With the agreement signed between the Department of Culture of the Catalan Goverment (Generalitat de Catalunya) and the City Council of Cervera, on 20 January 1982 the Regional Historical Archive of Cervera was created, integrated into the Network of Historical Archives. In February 1988 the current headquarters were inaugurated in the building of the University of Cervera, and in 1995 it was renamed the Regional Archive of La Segarra. The Regional Council exercises management powers.
Among its collections are those of the City Council of Cervera and that of the Notarial District. Of the former, mention should be made of the set of parchments from 1072; the Book of Privileges of Cervera (BCIN); the Act of the General Court of 1359 (BCIN); the Green Book of Reason (1448-1637); the series of “Councils” (begun in 1332), with Clavaria, Manifest, Cadastre, L’obra dels murs, Veïnatge... Of the notarial collection (1325-1917), it is important to highlight the large number of protocols preserved, with three books of ordinations and deliberations of the old College of Notaries of Cervera (1366-1684). Among the collection of manuscripts, it is worth mentioning the books of the Mystery of the Passion (16th century).
The origin of the Provincial Historical Archive of Tarragona (AHT) dates back to the Second Republic, with the appearance of the Decree for the creation of the provincial historical archives, on November 12, 1931. The Republican Government's project stated that the planned centers should only house notarial historical documentation. However, the outbreak of the Civil War, in 1936, stopped the initiative. On January 21, 1939, the new regime legislated again in this direction and created the Decree for the creation of the historical archives of protocols. In 1944, the Provincial Historical Archive of Tarragona was definitively established, to record the protocols of various notarial districts in Tarragona, to which was added documentation from the Municipal Historical Archive of Tarragona up to 1799.
In 1981, due to the transfer of powers from the State to the Government of Catalonia (Generalitat de Catalunya), the Department of Culture assumed the management of this archive, along with that of the provincial historical archives of Girona and Lleida. Furthermore, as established by Law 10/2001, of 13 July, on archives and document management, the AHT is part of the Network of Regional Archives of the Generalitat de Catalunya and acts as the Regional Archive of Tarragonès.
The archive currently holds 183 documentary collections, including collections. They come, in large part, from the peripheral administration of the State. The Civil Government funds stand out - with the important series of associations of all the municipalities of Tarragona (1849-1982); the Provincial Delegation of Finance, of considerable volume; the Territorial Management of the Cadastre, with an interesting collection of 4,769 paperback parcel plans, or cadastres of 130 municipalities from the years 1927-1960.
The capacity of the AHT is 5,400 linear m of shelving distributed over seven floors of documentary storage, to which must be added 1,900 linear m of auxiliary storage.
The Historical Archive of Lleida (AHL) was created by ministerial order on 26 February 1952. Its first headquarters was the historic building of the Roser, a former 17th-century Dominican convent. In 2005, its current headquarters were inaugurated, located on the Illa de la Maternitat, together with the Public Library and the Diocesan and Regional Museum of Lleida.
In 1981, due to the transfer of powers from the State to the Government of Catalonia (Generalitat de Catalunya), the Department of Culture assumed the management of this archive, along with that of the provincial historical archives of Girona and Tarragona. Furthermore, as established by Law 10/2001, of 13 July, on archives and document management, the AHL is part of the Network of Regional Archives of the Generalitat de Catalunya and acts as the Regional Archive of Segrià.
It currently houses documents from the 13th to the 19th centuries. Its initial documentary core was the notarial collection of the Lleida district, as well as the historical documentation of the Provincial Delegation of Finance, among others.
We particularly highlight the documentary collection of the Lleida Intendency, which contains documents relating to the cadastre established by José Patiño after the occupation of Catalonia in the 18th century; the documentary collection of the Civil Government, especially the series of public order documents generated in the immediate post-war period; the documentary collections of Francoist organizations; the documentary series that includes the files of the Provincial Court of Political Responsibilities; the patrimonial collection of the Jover de Tàrrega family (1525-1848), and the collection of manuscripts and loose documents (1348-1848), among others.
The first news of the Historical Archive of Girona (AHG) dates back to 1931, when the State Government issued the Decree for the creation of provincial historical archives in each provincial capital with the aim of registering the notarial protocols of more than a hundred years of the districts within its territorial scope. In the case of Girona —except for the timid attempt to create the archive in 1937, in the midst of the war, by the Government of Catalonia (Generalitat de Catalunya), with the adaptation of the Casa Falló in the city as a document concentration deposit—, the AHG did not become a reality until 1952: with the publication of a specific order from the Ministry of Education, the Provincial Historical Archive of Girona was created. The headquarters of the archive, at that time, was the building of the old Capuchin convent, a place that had also housed the Institut d’Ensenyament Mitjà, on Carrer de la Força. In 1963 it moved to the Casa de Cultura, and began to share spaces and services with the Provincial Public Library. It remained there until 1984, when its current headquarters, located in Plaça de Sant Josep, was opened, and it began to occupy what had originally been the convent of the Discalced Carmelites of the city of Girona, built from 1591 onwards.
