History of Colònia Güell and the factory
Development Colònia Güell It began in 1890 at the initiative of the businessman Eusebi Güell on his Can Soler de la Torre farm, located in the municipality of Santa Coloma de Cervelló, current Baix Llobregat region.
The desire to distance themselves from the social conflicts existing in the city led to the new industry being planned within the framework of an industrial colony; with the workers' houses next to the factory, integrated into the same property, constituting an urban center with its own personality and with its social and economic life overseen by the company.
Industrial colonies were conceived as socioeconomic organizations whose main purpose was industrial production. The factory occupied most of the time of the men and women of the colony and for them it was the guarantee of a regular salary in times of economic precariousness.
Unlike the vast majority of industrial colonies in Catalonia, Eusebi Güell He sought social improvements for workers and used his role as a patron of the arts. For this reason, he endowed the Colònia Güell of cultural and religious facilities and incorporated the modernist trend into new constructionscommissioning projects to various architects, and specifically to Antoni Gaudí the construction of the church.
La Colònia Güell during the 20th century
Over the years, The union movement and workers' demands reached the Colony. At the beginning of the Civil War The factory was collectivized and managed by the workers. Once the conflict ended, it was returned to the family. GüellIn 1945, it was sold to the Bertrand i Serra family. During the following years, the Colony continued industrial production and maintained its distinct character as an urban center separate from the town of Santa Coloma de Cervelló. The latter continued to grow in population and surpassed that of the Colony in the 60s.
La Colònia Güell It remained untouched by the rampant urban development of the 60s and 70s, preserving itself as a nearly compact property whose primary focus remained industrial production. During the 1973 textile crisis, the factory ceased operations, causing a significant social impact on the community. Over the following years, the property was gradually sold off: the factory in sections to various companies, the houses to their residents, and the surrounding facilities and land to public institutions.
A Cultural
In 1990 the group of Colònia Güell It was declared A Cultural– Historical Complex, establishing the protection of the most relevant buildings as well as the general characteristics of the building.
In the years between the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, the rehabilitation of the factory buildings, the church, the old cooperative and Joan Square began. Güellas well as the improvement of the surrounding pine forests. In 2002, on the occasion of the year GaudíThe new visitor parking lot was built and the visitor service organization was implemented. Colònia Güell.
History of the Crypt Gaudí
Eusebi Güell gave carte blanche to Gaudí for the construction of the church of Colònia Güell. He did not set limits: neither in the budget, nor in the type of work nor in the deadline.
In 1898 Eusebi Güell commissioned the architect Antoni Gaudí el project of a church for the Colònia GüellDuring the following years Gaudí He carried out various preliminary studies that culminated in a model of the church, installed in his own workshop located on the same hill where the building would be erected.
In 1908 the construction of the Temple began. However, the ambitious project that envisaged a church with two naves, lower and upper, topped by different side towers and a central dome 40 meters high, would be unfinishedIn 1914 the children of Eusebi Güell they communicated to Gaudí They would no longer finance the ongoing construction, and he had to abandon the project. In November of the following year, the Bishop of Barcelona blessed the lower nave, the only one that was ever built, an event that led to the church being popularly known as the crypt.
Despite remaining unfinished, the church represents a high point in the work of Gaudí by including, for the first time, in a unified way, almost all of its architectural innovations.
World Heritage and sustainability
The Crypt was declared Heritage by UNESCO in July 2005 and in 2013 it became the first monument with this recognition to obtain the Certification Biosphere through the sustainable management of its services, a title that has been renewed to align with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. In 2018, coinciding with the European Year of Cultural Heritage, she was awarded as Best Sustainable Cultural Tourism Destination by the European Cultural Tourism Network and the Award for the Sustainability of Cultural, Natural Heritage and Traditions of Barcelona Sustainable Tourism.