Did you know that Mataró is a city with a great wealth of modernist heritage? Here, you’ll find factories, markets, shops, houses and much more. We suggest discovering the legacy of architect, historian and local politician Josep Puig i Cadafalch, with works such the Rengle market, the La Confianza shop, or the Coll i Regàs house. What’s more, you simply must see Antoni Gaudí’s first building, the only trace left of the Mataró Workers’ Cooperative factory, known as the Nau Gaudí.
Another must-see on your getaway to the capital of the Maresme is the prison, by Elies Rogent i Amat. It’s a building of great importance in the history of contemporary prison architecture, a construction which is the first application example of the panopticon model in the state. In Mataró, you will also find an authentic jewel of the Catalan baroque: the Dolors set of paintings, an extraordinary collection that is housed in the Basilica of Santa Maria. It’s one of the most important examples of the Catalan baroque, work of Antoni Viladomat i Manalt, considered the best Catalan painter of the first half of the 18th century. This year, a historic intervention has been carried out to restore the famous bells of Santa Maria in an aim to preserve the manual chiming of the bells, which has been named Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
On the outskirts of the city, at the eastern end of Camí Ral, in the Havana district, you’ll find an authentic treasure: a small temple of maritime tradition, built in the 17th century. It’s the hermitage of Sant Simó, where the Coca de Mataró was located, a maritime ex-voto of great artistic value that is now kept in the Maritiem Museum Prins Hendrik in Rotterdam.
Finally, you simply can’t leave Mataró without visiting the archaeological site of the Llauder tower, where you can see the remains of the stately buildings of a Roman villa built at the end of the 1st century B.C. which belonged to the territory of the Roman city of Iluro (now Mataró). It’s also an important archaeological site which has been declared a Cultural Asset of National Interest.
To find out more about the history of Mataró, visit the museum of Can Serra, which has various permanent and temporary exhibitions related to the city’s past, or Ca l’Arenes, where you can delve deeper into the municipality’s artistic activity.
