Getaway to Vallès Occidental: From the Middle Ages to modernisme

When we arrive in the region we will head to one of the buildings that tell us about its historical importance. Sant Cugat has a monastery that in medieval times was the most distinguished in the county of Barcelona. The enormous rose window dominating the façade attests to its significance, as do the surviving walls and towers built in the 14th century. The Benedictine abbey has its origins in the 9th century and its church is in a good state of conservation, especially the Romanesque cloister, the jewel in the crown, with capitals that are well worth a close look. The cloister houses the Sant Cugat Museum, surrounded by the chapter house and former monastic rooms.

Terrassa, co-capital of Vallès Occidental, was one of the big industrial drivers of Catalonia. Many of its factories were built in the period of splendour of modernisme and they adopted shapes and structures characteristic of one of the most celebrated art movements in the country. This happened over one century ago but luckily we can still see many of the factories, although mostly with uses different from the original. And there are also modernista houses dotted around the streets of Terrassa and that, in many cases, were the factory owners' residences.

To avoid missing a thing, it is best to join the guided tour that begins at Masia Freixa and includes Casa Alegre de Sagrera, the Mercat de la Independència and the Vapor Aymerich, Amat i Jover, home to the very interesting National Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia (mNACTEC). A real journey in time, with the chimneys, the symbol of steam energy, constantly popping up during the tour.

We are not quite ready to leave Terrassa or modernisme because if there is a building that particularly attracts attention in the town, and that many consider the most emblematic, this is the Masia Freixa. It is striking because of its white walls and columns and parabolic arches. Yet another example of modernista architecture showing that it is easy to recognise with its consistent features but at the same time every building can be unique. Lluís Muncunill, the most prolific modernista architect in the city, designed it at the behest of Josep Freixa, who wanted to transform his factory into his family residence. Today the building houses municipal offices although we can discover its nooks and crannies on the guided tours available.

Terrassa also preserves older buildings worth visiting. For instance, the Seu d'Ègara, a real jewel. After years of restoration, the three churches that make up the site (Sant Pere, Santa Maria and Sant Miquel) look wonderful and offer visitors a real architectural history lesson because it has mostly Romanesque elements but also some from the Visigoth period ‒ some of the few remains in our country from that time ‒, as well as from the Renaissance, Baroque, and even the end of the Roman Empire, not to mention two notable Gothic altarpieces.

You can end the day in the park of Vallparadís, and if you still want more heritage, you can visit the Castle-Carthusian Monastery of Vallparadís, dating back to the 12th century, and another of the buildings that show us that, many centuries before it was a city that accommodated thousands of residents, Terrassa was already the chosen home for lots of different people.