The House Museum
The Verdaguer House Museum, the childhood home of Jacint Verdaguer, contains elements that enable visitors to understand and interpret the poet’s legacy, which laid the groundwork for the literary language in modern Catalonia.
The house was built in around the 17th century and has been renovated by the different tenants who have inhabited it. Located at number 7 Calle Major, it shows what the life of a peasant farming family was like during the poet’s lifetime, and it introduces visitors to the biography and work of the author through a permanent exhibition with accessible contents adapted to individuals with disabilities.
On the ground floor, visitors are invited to learn about the author’s works in the space called La butaca de llegir (The Reading Armchair), with a particular focus on the book L’Atlàntida.
On the first floor, the ethnographic collection tells about the life of any peasant farming family, with its cooking implements and bedroom furnishings. This floor is devoted to the book La Pomerola, which evokes the poet’s youth.
On the second floor, the exhibition Dos creadores. Verdaguer Perejaume (Two Creators. Verdaguer Perejaume) explains first the poet’s creative process in Canigó and secondly Perejaume’s artistic actions related to the contemporary reception of the poet’s work. It includes the screening of the audiovisual Verdaguer, poeta de Cataluña (Verdaguer, Poet of Catalonia).
Beyond the building of the Verdaguer House Museum, the town of Folgueroles can be viewed as an open-air museum which extends around the region, offering the opportunity to become familiar with the backdrop of the author’s life and the symbolic dimension of his literary output. The museum is also the point of departure of the Verdaguer Routes, which enable visitors to discover the town of Folgueroles, the city of Vic and the environs of the Guilleries-Savassona Natural Space.
The History
The first attempt, 1936
The museum was launched in the early months of 1936 in Folgueroles, spearheaded by a local chapter of the Federación de Joves Cristians de Catalunya, led by Father Joan Masoliver. The start of the Civil War (1936-1939) hindered the opening of the House Museum, located at number 9 Calle Major, which had been scheduled for the 25th of July.
The recovery, 1960
With the Franco dictatorship, major commemorative celebrations were held in 1945 and 1952, and the debates held on the possibility of opening up a house museum devoted to Verdaguer were rekindled, but to no avail. Nonetheless, the creation of the Amics de Verdaguer association was a key step in launching a grassroots donation campaign which culminated in the purchase of the house at number 7 Calle Major. The deed of the house was in the name of the Town Hall, and it was turned into a museum with the furnishings provided by the townspeople.
Democratic normalcy
In the 1980s, with the restoration of the regional government of Catalonia, the Folgueroles Town Hall created an autonomous municipal body to manage the museum, called the Board of the Verdaguer Museum House. Likewise, a new museography was designed and the Verdaguer House Museum began to open in regularly scheduled hours.
Carving a niche in the Catalan scene
Espais escrits – Network of the Catalan Literary Heritage was created, and the Verdaguer House museum became its headquarters (2005). It also joined the Register of Museums of the Generalitat de Cataluña (2009), the Network of Museums of the Barcelona Provincial Council (2000) and the Network of History Museums of Catalonia (2016).
The collection
The collection was created by Amics de Verdaguer, which had promoted the purchase of the house via a grassroots donation campaign (1961) with the advice of first Eduard Junyent and later Josep M. Garrut, conservators at the time of the Episcopal Museum of Vic and the History Museum of Barcelona, respectively. It is an ethnographic collection which brings together period items used both domestically and socially, as well as two desks that belonged to the poet. It also contains interesting art objects by Perejaume (1957), Duran Camps (1891-1079), Jaume Pahissa (1846-1928), Víctor Moya (1889-1972) and Antoni Oller Pinell (1879-1981). The library, which specialises in Verdaguer, has a collection with around 800 recorded items, including books, journals and graphics, sound and audiovisual materials.
Timetables
Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 1:30 pm. And Tuesdays 5 to 7pm
Saturdays from the 1st of April to the 1st of November, 5 to 7 pm
Closed Mondays that are not holidays
Open all year except the 25th and 26th of December and the 1st and 6th of January
Visits by appointment can be accommodated in a broader timetable.