Industrial Revolution. Mines and colonies

Travelling through the galleries of a salt mountain or a coalmine; discover Modernism in textile colonies or see how Cava sparkling wine is made, events along the industrial route.  

In Guardiola de Berguedà, the Riutort oil mine is the only one that can be visited in the whole of Spain and one of the few that have survived. Visitors can explore its galleries in a natural park to learn about the process for obtaining black gold. At the Minas de Cercs mines, also in Berguedà, you can board a mining train.

The Montaña de Sal Cultural Park in Cardona offers a tour of the old mining facilities, 86m below ground, that tells the story of the salt mining in an area of Natural Interest. The textile colonies route in Llobregat recovers the roads that connected them in a 28 km journey which connects Cal Rosal, near Berga, with Ametlla de Merola, in Puig-reig. Also in Puig-reig, the Cal Pons colony, which stands out due to the immense size of the church -la catedral del Llobregat-, the convent and the two modernist towers.

The mark of Modernism is also evident in La Farinera La Florinda de Manresa, a masterpiece by Ignasi Oms, and in the Masia Freixa de Terrassa, a Lluís Muncunill building inspired by Gaudí and one of the treasures of the city's Modernist heritage. The industrial route also reflects industry, which is kept alive with visits to cava and turron businesses, such as Codorníu and Vicens.

The Catalonia Network of Industrial Tourism

XATIC, the Catalonia Network of Industrial Tourism is the association which, through museums, visitor centres, old factories and mines, groups over 25 towns that share a significant and varied industrial heritage to teach people about the industrial revolution in Catalonia.