Transport Museum of Catalonia

The Transport Museum of Catalonia is the only one of its kind in the whole of Spain. The museum is housed in the old Asland Cement Factory known as 'Clot del Moro', down in Castellar de n'Hug. The former factory itself is an impressive modernist building designed by renown architect Rafael de Guastavino, which was at the time complemented by the also modernist construction of 'Xalet de l'Asland' by Antoni Gaudí

The museum houses one of the best collections of antique vehicles in Europe, with over 170 of them, some of them fully restored and made available to the public to view.

Paratge Clot del Moro, 1
08696 - Castellar de n’Hug
Tel.: 93 825 71 13
Fax: 93 825 71 21
museutra@minorisa.es


The Asland Factory Museum

Count Güell, known as Antoni Gaudí's main benefactor, commissioned the architect with the design and construction of the first Portland cement factory in Catalonia. The factory was built at the end of the 19th century in 'Clot del Moro', in Castellar de n'Hug, conveniently close to a chalk and limestone quarry.

The museum tells us the story behind the discovery and production of a new revolutionary building material of its time known as Portland cement. Other interesting facts covered in the various museum exhibitions are the use of this new kind of cement in the design of the so-called Catalan Vault or 'Volta Catalana', Eusebi Güell's efforts establishing the Asland Factory, the architect Rafael Guastavino and his new design concept known as 'Guastavino System', very popular in the States in years to come, the everyday life of the cement factory workers and, finally, the detailed story of the building and designing of the factory itself.

Paratge del Clot del Moro, s/n
08696 - Castellar de n'Hug
Tel. 93 825 70 77


The Teixidor-Bassacs Manor House

The founders of the Bassacs industrial estate used to live in this manor house that currently hosts a permanent exhibition on the industrial history of the Berguedà county in the 19th and 20th centuries. Some aspects covered are the textile and mining industry, the local railway known as 'carrilet' as well as the farming activities in the area. Objects in the exhibition include an interesting hand-driven loom from the 19th century.

Plaça de la Vila, 1
08680 - Gironella
Tel.: 93 825 09 31

 

The Homs Chemist

The original business was founded by Miquel Homs i Quer in 1877, and has been carefully restored in a way that allows the visitor to experience again what a late 19th century chemist's shop might have looked like. The area where the preparation and dispensing of prescriptions took place has been beautifully preserved, as well as the original wall paintings, furniture, and a whole collection of white china jars used to store drugs, with the ancient symbols of the trade: the bowl of Hygeia and the serpent reaching up to it.

Av. Catalunya, 30
08680 - Gironella
Tel.: 938 250 082

 

The Colònia Vidal Museum

The Colònia Vidal Museum shows its visitors everyday life in an early 20th century textile industrial estate. The Catalan word 'colònia' designates that industrial estate -usually weaving mills- where the workers used to live in a close community with housing and social amenities being provided by the factory owners, in a rather paternalistic attitude. The name of the 'colònia'- Vidal in this case- is that of the family owning the industrial estate.

Main attractions include the original barrage and associated canal and turbine used to drive the looms in the factory. Additionally, there was an old steam engine that can still be visited. In the main weaving mill there is a display of machinery and tools once used in the manufacturing process of early cotton cloths, such as cards, roving frames, and Edmund Cartwright's first power looms ever to be used in Catalonia, etc.

Guided Group Tours can be arranged by appointment on weekends and Bank Holidays throughout the year starting at 11:00h.

Carretera C-1411 Km. 56
08692 - Puig-Reig
Tel.: 93 829 04 58
mcolvidal@caixamanresa.com