L’Espluga de Francolí is a town and municipality in the province of Tarragona and autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain.
Main attractions
Caves of l’Espluga
The Espluga Caves are natural cavities used by humans since the Paleolithic. The museum inside the Cova Museu de la Font Major allows us to know what life was like in prehistory, through projections on the walls of the rocks and virtual theater scenes. Outside the cavity is a full-scale recreation of a Neolithic settlement. There are also adventure routes in the Caves.
Museum of Rural Life
The Museum of Rural Life is the museum of the Carulla Foundation. Lluís Carulla i Canals created this ethnographic museum of the peasantry in 1988 in the manor house of the Carulla family, and contributed the collection of utensils and tools. Twenty years after its opening, the architect Dani Freixes carried out an important project of extension and modernization; and currently consists of three buildings with visitable collections and an orchard. It is a journey through the world of Catalan farming from the beginning of the twentieth century to the beginning of the twenty-first century.
Fassina Balanyà
La Fassina Balanyà is an old distillery of spirits from the 1830s. Through the old and restored machinery, the production process for obtaining spirits and derivatives from the grape breeze is explained. It is part of the Territorial System of the National Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia.
Cooperative Winery
The Modernist-style Cooperative Winery, the oldest in Catalonia, promoted by the agrarian Josep Maria Rendé i Ventosa, is a 1913 work by Pere Domènech i Roura, who followed the project of his father, Lluís Domènech i Montaner, based on Catalan Gothic. It currently houses the Wine Museum. The museum is structured on three levels. In a first underground level, enabled by old cup, the history, the culture and the elaboration of the wine are exposed. In a second level, between the vats, the modern elaboration of the wine is explained. Finally, on a third level and above the tubs, the architecture and an audiovisual are exposed. Àngel Guimerà called the cooperative winery of l’Espluga de Francolí Catedral del Vi.
Old Hospital
The Old Hospital, of the Order of St. John, was founded by the knights of the hospital, although the current Gothic building dates from the 14th century. The building currently houses the municipal radio station L’Espluga FM Ràdio, the Mossèn Ramon Muntanyola library, the Municipal Archive and the headquarters of some entities.
Old Church
The old church of Sant Miquel, from the 13th century, is in transition between Romanesque and Gothic. In 1837, under the steps of the church, the remains of the Catalan kings who had been desecrated in the monastery of Poblet were found. Burned down in 1873 during the Third Carlist War, the new neoclassical church was built in the same square, using the stones of the old castle.
How to get to?
From Tarragona 34 min (44.5 km) via Autovia Tarragona-Lleida/A-27 and N-240
From Barcelona 1 hr 19 min (118 km) via AP-7 and AP-2
From Madrid 4 hr 42 min (510 km) via A-2 and AP-2
Main information
Area: 57 km²
Coordinates: 41° 23′ 50″ N, 1° 06′ 10″ W
Population: 3717
Languages: Spanish, Catalan
Currency: Euro
Visa: Schengen
Time: Central European UTC +1
