Be captivated by Esplugues’ heritage
Every Sunday a new experience!
Esplugues de Llobregat is driving a new model of city where culture, heritage and nature come together and interact.
Its historic centre preserves four of the town’s main heritage sites. These venues are now open to the public for the first time with regular hours, making it possible to find out about the heart of our history at firsthand.
Strolling through its streets, you will be enthralled by its stunning architecture, hidden nooks and crannies, and the stories which tell how Esplugues has shaped its identity over the centuries.
In just a few metres, you can see a Gothic cloister, a Catalan Art Nouveau house, the remains of a factory which played a key role in Catalan industrialisation, and a huge art complex showcasing late 20th-century art.
This heritage ensemble, which runs around Torrents Park and embodies the town’s spirit, can be visited on a regular basis for the first time.
New schedule of monthly guided tours
Espai Corberó guided tour
You can explore Xavier Corberó’s creative universe of arches and windows which are set alongside his large-scale sculptures. On the tour, you can learn about the artist’s career, how this site was devised as the high point of his artistic legacy, and the distinctive and original stories his sculptures convey.
- First Sunday of the month
Gaudí and Esplugues
To mark Gaudí Year, we suggest a new way of finding out about the relationship between the brilliant architect and Esplugues. A special visit to La Rajoleta Ceramics Museum allows you to retrace the footsteps of Antoni Gaudí.
- Second Sunday of the month
Museus d’Esplugues guided tour
10:30 am. La Rajoleta museus.
We will step into a site which stands out for its exceptional heritage. During the visit, you will learn about the technological evolution, history and artistic significance of the factory’s output, including the striking large bottle kilns and the factory’s relationship with leading Catalan Art Nouveau architects including Puig i Cadafalch, Domènech i Montaner and Antoni Gaudí.
12.00 am Tempory exhibition
A guided tour of the temporary exhibition will be available as scheduled.
If there is no temporary exhibition, a second tour of La Rajoleta Ceramics Museum will be run.
- Third and fourth (*) Sunday of the month
(*) Fourth Sunday in months with five weeks: March, May, and November
Montsió Monastery guided tour
This visit enables you to discover areas which until recently were completely closed off. It is an outdoor and indoor tour which reveals the history of the site, allowing you to explore new areas and learn about the lives and experiences of the women who lived there.
- Last Sunday of the month
Practical information
- Language: Catalan
- Sessions: 10:30 a.m. and 12 p.m.
- Limited places
- Paid activity: from €3. Check available promotions
- • Advance registration required: 93 470 02 18, museus@esplugues.cat or via the museums’ website.
- Meeting point: Museu Can Tinturé. C. De l’Església 36
- August: Closed
- Private groups / Other languages: Available in Spanish or English by appointment.
Heritage resources
Can Tinturé Museum
The Esplugues Museums are the core of the city’s heritage and ceramics identity, designed to educate and inform.
Can Tinturé is a stunning neoclassical building surrounded by an open garden which tells the story of Esplugues’s ceramics tradition and the history of the town.
It hosts a programme of temporary exhibitions on ceramics, Catalan Art Nouveau and local heritage plus a unique and outstanding collection of Catalan “sample” tiles from the 14th to the 20th century.
Take an elegant journey through the history of an everyday object, sometimes underappreciated, which has been turned into a work of art.
Free visit
- From Tuesday to Friday from 5pm to 8pm
- Saturdays from 10am to 2pm and from 5pm to 8pm
- Sundays from 10am to 2pm
La Rajoleta Ceramics Museum
La Rajoleta is the symbol of a lost tradition which put Esplugues at the forefront of industrialisation and ceramic design used in architecture.
Its history spanning over 130 years makes it a landmark venue which excelled during the Catalan Art Nouveau period as the most highly regarded and trusted company for the great architects of the time. Antoni Gaudí Cornet worked closely with the Pujol i Bausis family to craft the colours he envisioned for his works.
A visit provides insight into the history of the Pujol i Bausis ceramics factory, the significance of its production and its relationship with the great Catalan Art Nouveau architects.
What makes it unique is the chance to explore five different types of kilns and go inside two of them; the Arab kilns and the bottle kilns, the only examples of their kind to be found together in Spain or Europe.
Montsió Monastery
Montsió bears testament to the city’s historical and spiritual heritage, a place of silence, remembrance and seclusion.
It is a travelling monastery with an astonishing history. It preserves a Gothic cloister in a convent built during Franco’s regime, which is connected to a Catalan Art Nouveau house renovated by architect Antoni Maria Gallissà i Soqué.
The tour shows you the stages of the building from medieval times to the present day, taking in the cloister, the church and the monastery gardens where you can see the façade of Can Casanovas.
Free visit
- Last Sunday of the month from 10am to 2pm.
- Closed on January 1st and 6th, December 25th and 26th, and the month of August.
Espai Corberó
Espai Corberó is an icon of creativity and artistic freedom, open to contemporary interpretation and creation.
Designed by artist Xavier Corberó Olivella, this huge complex is a massive work of art which culminates his career as a sculptor.
It is a unique place which offers visitors a one-of-a-kind sensory experience packed with shapes, reflections and feelings, where every nook and cranny might hold a surprise.