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Bonaplata Textile Mill
autoria desconeguda
Josep Bonaplata and Silvestre Puig founded the company "Bonaplata i Cia" in 1829, specialising in the manufacture of yarns, fabrics and colour prints. In 1831 it was renamed "Bonaplata, Vilaregut, Rull i Cia."; originally located in a pre-existing building on 52 Tallers Street (owned by Francesc Guiu). Later, land was bought and sold by Francesc Guiu, Ramon Prats i Pi and an old industrial factory occupied by the Col·legi de Sant Vicenç Ferrer. At that time, renovation and extension works were carried out under the direction of the master builder: Domènec Vidal. As a result of the first workers' riots, the factory under study was set on fire and destroyed.1832
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Casa Planell
autoria desconeguda
Edifici d'habitatges de planta baixa i quatre pisos, amb cornisa i terrat. La façana principal a la Baixada de la Seu està ordenada simètricament segons tres eixos verticals que corresponen als tres portals de planta baixa. Tipologia clàssica amb entresòl, principal i dos pisos, la diferenciació social dels quals ve marcada per la importància dels balcons: a l'entresòl, baranes a pla de façana; a la planta principal, balconada, i a la resta, balcons individuals decreixents en alçada. Té pilastres de separació dels balcons, quasi planes, rematades amb capitells jònics. Cornisa amb permòdols i imbricacions. La façana al carrer del Bisbe és plana, amb escasses obertures. -
Fountain of Neptune
The Fountain-Monument has three parts: a base, a column and a statue. The base is square with eight springs, which are reliefs of human faces. The column is Doric in style, with the lower part of the shaft fluted and the upper part featuring girls dancing with water jugs in their hands (a symbol of civic joy). The base has garlands on the sides and animals on the corners. The statue represents King Neptune crowned and holding a trident in his right hand. The Espelt water gate had a spectacular effect on the town, and the best evidence of this can be seen in the monuments erected to commemorate the event. The monument was part of a group of four public fountains designed as the culmination of the water gate. The fountain was designed by Francesc Vallès, an engineer of French descent, and the artistic work was carried out by the sculptor Damià Campeny. It was inaugurated on 11 June 1832. In 1970, the town council had the monument rebuilt. The work was carried out by Hugo Pratch under the direction of the architect Joan Bassegoda Nonell. -
1833 - 1834
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1834
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1835
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Castellot del Serrat del Maurici
autoria desconeguda
Enfront del castell de Balsareny i situades al Serrat del Maurici. Es tracta d'una construcció militar d'època carlina (1838) de planta pràcticament quadrada, amb tres torres de secció circular als vèrtexs, excepte pel cantó de llevant on no n'hi ha. Les pedres, de dimensions considerables, subratllen la funció militar que tenia la construcció. Només hi ha unes petites obertures pel cantó de migdia. Queden rastres d'algunes petites obertures en forma d'espitllera. Hi ha restes del que devia haver estat un vall. Les ruïnes del fortí es troben dalt d'un serrat conegut amb el topònim de "Serrat del Maurici", topònim que dóna nom també a aquesta fortificació. Segons notícies recollides, el fortí va ser construït l'any 1838 per una força de Sapadors i una brigada de muls. Els treballs duraren forà temps i finalment s'hi instal·là una companyia del batalló del Júcar. A finals del segle XIX ja estava en runes. Aquest fort i el de la Torreta, situat sota el castell de Balsareny, controlava el camí ral de Berga. La seva construcció es degué a les guerres carlines i un dels capitans que hi van prendre possessió fou el comte d'Espanya.1838
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Tower of Meer
autoria desconeguda
Cylindrical fort built in 1838. Classic construction style from the Carlist Wars. A circular redoubt or fort whose diameter decreases as it rises. Halfway up the structure, there are some loopholes and rough masonry, which gives it a robust appearance. During the war known as the ‘Seven Years' War’, Cardona Castle remained in Christian hands, as the Carlists, led by Tristany, often carried out hostile raids with the aim of also taking control of the famous salt flats. The Baron of Meer had this fortification built in 1837-1838, which bears his name, to repel enemy attacks or at least keep watch. -
1839
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1836 - 1840
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1840
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Igualadina Cotton
