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Romanesque weekend: from Barcelona to Vic

Barcelona and Vic invite us to enjoy the magnificent Romanesque collections of their museums. However, between the two cities there is a road filled with art and history.

OLYMPIC, ROMANESQUE, UNUSUAL

There are numerous Olympic cities, though only Barcelona has Romanesque jewels so near its Olympic Stadium. The Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (National Museum of Art of Catalonia) has one of the most important collections of Romanesque art in the world.

Not everything from the Romanesque style can be seen in the MNAC, however. In the very centre of city you find one of the most tranquil spots of the bustling Raval: the ancient monastery of Sant Pau del Camp is a still little-known Romanesque jewel.

ARTISTIC “RECYCLING”

In Vallès, Sant Cugat was built on a wealth of history. The Romanesque monastery is found on the ancient site of a Roman fortress, the Castrum Octavianum. The same is the case in Terrassa, where the Monumental Churches of Sant Pere were erected on an old Visigothic settlement. Taking advantage of earlier constructions has been a very common practice throughout history.

LAND OF MONASTERIES

The journey continues in the Bages area. History, myths, geology and art mark the personality of the spectacular massif of Montserrat. The popular Moreneta, the patron saint of Catalonia, is an originally white Romanesque virgin that has been darkening from the degradation of materials and pigments.

In Sant Fruitós you find Sant Benet de Bages, an icon evocative of the Middle Ages to many Renaissance authors and one of the country's most important Romanesque monasteries. A similar esteem is warranted for another shining example of early Catalan Romanesque: the canonry of Sant Vicenç de Cardona.

We recommend you to visit again rooms filled with the best Romanesque examples. You can't pass up the paintings, sculptures and liturgical objects of the Museu Episcopal de Vic (Episcopal Museum of Vic). However, in the capital of Osona there is much more to see: in the historic centre there are Romanesque jewels such as the bell tower and crypt of the Cathedral of Sant Pere.

Finally you arrive to the shores of the Pantà de Sau (Sau water reservoir). The journey ends in Masies de Roda exploring the only Benedictine monastery of the county, Sant Pere of Casserres, where there is a permanent exhibition commenting the life style of 11th century monks.


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A tour around Modernista and industrial Terrassa

Terrassa Turisme provides a number of guided tours that will take you back to the Terassa of 1900, visiting an industrial heritage that is unique in Catalonia. You will see bourgeois houses, factories with their chimneys, steam mills, and much more.
 
MASIA FREIXA
 
The Masia Freixa, one of the city's most iconic and curious buildings, came about when Josep Freixa decided to turn his factory into a private house. He entrusted the work to the architect Lluís Muncunill and last year the roof was refurbished to give it back the appearance it had at the beginning of the 20th century.
 
CASA ALEGRE DE SAGRERA
 
The Casa Alegre de Sagrera was built at the beginning of the 19th century. Almost a century later, in 1911, it underwent large-scale refurbishment to turn it into a Modernista-period bourgeois house of a Terrassa industrialist. Since 1973 it has been used to house one of the sections of Terrassa Museum.

MERCAT DE LA INDEPENDÈNCIA
 
The Mercat de la Independència, designed by the municipal architects Antoni Pascual and Melcior Vinyals, was opened on 14 November 1908. It was an innovative building because it had an iron structure, the largest in the city, at a time when iron was generally used as a decorative element.
 
THE AYMERICH, AMAT I JOVER TEXTILE MILL, HOME TO THE mNACTEC
 
The Vapor Aymerich, Amat i Jover, a textile mill, is one of the best examples of industrial Modernista architecture in Catalonia. It was designed in 1906 by the architect Lluís Muncunill and it now houses the National Museum of Science and Industry of Catalonia (mNACTEC).
 

If you would like to know more about Modernista Terrassa, sign up for the guided tour organised by Terrassa Turisme on the fourth Saturday. The tour includes the Masia Freixa, the Casa Alegra de Sagrera and the mNACTEC.
 
 
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Montserrat: culture and spirituality

The monastery of Montserrat was founded in 1025 on the orders of Abbot Oliba. It was built over a small hermitage which Guifré el Pilós (Wilfred the Hairy) had given to the Monastery of Ripoll. The star attraction of the visit is to see the Moreneta, a Romanesque carving of Our Lady of Montserrat, whose face and hands have been darkened by the smoke from candles.
 
