Sant Cugat monastery
Dates from the ninth century. in the year 985 it was damaged by an attack of Muslim troops led by al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir who repaired the monastery and added the minaret which remains today.
In the mid-12th century, the construction of a new monastery began. It was finished in 1337. In 1350, work began on the fortifications. During the War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714), it was occupied by troops of Archduke Charles, causing damage to the structure. Restoration work was completed in 1789. In 1835, the monastery was abandoned by the monks, remaining empty until 1851, when restoration began. It was declared a National Monument in 1931.
Distinctive features of the monastery are is two floor cloister, Church and walled compound. The 30 metre cloister was designed by Arnau Cadell and his disciple Lluis Samaranch and follows the square plan typical of many monasteries in Catalunya from this period.
The cloister is Romanesque but the church is built in the Gothic style, having a nave and two aisles. The façade has a large (8.2 metre diameter) rose window, similar to those in the Cathedrals of Barcelona and of Tarragona. The church houses a Gothic altarpiece, known as the retablo de Todos los Santos, made in 1375 by Pere Serra.
Sant Cugat Wine Cooperative
In 1921, fifty-one local viticulturists, some of them owners, but mostly tenants, founded the Sindicat Vitivinacola and Caixa Rural de Sant Medir, a cooperative whose main objective was to make wine together to get more out of the production of grapes. It was commissioned from Cesar Martinell, the architect specialising in agrarian modernist architecture of the time.
After the peek of 1950 when maximum production was reached activity began to gradually decline. The crisis in the sector had a very important impact, but above all the fact that the rural Sant Cugat that until then lived from the work of the field was already beginning to be transformed into a city.
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Sant Cugat Monastery
Due to the monastery being abandoned by the monks, most of the relics have been long since removed so inside there are few artefacts. However the space has been preserved and converted into a museum with exhibitions about the history and monastic life. For opening hours and prices check the website.
When I visited on a Sunday morning, I got in for free but this did not include an audio guide.
Sant Cugat Wine Cooperative
The last vinification took place in 1988, and the other agricultural services were gradually closed. The auxiliary buildings, and in 1994 the ships of the vats, began to be demolished to give way to a new housing block. The room for the reception of grapes and wine making, built in 1921 according to Martinell's project, was ceded by the cooperative to the city. Rehabilitated and turned into a museum, today it is one of the Museums of Sant Cugat.
This is free to enter but has limited opening times.
This is a good spring Calçotada hike when started at 9 in the morning and arriving at restaurant can Borell at 14h to 15h for the Calçotada set menu.
Calçots are milder and less bulbous than onions and have a length of between 15 and 25 cm (white part) and a diameter of 1.7 to 2.5 cm at the root. Planted in trenches, like an onion, as a single bulb, and successively increasing the depth of the soil around the stems throughout autumn and winter. They sprout into 4-10 shoots, roughly the shape of small leeks or scallions.
The origin of the Calçot and its cooking method is in the town of Valls, Catalonia, Spain, where an annual event celebrates the harvest of Calçot. Nowadays, thousands of eating gatherings centred around the Calçot, called Calçotada, are celebrated around Catalonia.
Calçot are harvested in early spring / late winter and served in Calçotadas in many of the rural and city restaurants in Catalunya. In these events, they are grilled over a hot fire, wrapped up in newspaper, served on terra cotta tiles and eaten, after peeling with bare hands, by dipping them one by one in salvitxada sauce (sauce made with almonds, garlic, tomatoes and olive oil).
At a Calçotada you are served with a bib, gloves and wet wipes because eating them the traditional way is a messy but fun affair.
This is a short walking route not far from roads so I always do it with a small rucksack of the essentials. Emergency waterproof jacket is optional depending on the weather forecast.
1 - 2 litres of water because there are fountains along the route.
Discover the history of comics by visiting the permanent collection and temporary exhibitions throughout the year in The Comic and Illustration Museum. The permanent exhibition covers the first publication positioned entirely in the field of graphic narrative (The Monigoty, 1897) until the headers or characters of more recent times. Without forgetting the first revelations of the medium in children's and satirical magazines dating back to the mid-19th Century.
The Fundació Cabanas is a private, non-profit foundation created to preserve the Cal Gerrer building and publicize the ceramics of the Arpí family, the Marilyn Monroe Archive, and the work of the Cabanas-Alibau brothers.
Inside you can visit three permanent exhibitions and a room for temporary exhibitions:
Arpí pottery factory preserve the memory of what was the most important ceramics factory in Vallés currently being the only ceramics house-factory in the entire Spanish state.
Cabanas-Alibau Brothers The Cabanas-Alibau family, born in Sants (Barcelona) and established in Sant Cugat in 1922, has had one of the most relevant careers in the local artistic field. The different rooms of the exhibition offer an anthology of the works of the three brothers: Joan, Francesc and Miquel.
Archive Marilyn Monroe Exhibition is presented from the particular point of view of its author, Frederic Cabanas, an artist from Sant Cugat who has spent more than 35 years collecting objects and documents, mainly books on the American actress. This is the first museum dedicated to Marilyn Monroe in Europe.
Address: Plaza d Octavia, Sant Cugat del Valles. 08172
If you just want to visit the Monastery and wine cellar then you can get the FGC from Plaça Catalunya to FGC Sant Cugat on the Valles lines.
I have a walking route of 13km through Parc Collserola starting at Sant Cugat FGC station and ending up at Vall de Hebron green (L3) metro station in Barcelona.
Because all these stations are in Zone-1, use a T-Casual or Hola-Barcelona travel card for metro, bus and FGC Train services.
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Parc Collserola walk from Sant Cugat via Sant cugat Monastery and wine cellar, Can Borrell, Sant Medir Chappel and finishing at Metro Vall de Hebron.
Distance: 12.74 Km
Difficulty: Easy
Return Travel Fare: T-Casual Zone 1
Transport Network: FGC & Metro
Mountain Forecast weather for Serra de Collserola
