Sant Cugat del Vallès

A former Benedictine abbey in the Catalan town of Sant Cugat del Vallès. It traces its origins to the early Christian period, with its foundation anchored in the legend of Saint Cucufate (Sant Cugat), an African missionary martyred during the Roman persecutions in the early 4th century. Over his grave, a basilica arose in the 5th century, becoming a site of pilgrimage and religious activity under the Visigoths and later evolving into a fortified settlement during the Frankish expansion. In the 9th century, Benedictine monasticism flourished here, promoted by Frankish rulers to consolidate territorial organization and feudal order. Through the medieval era, Sant Cugat grew in power and wealth thanks to noble patronage, ecclesiastical privileges, and its role in regional defense and repopulation. Notably, Al-Mansur’s looting in 985 marked a turning point, after which Abbot Odó led reconstruction and expansion. The monastery’s architectural pinnacle is its Romanesque cloister, started in the late 12th century, celebrated for its sculptural program and historical significance. Monastic life ended in 1835 amid secular reforms, and today, Sant Cugat is conserved as a cultural monument.

A sub-office of the museum, Casa Aymat was built in 1926 as Tomàs Aymat’s rug and tapestry factory, later on becoming the head office of the Catalan Tapestry School. It houses the Contemporary Tapestry Museum and displays the traditional beginnings and Noucentista tendencies of Tomàs Aymat through to the era of the Catalan Tapestry School, with Josep Grau-Garriga as the most noteworthy alumnus. The exhibition includes boards and tapestries by Subirachs, Ràfols-Casamada, Guinovart and Hernàndez Pijuan, among others.

This is all that remains of the cooperative wine press, begun in 1921 to the design of Cesar Martinell, an architect who specialised in agricultural building at that time, inspired both by Gaudi's art nouveau design and the rationalism of the beginning of the 20th century. The wine industry declined after the 1950s and the last pressing was completed in 1988. The surrounding buildings were demolished, including, in 1994, the hall for vats, to allow for the expansion of urban building. In the remaining hall, exhibitions are shown and can be visited on certain days, particularly weekends

It is part of a 3-km Gothic aqueduct, most likely built in the 14th century to carry water from the "mine of the Monks" to the monastery of Sant Cugat and the lower part of the town. The bridge over the torrent of Can Cornellera is formed by three semicircular arches and carried the water in a channel covered with slabs to a cistern in the abbey palace. With the confiscation of the monastery in 1835 it became municipal property. The water from the mine provided an essential service to the population until 1922.

The Sant Pere Market, formerly called Pere San, is a modernist building. It was designed by Ferran Cels in 1911 in the Plaça Major, now called Plaça de Sant Pere. With clear influences from Puig i Cadafalch, the building presents architectural and functional elements typical of modernism, such as exposed brickwork, trapezoidal windows, pilasters and the use of iron.

It is a hermitage of circular floor and semispherical vault, that was part of a rest residence of the abbots of Sant Cugat. The first date is from 962, the hermitage was part of the monastery's properties. And it had great importance for many years as a large population center had formed in the valley during the high Middle Ages. The cult was maintained until the 19th century and due to the confiscation of 1835 the chapel was abandoned.

It already existed in 1046 but is documented since 1120. The tradition and worship began in the 11th century. In 1024, there is evidence of the purchase of a vineyard and some woods located in the Sant Medir valley and the establishment of a monastery in 1046. Old documents call it Sant Emeteri, but it was Catalanized as "Medir". In the Middle Ages, it formed a parish with Sant Adjutori and Sant Vicenç. The monastery of Sant Cugat had civil jurisdiction there until the 14th century, which became the municipal organization of Sant Cugat. The monks took care of it until 1446. The popularization of the legend of Sant Medir of Barcelona turned the hermitage into a destination for pilgrims. In 1802, the first gathering of Sant Medir was held there and from 1846, pilgrims from the Barcelona town of Gràcia joined. Since then, it has been the destination of the pilgrimage for the feast of Sant Medir every March 3.

It is located at the head of the Salamandra stream, below the Rabassada road. It was very popular at the beginning of the 20th century due to its proximity to the Old Casino de la Rabassada. The guests of the casino hotel would go there for a short walk. The name comes from the ferruginous content of the water that flows from it. Situated on a large esplanade, the construction is a wall with a symmetrical structure and a semicircular line. A bench runs along the entire wall. In the central part is the front of the fountain from which a small stream flows.