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AIA Spring Tour 12th - 18th May 2025 Catalonia Register interest Draft itinerary, subject to change |
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Catalunya tends to value most its heritage that distinguishes it from the rest of Spain.
So the Romanesque and Gothic architecture, largely built while the rest of the Peninsular was under Arabic Muslim control, is treasured.
Since the return of Catalan autonomy from 1979, the industrial heritage has been also valued, since it was also a distinct experience to most of Spain during the C19 and most of the C20.
A unique territorial museum system was developed which built on the dispersed and specialised nature of industrial activities in the region, with some 25 separate conserved and interpreted sites, known as the Sistema del mNACTEC, the national industrial museum of Catalunya.
With great help from our friend James Douet, we are planning the following visits (everything subject to change) : MONDAY 12 Travel to Barcelona (own expense) Dinner at our hotel Talk: Introduction to the Industrial heritage of Catalonia TUESDAY 13 Barcelona Tour of the Medieval and early-Modern industrial city Maritime Museum Medieval shipbuilding sheds and the Royal Shipyards Parc de la Ciutadella Buildings from the 1888 International Exhibition, and beginnings of Modernisme architecture. Born iron-framed market The new Central Market was built in 1876 according to the design of Josep Fontseré, and is the most important example in Catalonia of iron construction and architecture. Santa Maria del Mar church Built between 1329 and 1383 at the height of the kingdom of Catalonia's maritime and mercantile pre-eminence. It is an outstanding example of Catalan Gothic, with a unity of style that is very unusual in large medieval buildings. WEDNESDAY 14 Mataró Can Marfà knitting textiles museum. The exhibition space of the Museum of Mataró devoted to the knitting industry, the industrial activity that has brought uniqueness and identity to the city. Casa de les Aigües steam pumping station In 1879 the Barcelona municipal architect Antoni Rovira i Trias designed a new steam-powered pumping station in the Modernista style to extract river water and pump it to the city. Ca l’Aranyó textile mill is now part of the Pompeu Fabra University. The fireproof iron frame of the spinning shed was purchased, with all the textile machinery, from Leeds in 1880. Torre Glories is a 2012 skyscraper designed by French architect Jean Nouvel to fix Barcelona’s innovation district known as 22@. The regeneration project incorporated many re-cycled industrial spaces. From the gallery at the top of the tower we can have an unmatched view over the Sagrada Familia, the city and the whole territory of Barcelona. THURSDAY 15 Cornellà steam pumping station The Central Cornellà water pumping station was built by the Societat General d’Aigües de Barcelona and designed by the architect Josep Amargós i Samaranch in 1905 to improve the supply of drinking water to Barcelona. Cellers Cordoniu cava cellars, Sant Sadurni d’Anoia Visit to the Cordoniu winery, underground cellars and tasting. Colònia Güell and Gaudí crypt The Colònia Güell was one of the most ambitious of the industrial settlements established in Catalonia during the 19th century, and which characterize the industrialization of the region. FRIDAY 16 Clot del Moro Tren del Ciment, 30 minute ride in the former workers’ railway up the valley to the cement works and railway workshops Clot del Moro, ruins of Modernista cement works The first cement works with modern rotary kilns in Catalonia was built in this inaccessible valley between 1901 and 1904 by Eusebi Güell, assisted by American technicians from Allis Chalmers and the Pelton Water Wheel company. Cercs coal mine museum and miners’ settlement Coal was mined in this are for copper and iron forges since the late C18, but the first proper mines only opened in the 1850s. Baells Hydroelectric Dam The Llobregat was dammed in 1976 by the Baells dam, 112m high and describing a 302m curve across the valley. A photographic exhibition inside the dam illustrates the work of its construction. SATURDAY 17 Terrassa Colònia Sedó The Colònia Sedó was one of the largest of the Catalan rural industrial settlements. Built between 1847 and 1850, it took advantage of an existing water power site of an old flour mill site on the Llobregat river. Museu de la Ciència i de la Tècnica de Catalunya, Terrassa The mNACTEC represents the history of the Catalonian process of industrialization and is the national museum of science and technology. Walk through industrial and ModernisteTerrassa, the former ‘City of Smoke’ The Medieval town of Terrassa grew fast during the second half of the C19 with the construction of steam mills specializing in woolen textiles. Dinner at the Estació de França train shed Espai Gastronomic The terminus for Spain’s first main line from Barcelona to Mataró, 40km up the coast, opened in 1848 with a station about 250m N of here. This was the terminal of the Granollers line, built a few years after, and the station gained its name when the line was extended to connect with the rest of Europe at the French border, in 1870. SUNDAY 18 Breakfast at our hotel. Travel home or to other destinations (own expense) In summary:
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