Spain Guide
Catalunya
Museu d'Historia de la Ciutat
Address: c/de la Força 27
Opening time: Tues– Sat 10am–2pm & 5–7pm, Sun 10am–2pm
Price: €3
Housed in the eighteenth-century Capuchin monastery of Sant Antoni, the Museu d'Historia de la Ciutat is, despite Catalan-only labelling, the most rewarding – and eclectic – of the Barri Vell's museums. A portion of the monastic catacombs is on the right as you enter, with niches for the (vanished) deceased. The entire ground floor is devoted to the development of local industry and technology, with an antique dealer's bonanza (salvaged from around the province) of ancient phones, typewriters, printing presses, dynamos and even an arc-lamp cine projector.
The first floor covers the history of broadcasting in Catalunya – complete with some magnificent old radio sets – and Roman Gerunda, featuring a rather crude mosaic from a villa on the surrounding plain. On the top floor, you'll find coverage of the city's walls and their various besiegings, a modern-art exhibition, plus material on the evolution of the sardana.