autoria desconeguda
The site where the complex was located, known as ‘Godó colony’ and a manufacturing centre, had an area of 15,000 m2 with two longitudinal warehouses with a large number of openings on the outside to facilitate the entry of air into the warehouses. The power station measures 50 x 14 m with an approximate surface area of 700 m2 and is five storeys high. Part of the foundations are made of solid brick, forming arcades that are understood to be on sandy ground due to the proximity of the river. The four-storey warehouses have a very simple structure that is determined by the rectangular structure of the building. Three rows of cast iron pillars support the ceilings - on the first floors they are interspersed with wooden pillars of the same shape. The ceilings are made of wooden boards with reinforcing planks to support the weight of the looms. The roof has two slopes, leaving a central nave with a row of wooden pillars and trusses, and there are skylights in the ceiling. Next to the west façade stands the square brick chimney. The most remarkable element of the whole complex is the entrance gate to the enclosure, formed by a segmental arch made of smooth stone voussoirs and a triangular finial that is like a recreation of the Roman triumphal arch. Founded in 1842, under the promotion of the Godó family, it was in its beginnings one of the most important cotton manufacturing industries in Catalonia, both for the diversity of its production and for the number of workers employed there. It was also the first textile factory in Igualada to use a steam engine and the first to install electric lighting in 1885. Its most famous owner was Joan Godó i Llucià, after whom the street is named. As well as being a businessman he was a politician and the head of Sagasta's party in Igualada, becoming a member of parliament for the district of Igualada, where he had also been mayor. This company was known by different names depending on the owner: between 1842-1853, Fabril Igualadina Cotonera; 1853-1868, Compañía Fabril Igualadina Algodonera; 1868-1873, Igualadina Cotonera S. A.; 1873-1876, ceased operations; 1880-1936, Joan Godó i Llucià took over; 1936-1939, during the Spanish Civil War it was collectivised; 1939-1957, Joan Godó i Pelegrí recovered it; 1957-1967, S.A. Textil Igualadina. Finally, in 1967, the company disappeared, leaving the building and annexes abandoned. It would suffer subsequent demolitions, with the central nave and the steam chimney still remaining intact. It is included in the Inventory of Spanish Architectural Heritage of a Historical and Artistic Nature. [Province of Barcelona, 1979-1980, r.:1095]1842
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1842 - 1844
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Torre d'en Brunet
autoria desconeguda
Located to the southeast of the centre of Sant Salvador de Guardiola, near the new Brunet House. The Brunet tower was a military optical telegraphy tower. The building has the classic typology of this type of construction. It was square in plan and had a rectangular defensive body attached to the north face, and was surrounded by a moat. In elevation, it consisted of a slightly embattled ground floor with four loopholes on each side, an upper floor with loopholes and windows, and finally a roof terrace (partially in ruins). The entrance door opened at the height of the first floor on the south side, probably accessed by means of a wooden staircase that was kept inside. The walls are made of rusticated stone masonry and the division between the floors is marked by a protruding profile. The Brunet tower was part of the Barcelona-Manresa-Solsona military optical telegraphy line. This line shared the first seven telegraph towers with the Barcelona-Lérida line. Thus, the line began at the tower of Montjuïc Castle and continued to the tower of Can Maçana or La Guardia, in the village of El Bruc. It then turned north towards the Brunet tower. The Brunet tower, 420 m high, had a direct line of sight to the previous tower of Can Maçana del Bruc, located 7.4 km away to the south. The rear tower was Puigterrà de Manresa, 6.8 km to the north (no longer standing). The later tower preserved in the latter is that of Sant Martí de Torroella in Sant Joan de Vilatorrada. The Brunet tower was part of the Barcelona-Manresa-Solsona military optical telegraphy line. Optical telegraphy is a system based on a series of signals made at a high point, such as a tower or a bell tower, by an operator, which another operator sees from another point, communicated visually, and repeats it; in this way a message can be transmitted quickly from one point to another on the line. There were various ways of making the signals, such as a tall wooden pole with two crossbeams at the ends which, operated by pulleys, could change position – each position was a letter or key which, thanks to a book of keys, could be deciphered. The operators had long-sighted glasses that allowed the distance between the different points to be greater than if they did not have them. While in countries such as France and England optical telegraphy lines had already been built at the end of the 18th century, in Spain construction did not begin until 1844, by which time electric telegraphy had already begun to be used in some countries. The creation of a line involved the installation of communication systems on existing high points or the construction of towers in places where the distance was too great. In Catalonia, the first line came from Valencia and reached La Jonquera via Barcelona. During the Second Carlist War (1846-1849), the Marquis of Duero, Captain General of Catalonia, commissioned the development of an important military fixed optical telegraphy network. Six lines were created, including the Manresa - Vic - Girona line. In 1853, the first electric telegraphy line was built between Madrid and Irún, which marked the beginning of the abandonment of optical telegraphy and the disuse of the towers built for this purpose. In 1857, the civil telegraphy towers were dismantled and abandoned, and in 1862 the military towers were officially abandoned. This marked the end of the short history of optical telegraphy in Catalonia, but which left the telegraph towers as a witness.1844
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Sedó Colony
autoria desconeguda
Former textile factory with several warehouses, chimneys, an aqueduct, houses for the workers and a church with a school. They are simple and functional stone and brick constructions with gable roofs. The preserved chimneys have various shapes, from rectangular to helical. The 1400 HP Turbine Planas is preserved. The Sedó Colony was founded in 1846 by Miquel Puig i Catasús, who built a textile factory o an old flour mill that already existed ("Can Broquetes"). It would grow rapidly until it adopted the characteristics of an industrial colony and, finally, in the 20th century, it would become one of the largest and most important companies in the economic and industrial history of Catalonia. After the death of Miquel Puig (1863), he was replaced by his son, Josep Puig i Llagostera, who started the construction of houses for the workers, expanded the factory and planned various development works. His administrator and substitute, Antoni Sedó i Pàmies, was who would culminate the process of growth and formation of the industrial colony that would bear his name and who developed the entire textile production process. At the same time, he enlarged the workers' colony with new housing for the workers and their families, with the installation of shops, schools, the church, a dispensary, cinema and casino, among others. The workers' colony was located right next to the factory and was structured in elongated blocks of ground-floor and two-storey houses that formed seven parallel streets. In the middle of these parallel streets was the church and, on either side, the schools. After the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939, the colony reached its maximum growth, but, at the same time, the first symptoms of crisis would begin. Currently, the Sedó colony has been converted into an important industrial estate where there are different companies and industrial activities. The central core of the Sedó Colony Museum is located in one of these industrial spaces.1846
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Manresa Cemetery
Monumental façade with the main door decorated with pilasters and a large cornice, under which there is a frieze with a bas-relief depicting Jesus climbing to Calvary. The side walls of the door are decorated with large tombstones. Inside, the door reproduces the façade of a Greek temple with two columns with Doric capitals and a triangular pediment. On each side, there is a corridor with classical columns (12 on each side) in the Tuscan order, leading to the church. These corridors feature niches, some of which are of great artistic value. Inside the enclosure formed by the porticoes and the entrance, family pantheons and tombs are scattered in an orderly fashion, some of them true works of architecture and sculpture of great quality, making the complex an attractive showcase of late 19th and early 20th century styles. Of particular note are the tomb of the Portabella i Argullol family, built by the architect Bernat Pejoan and the sculptor Josep Llimona; the Serra i Santamans family mausoleum, in the Neo-Romanesque style; and the Borràs family mausoleum, in the Neo-Gothic style. The cemetery chapel has a classical composition and design, which is very well suited to the exterior and interior façade. The building project is from 1846. -
1847