Palau Solterra Museum facts for kids
The Palau Solterra Museum is a cool place to visit in Torroella de Montgrí, a town in Girona, Spain. It's part of the Vila Casas Foundation. The museum opened in 2000. Today, it shows off about 300 amazing modern photographs. These photos come from artists all over the world. Some famous names include Chema Madoz, Alberto García Álix, and Ouka Lele. The museum also holds special art shows every year. They even have talks about history and other interesting topics.
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The Museum Building
The Palau Solterra building was named an important historical monument in 1981. It first opened as a museum in 2000. At first, it showed paintings. Later, it became home to the amazing photography collection of the Vila Casas Foundation.
The building itself is a mix of different styles. It shows off how buildings were made in the local area long ago. You can see parts that look Baroque or modern. But it also has older Gothic and Renaissance features. The story of how it was built and changed is linked to important families from the region.
We don't know the exact year the palace was built. But it was likely between the late 1300s and early 1400s. The old Pons family had it built. In 1503, a family member married Anna Beneta de Gurb. She was from Sant Hilari Sacalm and owned the Solterra Museum. This is how the palace got its name. For the next five centuries, the Palau Solterra was a fancy place. Many important families lived there.
During the Civil War (1936-1939), the palace was empty. But some rooms were used to give out food ration cards to people in Torroella de Montgrí. In the 1960s, the ground floor became a cultural center. It was called the Palace of the Castle of the Mystery. Later, the city council bought it. They used it as a meeting place for young people. But the palace quickly got old and unsafe. So, it had to close. Finally, in 1999, the Vila Casas Private Foundation took over. They fixed it up to turn it into the contemporary photography museum it is today.
The Art Collection
The Palau Solterra Museum has a permanent collection of modern photography. It also hosts special temporary art shows. These shows feature artists from Spain and other countries. The museum has over 300 modern photographs on display. It has become one of the most important photography museums in Spain.
Permanent Photography Exhibition
The museum's main photo exhibition is set up in a special way. It lets you explore the photos in many different ways. There isn't a strict timeline for the photos. Instead, the idea is to show how art has changed over time. You can see this through the pictures and what they show.
Temporary Art Exhibitions
Special temporary art shows happen on the ground floor. This is also where you can see the winning photos from the Vila Casas Foundation's photography contest. This contest helps find and support new artists. On the same floor, there's an auditorium. Here, they hold talks about history and other subjects. These events are an important part of the town's cultural life.
Museum Services
Educational Programs
The Palau Solterra Museum offers special guides for teachers. These guides help them prepare students for their visits. This way, kids can learn even more about the art.
Guided Tours
The museum also offers guided tours. These tours change each year to match the new exhibitions.
- Guided tours for adults (with booking): You can take a tour of the main photo exhibition. Or you can see the temporary show. There are also tours where experts talk about the building itself.
- Free Guided Tours: You can get a free guided tour of the main exhibition. This tour is included with your ticket. It happens every Saturday and Sunday at 12:00 noon.
Other Museums by Vila Casas Foundation
The Fundació Vila Casas has several other interesting museums.
Can Framis Museum is the newest museum from the Vila Casas Foundation. It's an art center that focuses on modern Catalan painting. It's located in an old factory building. The museum shows over 250 paintings. These works are from the 1960s until today. They are all by artists born or living in Catalonia. Besides the main collection, Can Framis also has a special area for temporary shows. They update their main collection often. And they open two new temporary shows every three months.
Espai Volart is a place for temporary art shows. It features artists whose work is part of the foundation's collection. It was the first art space opened by the foundation in Barcelona in 2002. It's in the old storage rooms of a beautiful old building called Casa Antonia Puget. This building is a local cultural heritage site. It was built in 1904. Every July, student art shows are held here. These shows feature works by students finishing art school at Barcelona University. There's also an exhibition of drawings from a special prize.
Espai Volart 2 is another space for temporary shows. It features well-known artists. Their work includes modern painting, photography, or sculpture. Unlike Espai Volart, this museum shows artists who are famous in the Catalan art world. Espai Volart 2 opened in 2008. It's in the old storage rooms of another old building called Casa Felip. This building was built in 1901. It was also named a local cultural heritage site in the 1980s.
Can Mario Museum is the Vila Casas Foundation's Museum of Modern Sculpture. It's located in Palafrugell on the Costa Brava. It opened in 2004. It has about 220 sculptures on display. These works are from the 1960s until today. They are by many different artists born or living in Catalonia. Temporary art shows are also held here every year. Can Mario used to be a cork factory in the early 1900s. Since 2011, 33 sculptures by artists from the Empordà region have been placed in the gardens of Can Mario. These are permanent outdoor exhibits. In the same year, the "Empordà Room" opened inside the museum. This room holds temporary shows by artists from the region.
See also
In Spanish: Museo Palau Solterra para niños