The monastery of Montserrat can be reached in various ways: on foot; by car; rack railway and cable car. Thanks to the work carried out under the direction of Josep Puig i Cadafalch at the end of the 19th century, it is possible to walk all around the site, starting at the central location of Plaça de Santa Maria.
 
BASILICA
 
Start your visit with the basilica, a 16th century building with Romanesque remains and a Gothic structure. Since 1947, the statue of Our Lady Montserrat has been mounted in a silver retable in the upper apse. In 1881 pope Lleo XIII proclaimed Our Lady Montserrat to be the patron saint of Catalonia.
 
MUSEUM OF MONTSERRAT
 
Opposite the monastery is the Museum of Montserrat. It contains over 1,300 items, from a 2,200 BC Egyptian sarcophagus to 2010 painting by Sean Scully. The collection started with items brought back from visits to the Holy Land by father Bonaventura Ubach and, over the years, it has grown with additions from such outstanding artists as Caravaggio, Rusiñol, Casas, Nonell, Picasso, Monet, Sisley, Degas, Pissarro and Dalí.
 
AUDIOVISUAL SPACE
 
The information office is just in front of the rack railway station and it is here that you can see the 'Montserrat Open doors' video, which shows Montserrat from three main points of view: the mountain; the monastery; and the Sanctuary of Our lady of Montserrat. The visit ends with a moving conclusion in which the choir plays a prominent role!
 
SANTA CECÍLIA DE MONTSERRAT AND A SPACE FOR ART
 
A five-minute drive takes you to the Monastery of Santa Cecília de Montserrat, located in one of the mountain's most beautiful settings. Its church, which dates from the 11th century, was restored in the 1930s by Puig i Cadafalch and is one of the region's most outstanding examples of Romanesque architecture. It currently houses an exhibition of works by one of the most internationally renowned contemporary artists, Sean Scully.
 
CUISINE
 
Don't forget to try the local cottage cheese known as mató! It has been documented as 'Mató de Montserrat' since the end of the 19th century, although it was, of course, made and consumed a very long time before that. You will find it on sale at the market that is held up from the sanctuary where, still today, country folk come to sell their wares, such as mató, honey, cheeses, fig loaves and so forth, every day.
 
 
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The facades by Puig i Cadafalch in the Eixample district of Barcelona

The year 2017 marked 150 years since the birth of the architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch. This route will take you around some of his most outstanding works in the Eixample district of Barcelona: the Casa Amatller, the Casa Serra, the Palau Baró de Quadres, the Casa de les Punxes and the Palau Macaya. You could also sign up for the guided tour which is organised one Saturday every month.
 
CASA AMATLLER

The house of the chocolate magnate, Antoni Amatller, is one of the finest examples of Catalan Modernista architecture and one of the few that still has the rich ornamentation that is so characteristic of this style and so popular with the Catalan bourgeoisie. Located in the Passeig de Gràcia, the Casa Amatller is notable on account of the composition of its facade and the refurbishment of the ground and first floors to reflect the original architecture and the Modernista decorative arts it employed.
 
CASA SERRA

The house was designed as a family house to resemble a small palace, but it was never inhabited by its owner. It is located in the Rambla de Catalunya and with it Puig i Cadafalch wanted to pay homage to the former Casa Gralla, demolished in the mid-19th century, by reproducing the main entrance and the ornamentation of the windows.
 
PALAU BARÓ DE QUADRES

Puig i Cadafalch gave this building two facades, one on Carrer Rosselló and the other on Avinguda Diagonal, in a mixture of styles with neo-Gothic carvings and stained-glass windows. The building housed the Music Museum until 2011 and then, until 2013, it was the premises of the Casa Àsia. At the present time it is where the main offices of the Institut Ramon Llull are located.
 
CASA DE LES PUNXES

The Casa de les Punxes, also known as the Casa Terradas, was built in 1905 for the three daughters in the family. Inspired by Neuschwanstein castle in Bavaria, Puig i Cadafalch made the six turrets coincide with the intersections of the three roads around the house: Avinguda Diagonal (which, being the busiest road, has the main and most sumptuous facade), Carrer Rosselló and Carrer Bruc.
 
