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Santa Coloma de Cervelló has a major historic and artistic legacy that goes back to the Middle Ages and which reached its zenith with the foundation of the Colònia Güell textile industry settlement at the end of the 19th century.
The remains of the Castell Nou (New Castle) of Cervelló on the summit of Montpedrós, the Església Parroquial de Santa Coloma de Cervelló (parish church of Santa Coloma de Cervelló), which dates back to the 11th century, and the Torre Salvana (Salvana Tower), also from the 11th century, are some examples from the mediaeval period. A group of masies (farmhouses) scattered around the municipal district reflect the strength of pairalisme (the traditional Catalan rural way of life) in the 17th century in the area.
Colònia Güell is one of the best examples of the textile industry which grew up in Catalonia in the 19th century and also provides a fine sample of works of modernista architecture, one of the best being the Cripta Gaudí (Gaudí Crypt).
Plus its magnificent countryside made up of green fields and mountains are a positive invitation to enjoy nature.
In 1890, textile entrepreneur Eusebi Güell decided to move the "El Vapor Vell" cotton factory from the Sants district in Barcelona to the Can Soler de la Torre estate. This had been bought by his father, Joan Güell, thirty years beforehand in the municipal district of Santa Coloma de Cervelló. Thus Colònia Güell was born.
When Joan Güell died in 1872, Eusebi Güell became head of the factory that his father had set up twenty-four years earlier in Sants and which was popularly known as the Vapor Vell. Industrial unrest persuaded Güell to move the factory out of the city to a greenfield site far from urban labour conflicts. Following the European model of setting up an industrial facility and adjoining workers’ housing, Eusebi Güell moved the factory to some land that his father had bought in the municipal district of Santa Coloma de Cervelló. Thus Colònia Güell was born.
Ferran Alsina, the factory manager, is seen as the ideas man behind Colònia Güell and the person who was responsible for the design of the facility. A textile engineer, economist and celebrated politician, he had already worked with Eusebi Güell in the Vapor Vell factory in Sants. On his death in 1907, Eusebi Güell’s sons, Claudi and Santiago, took over the running of both the factory and the workers’ settlement.
In 1934 the company found itself in the midst of a crisis that called into question its continued existence. During the Spanish Civil War, the company was collectivised and its operations were subject to interruptions, yet the factory committee did nonetheless manage to achieve some significant improvements. After the War had finished, the firm was once again privatised and the new owner, Santiago Güell, found it in better shape than when he had left it. He stayed on as manager until 1945. Bertran Serra then headed the factory until its closure in 1973.
Over time Colònia Güell has adapted to a new era and a new social model that has nothing to do with its old function as an industrial settlement. It has also preserved an architectural landscape which brings the past to life.
This 19th century atmosphere that is still present in its streets is what makes it so special, and Colònia Güell has conserved some important historical and artistic heritage. It is made up of an old textile factory, now reconverted into an industrial site, the workers’ housing, which is now the town centre, and a group of buildings which are representative of late 19th century modernista architecture.
Colònia Güell has been declared a national heritage site and the Gaudí Crypt, a key work of catalan modernisme, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2005.
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