A few years earlier, specifically in 1981, the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya had assumed management of the centre. On 15 March 1982, an agreement was signed to transfer the management of state-owned archives to the regional administration, which affected the three provincial archives of the country: Girona, Lleida and Tarragona. Since then, the AHG has been a state-owned archive centre, managed by the Generalitat de Catalunya and fulfilling, among many others, the functions of the Gironès Regional Archive.
Commissioned by the Ministry of Culture, in 2009 the construction project for the building that was to house the new headquarters of the AHG was drawn up, located in the Fontajau neighbourhood of the city. This change was to allow a significant increase in the capacity for document storage —now fully occupied—, adaptation to the new demands and technical conditions of current archival work and, ultimately, an improvement in the quality of the service. Currently, the execution of the project is halted.
The collections that the AHG safeguards come from various sources. Particularly important are the documentation of the notarial collections of four districts —Figueres, Girona, La Bisbal d’Empordà and Santa Coloma de Farners— from 1261 to 1919, consisting of 32,000 volumes, and the collection of the Territorial Management of Girona of the Cadastre. Also noteworthy are the collections of the peripheral State Administration, among which the collection of the Civil Government of Girona (1772-2003) stands out, with the important series of “Frontier and Research Files”, and the collections of the various ministerial delegations in the province of Girona. Other remarkable collections are the collection of the Mortgage Accountants (1768-1870), the collection of the Institut Jaume Vicens Vives de Girona (1845-1990) and the remarkable collection of fragments of Hebrew manuscripts extracted from the covers of notarial volumes.
The creation of the General Archive of Aran (AGA) was agreed upon through an agreement signed on 7 September 1995 between the Department of Culture and Media of the Government of Catalonia (Generalitat de Catalunya), the local government (General Council of Aran) and the City Council of Vielha e Mijaran. The facilities were inaugurated on 7 November 1998 by the Most Honourable Mr. Jordi Pujol, then President of the Generalitat de Catalunya.
The headquarters of the Archive is Çò d’Ademà, an old manor house, better known as Casa deth Senhor d’Arròs, a building that was built around 1820 by Francisco Ademà Subirà. The house is also the institutional headquarters of the General Council of Aran.
The AGA ordinarily receives the documentation of the General Council of Aran, as well as other public institutions in the territory. Also, by agreement, of private institutions or natural or legal persons who wish to deposit or donate their funds in accordance with the provisions of Law 10/2001, on archives and document management.
As relevant funds we highlight the historical documentation of the highest Aranese institution and the large volume of patrimonial funds from several Aranese manor houses. The auxiliary library has books on regional topics and social sciences in general.
The Vallès Oriental Regional Archive (ACVO), inaugurated on 30 September 2005, is part of the Regional Archives Network of the Catalan Goverment (Generalitat de Catalunya) and is managed jointly by the Vallès Oriental Regional Council and the Granollers City Council, in accordance with the agreement signed on 29 December of the same year between the Department of Culture, the Regional Council and the Granollers City Council.
The capacity of the ACVO is 10,000 linear metres of shelving, of which 6,600 are currently occupied. Among the documentary collections deposited in the archive, we can highlight those of the city councils of Aiguafreda, Castellterçol, Granollers, Santa Eulàlia de Ronçana and Tagamanent; also, the documentation of the Vallès Oriental Regional Council, the funds of the archive of notarial protocols of the district of Granollers, of the courts of first instance of Granollers and Mollet, of the Regional Office of the Department of Agriculture or of the agrarian chambers of various towns.
Also worth noting is the photographic fund of the magazine Sport Comarcal; the patrimonial or farmhouse funds, which contain nearly 400 parchments ranging from the 12th to the 17th century, or the fund of the barony of Montbui, a jurisdiction made up of Santa Eulàlia, Bigues, Riells, l’Ametlla, Lliçà d’Amunt, Palaudàries and Sant Mateu de Montbui. There are also several personal funds.
The ACVO also guards an important newspaper library fund (regional magazines and municipal bulletins), as well as a collection of local monographs that are constantly being updated. In addition, it shares facilities with the Municipal Archive of Granollers, which has deposited part of its documentary, newspaper and image collection there. A large part of the ACVO's collection can be viewed online through the Arxius en Línia and XAC Premsa portals.
