MODERNIST TRIANGLE IN THE MARESME: PUIG I CADAFALCH, GAUDÍ AND DOMÈNECH I MONTANER.
THE MODERNISM OF MATARÓ AND CANET DE MAR
A one-day guided tour including lunch at a Modernist restaurant.
The route starts at 10 in the morning and finishes at 5:30 and has three stages: the first starts in Mataró, where we visit works by Antoni Gaudí i de Josep Puig i Cadafalch; then visitors catch a bus to Canet de Mar to see the works of Domènech i Montaner and finally, after lunch at a modernist restaurant, we catch the bus back to Mataró.
Start: 10 a.m. at Mataró Tourist Office, La Riera, 48, around 20 minutes beforehand to buy the ticket. It ends at 5:30 p.m. at the Plaça de les Tereses in Mataró
Price: €16 (free for the under 7s)
Price of lunch: €15 and €12 for children
Book in advance. Possibility of doing the route with arranged groups.
Information at Canet de Mar and Mataró Tourist Offices
Canet de Mar Town Hall
Tel. 93 794 08 98 www.turismecanet.cat - turisme@canetdemar.cat
Mataró City Hall
Tel. 93 758 26 98 www.mataro.cat - turisme@ajmataro.cat
Description of the route:
Mataró
1. City Hall Sessions Room (1893)
La Riera, 48
In 1893, the then municipal architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch started work on reforming the Sessions Room. From his project, we highlight the woodwork decoration of the ceiling, achieved by crossing the beams decorated with borders and different shields and emblematic symbols. This was completely restored in the year of Puig i Cadafalch.
2. La Beneficència (1894)
Carrer de Sant Josep, 9
La Beneficència was conceived as the Mataró charity house to receive orphans and women and was an educational centre for disabled groups, probably planned in 1892 and built in 1894. The austerity of the facades is only broken by outstanding ornamental elements: tiles with the city's heraldic shield, windows with corollary columns and mediaeval chapters and sculpture by Eusebi Arnau.
3. Casa Coll i Regàs (1897)
Carrer d’Argentona, 55
Commissioned by the businessman Joaquim Coll i Regàs in 1896. This one of the first large works by Puig, in which he masterfully combines mediaeval and baroque architectural forms with Northern European and Arab influences. The cast-iron grilles, Eusebi Arnau's sculptures, the sgraffito, the tiles and lead lined stained-glass windows are examples of the architectural eclecticism of the era and a demonstration of the importance of the home for the bourgeoisie of the time.
4. Cooperativa Obrera Mataronense – Nau Gaudí
Carrer de la Cooperativa, 47
The Cooperativa Obrera Mataronense, known as the Nau Gaudí, is one of the first works by the architect Antoni Gaudí. Of all the projects which Antoni Gaudí conceived on commission by the Cooperativa l’Obrera Mataronesa, the only one which was built, in 1883, was the cotton bleaching hall, today's Nau Gaudí. The singular elements of the building are the parabolic arches so characteristic of this architect's work, resulting in a large diaphanous warehouse and a small circular latrine building preserved outside and divided into four urinals. The Nau Gaudí houses the Bassat Catalonia contemporary art collection.
Canet de Mar
5. Riera Sant Domènec
The Sant Domènec dry river was one of the noblest areas of the town and the location chosen by some americanos to establish their residence. Examples include the houses of Joan Boher Gibert at number 18, that of the landowner Josep Móra i Tarrats, at number 20, who made his fortune in Puerto Rico.
6. Casa Roura (1891-1892)
Riera Sant Domènec, 1
Lluís Domènech i Montaner planned the summer residence of Francesca Roura Carnesoltes, the architect's sister-in-law, in the middle of the Sant Domènec dry river. The architect made a building inspired in Dutch style, in which the open brickwork stands out. Domènech resolved the facades with scaled fronts, although on the main facade he installed a fantasy-like circular tower which was used as a viewpoint. The cone-shaped roof is lined with coloured glass ceramic while the cornice involves animal shaped gargoyles. The wrought work of the railings with vegetable decoration is interesting. Inside, we especially notice a large fireplace with an allegory of the Discovery of America and a floor mosaic of classical inspiration. This is now a restaurant and the place where we stop for lunch on the route.
7. Ateneu Canetenc (1884-1885)
On the corner between Riera Sant Domènec and Carrer Ample
The Ateneu is the first building made by Lluís Domènech i Montaner in Canet de Mar. The building, which was erected on a former house, has been the headquarters of different cultural and political associations. Today it is a library. The building presents a geometric structure with a front with a rose window overlooking the river. Also noteworthy is the corner with a curved shape finishing in a dome with a dragon shaped wrought weather vane. Cast iron is also strongly present in the imagery of the building and the balcony, while sgraffito abounds over the whole facade.
8. Casa Domènech i Masia Rocosa.
Lluís Domènech i Montaner Museum House (1918 and 1920)
On the corner between Riera Gavarra and Riera Buscarons
This museum complex is formed by two spaces of great interest: Can Rocosa, a 17th-century country house and the modernist Casa Domènech. The building stands out for its elegant tribune in the main facade, the lobed arches with beautiful span divisions and floral and animal shaped elements. Inside, Domènech installed decorative elements that he used in other buildings and projects. The Casa Domènech, which was his family's summer residence, shows the artist's more intimate side. The route around the House goes to the different areas devoted to the town festivals, the influence of the family, the history of the house and the family atmosphere. In the Masia Rocosa, which was Domènech i Montaner's architecture workshop and the place where he worked on a large number of his projects, we find the more professional side of the figure as an architect, editor, politician and intellectual. In the room which was his office, there is a large unit of bookshelves and the draughtsman's table designed by the architect.
