, works of the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, are two emblematic buildings of Catalan modernista architecture. Located in the city of Barcelona, they were built in the early years of the 20th century and have been on the Unesco World Heritage list since 1997.
The two buildings are good examples of modernista architecture, an artistic movement that arose in Europe in the late 19th century and which, in Catalonia, and especially in Barcelona, became widespread.
Both the Palau de la Música Catalana and the Hospital de la Santa Creu i de Sant Pau are public buildings in which tradition and modernity are fused together. They show a significant renewal of traditional techniques and the incorporation of new architectural solutions. To their architectural value is added beauty and decorative exuberance, becoming works of universal artistic and historical significance.
These constructions masterfully display the essence of modernisme and the period in which they were built: beyond the artistic side, he represented an ideological movement, based on the modernisation of the country and the search for an identity in a historical context in which civil society, especially the bourgeoisie, became the most loyal sponsor.
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.
Beyond speculations about whether the building was a mausoleum or a villa during the Roman era, the roman complex of Centcelles (Constantí) is unique for its 4th century mosaics. Exceptional architectural testament of the late-Roman period in Catalonia, since the year 2000, it has been included in the set of monuments of the ancient Tarraco which were declared a Unesco World Heritage Site.
The oldest remains of Centcelles are from a small rural building from the 2nd -1st Century BC, which later became a magnificent villa with a baths complex. The most notable area is the closed circular room with a dome where the mosaics are found. These are considered to be the oldest Christian-themed dome mosaics of the Roman world and are exceptional for their good state of preservation. They represent several scenes, organised into three areas: a hunt on the lower section, biblical scenes from the Old and the New Testament in the central part and figures of the four seasons at the top.
From the study of these mosaics and mural paintings, one could think that the villa was a mausoleum. Even so, its interpretation is still uncertain. The first hypothesis of the researchers suggested that the mosaics made reference to the tomb of Constant, son of the Emperor Constantine the Great. More recent researches, however, think that Centcelles was the late Roman villa of a notable person in the ecclesiastical or civil hierarchy.
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.
In the midst of the woods of Castellar de N’Hug (Berguedà), the industrialist Eusebi Güell built the Asland factory, the first in Spain to produce portland cement, faster and more resilient than the conglomerates that had been used until then. This is an impressive modernista, building which, in its time, was a symbol of modernity and which today continues to amaze the visitors who come there.
The factory, owned by the Companyia General d’Asfalts i Pòrtland Asland, came into operation in 1904. The building was designed by the architect Rafael Guastavino, who built it in tiers to take advantage of the power of the waterfalls of the river Llobregat.
Due to the low temperatures in the area, the construction had to protect the whole space occupied by the machinery. To do this, an innovative architectural solution was chosen: the Catalan vault, flat brick vaults that were supported on a metal structure. The vault is what gives the façade of the factory its uniqueness.
Later, Rafael Guastavino exported this traditional technique to the United States, where he patented the Guastavino system. This system of self-supporting vaults with tiles and layers of mortar made a fortune and left its mark on architectural icons such as Grand Central Station, Carnegie Hall and the American Museum of Natural history, among others.
The industrial complex of Castellar de N'Hug operated until 1975, but in 2002 it reopened, becoming the Museu del Ciment, (Cement Museum), a space that allowed the history of the construction in our country to be reviewed. The museum, consisting of an interpretation centre and an external route that takes in the ruins of the factory, is affiliated to the Museu de la Ciència i la Tècnica de Catalunya (Museum of Science and Industry of Catalonia). With the visit, the importance of the complex at a time of strong growth of the industrial society is put into context.
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 .
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.