The Vallès Occidental Regional Archive (ACVOC) was created in 1982 as an archive dependent on the Generalitat de Catalunya. Its location in Terrassa was in keeping with the city's long tradition in the field of archives. Currently, the ACVOC also includes the Terrassa Historical Archive, created in 1932.
The Vallès Occidental Regional Archive - Terrassa Historical Archive holds a total of 315 documentary collections, with a volume of 5,466 linear metres of documentation originating from local, royal and stately administration, notarial, religious, business and private. It also has a further 250 linear metres of auxiliary and administrative library. The oldest document held in this archive is a fragment of a codex with Visigothic writing dating from the 9th century.
The new and modern building that houses the archive, inaugurated on June 9, 2014, has a surface area of 3,800 m2, and is divided into three basic areas. A first area is located on the lower floor, and has five conventional deposits plus a sixth for special formats. There is also an area of three deposits on an upper floor, with a loading and unloading dock and a disinfection, cleaning and storage section. Finally, there is a main area with a conventional deposit, an internal work room, a digitization room, two refrigerated deposits for the preservation of photographs, an external work room, a very spacious public consultation room, a space for training activities and a large-capacity multipurpose room.
The new facility aims to preserve, conserve, process and disseminate local and regional documentary heritage, which is why it incorporates digital processing tools. The ACVOC also plays an important role as a cultural and social agent at the service of Terrassa and the Vallès Occidental. In addition, it also advises the administrations in its area that request it on matters of document management and the implementation of document management systems. This function covers documentation in both traditional and electronic media, as well as digitized documents.
The Regional Archive of Terra Alta (ACTA) was inaugurated on June 29, 2013 in the municipality of Gandesa, with the aim of preserving, conserving and disseminating the documentary heritage of the region. The archive is part of the Regional Archives Network, and is managed by the Catalan Goverment (Generalitat de Catalunya), the Regional Council of Terra Alta and the City Council of Gandesa.
The building has capacity for a total of 7,000 linear meters of documentation, distributed between ordinary deposits, a deposit for special media and a large-format deposit. In 2016, an expansion of the compacts was carried out, and currently it has 2,461 linear meters of shelving installed.
ACTA has a consultation room with capacity for 12 researchers and has two internet connection points, a multipurpose room for events and exhibitions, a document disinfection room, a classification room and an unloading dock.
The Solsonès Regional Archive (ACS), which is part of the Generalitat Archives Network, was inaugurated on March 30, 1995. The creation agreement was signed on January 31, 1984. It currently holds more than 1,000 linear meters of documentation and, chronologically, it spans from the 13th century to the present day.
Among the documentary collections that make up the archive are the City of Solsona Archive and the old notary of the Solsona district; alongside it, due to its special importance, we must add the Josep Maria Vicens i Purgimon (1910-1955) photographic collection, as well as a significant number of collections from the Solsona associative fabric: the Orfeó Nova Solsona, the Associació de Festes del Carnaval, etc. In 2010, the ACS celebrated its 15th anniversary; During this time, it has gathered more than 160 documentary funds and collections, and has consolidated a strong bond with the society of Solsona.
The archive is closely related to the territory and, since its birth, had a great territorial vocation. This reality is evident in many facts; for example, more than 89% of the documentary funds of the local Administration are in the Regional Archive. Its premises occupy part of the old hospital of Llobera, an outstanding building of Catalan civil Gothic.
The Regional Archive of La Selva (ACSE) was created on June 16, 1982, and was officially inaugurated on April 29, 1983.
The first headquarters of the archive was located on the ground floor of the old College of Nuns of the Heart of Mary, located on Ave Maria Street in Santa Coloma de Farners. In the winter of 2005, the Regional Archive moved temporarily to Francesc Camprodon Street, where it remained until March 2015. On March 21 of this year, the new building was inaugurated, located on Sant Dalmau Street, in the old town of Santa Coloma de Farners.
The ACSE has 2,100 linear meters of documentation deposited from the 13th to the 21st century. The municipal collections of Breda, Massanes, Osor, Santa Coloma de Farners, Sant Miquel de Cladells and Vidreres stand out; the notarial collection of the Santa Coloma district; collections of various kinds (Prat, Rovirola, Masoller, Vinyes, Trias, Termes Orion, Agricultural and Forestry Training School, etc.), and the collection of the military clinic no. 5 of the International Brigades. Also noteworthy is the collection of printed matter (more than 8,300 between 1829 and 2015), as well as the photographic collections of Francesc Xavier Aulí and the Oller family (19th-20th centuries). The archive also has a library specializing in regional topics (5,000 registered books) and an auxiliary newspaper library (19th-20th centuries).