PALAU MACAYA

The building, located in Passeig de Sant Joan, is now the property of Obra Social ‘la Caixa’, and is outstanding on account of its white facade, with ochre sgraffiti, by Joan Paradís, and the wrought iron work, by Manuel Ballarín. Eusebi Arnau and Alfons Pujol, who worked frequently with Puig i Cadafalch, also worked on the ornamentation of the facade. Being a little off the city's tourist track, this building is often overlooked.
 
 
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The most outstanding three kings parades

The Three Kings are coming! Surely by now you will have asked their pages to give them your wish list for presents! Now it's time to go and welcome them in all the towns and villages. Here are some of the most outstanding Three Kings Parades in Catalonia, where their arrival is one of the most anticipated festivals of the year.

THE FESTIVAL OF THE THREE KINGS IN IGUALADA

The festival of the three kings in Igualada is one of the oldest in Catalonia, and also one of the most spectacular. Along the whole course of its route through the streets of the city the pages give out presents to all the children, climbing up long ladders of all colours to reach the balconies and windows of the houses. The festival has been declared to be a Festival of National Heritage Interest.
 
THE THREE KINGS PARADE IN SANT VICENÇ DELS HORTS

Like the Three Kings Parade in Igualada, the one in Sant Vicenç dels Horts is also one of the oldest ones in Catalonia, with a tradition going back more than 120 years. First, the Three Kings, with the help of their pages, collect all the children's letters on the Royal Stage, set up near the Town Hall. Once they have all been collected the much anticipated cavalcade through the streets of the town commences.
 
THE THREE KINGS PARADE IN TARADELL

In Taradell, there is a sign to indicate that the cavalcade is about to start: the former textile and dyeing mills sound their horns. The children welcome the Three Kings in a very special way. They do it with large lavender torches, and their flames have a very important function, to guide the Three Kings towards the village, and around the streets of the town.
 
THE ARRIVAL OF THE THREE KINGS IN TARRAGONA

In Tarragona, as in other locations along the Catalan coastline, the Three Kings arrive in a different way, by boat. Their reception, in the maritime district of Serrallo, is also rather special as they are received to the sound of all the ships in the port sounding their horns and a 21-salvo firework salute. The Three Kings start their parade around the city as soon as they disembark.
 
THE THREE KINGS IN NÚRIA AND QUERALBS

What other way could there be for the Three Kings to arrive at the sanctuary of Núria other than by skiing, an event accompanied by illuminations, music and fire! There to await them are all the children who have taken the Queralbs rack railway to welcome them. Once the letters have been delivered everybody goes back down to the village and the Three Kings, accompanied by their pages, mount their carriages to parade around the town. The carriage used by the Three Kings is a historic one and is only used for special occasions.


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Country life, a stone’s throw from the city

Natural parks, modernisme, traditional farmhouses and prehistoric monuments. A county in which to enjoy nature and discover an often unknown heritage.

 

EL MONTSENY NATURAL PARK: MASIA MARIONA

Our tour starts in a unique space: visit the Masia Mariona and discover the "Universe Patxot", a meteorologist and an important artistic patron. Built between 1926 and 1931 by Rafael Patxot, and under the direction of the architect Josep Danés i Torras, this noucentista space houses the El Montseny Natural Park Office.

TAGAMANENT ETHNOLOGICAL PARK

Close by is the Tagamanent Ethnological Park, where you can discover what life was like on Catalan farmsteads. Don’t miss out on the guided tour of the cow and sheep byres, the kitchen, the dough trough, the banqueting room, the bedrooms of the heir and the grandmother ... an authentic journey into a very recent past.

CASTELLCIR CASTLE

Castellcir castle, also known as La Popa Castle (the stern), offers breathtaking views of the county. Perched on a rock which forms its foundations, it is in the Romanesque style and was documented as far back as 1014.

PEDRA GENTIL, THE DOLMEN OF THE WITCHES

Go along to the Montnegre i el Corredor Natural Park and don’t miss the Pedra Gentil, a dolmen where witches would meet in ancient times... At 4000 years old, the funerary monument was restored in 1885 by the owner of the estate where it is located, Josep Pradell.

MODERNISME WITH THE 'RASPALL ROUTE'

In the Vallès Oriental, you will also find routes to explore modernisme in the county: today we invite you to take the "Raspall Route" and discover the works of the architect from the Vallès.

 

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