Caldes de Montbui
Caldes de Montbui (Spanish Caldas de Montbui or Caldas de Montbuy ) is a Spanish town and thermal bath in the autonomous region of Catalonia.
Location
Caldes de Montbui belongs to the district ( comarca ) of Vallès Oriental in Barcelona province, located 35 km north of Barcelona. The town has 17,156 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2013 ) living in the city core and in new housing estates. The 38 km ² comprehensive district of Caldes de Montbui extends to the southern part of the reaching to Barcelona Vallès - level and with the north to the foothills of the Montseny mountain range. On one of them is the belonging to Caldes housing development El Farell, which lies at an altitude of 805 meters. Caldes is crossed from north to south by a deeply incised stream ( Riera de Caldes ), which flows around the old town to the west. Through the village run two roads, the road from Mollet del Vallès ( in the northern suburb area of Barcelona ) to Centelles and from Granollers to Terrassa.
The thermal spring
Due to its location in an area with geological fractures and dislocations, can be found in Caldes thermal springs with a payout of a total of 1,000 cubic meters per day and a temperature of 74 ° C - the highest in the Iberian Peninsula and is the second highest in Europe. The thermal water Caldes owes its name, extending from the Catalan word CALID (, warm ') derives.
History
With the arrival of the Romans in the 2nd century BC may speak of the direct antecedents of today's Caldes de Montbui. Attracted by the fertility of the soil and the yield of the thermal springs, the Romans founded here the settlement Aquae Calidae, which became a center of health and leisure for the province very soon.
In the late Middle Ages, when its present name Caldes de Montbui additional virtue of belonging to the territory of the Lords of Montbui (, Ox Mountain ') got, the place became wealthy through trade and crafts and numerous manufactories. The economic decline of Caldes began with the revolt of the reapers in the 17th and the War of Spanish Succession at the beginning of the 18th century. In the second half of the 19th century, Caldes recovered economically due to the touristic use of its thermal waters. For recovery also contributed to the 1880 inaugurated railway from Mollet at Caldes, although it was actually built to procure granite for paving Barcelona. The operation of the granite quarries and the textile industry laid the foundation for the prosperity of Caldes ' at the beginning of the 20th century. The intensive industrialization of the surrounding area of Barcelona, which penetrated to the neighboring village of Palau- solità i Plegamans, Caldes not achieved what ( north of the main town in new housing estates ) for families from the Barcelona area favored its function as a health resort and as a second home seat. Instead of the railway in 1932 set one of the largest bus companies in Catalonia, the company Sagalés developed in Caldes de Montbui.
Economy
The agriculture loses by the growth of industry and services in importance, with the garden cultivation is still very important. Tourism also plays a significant role due to the thermal baths. From the rich and varied gastronomy are the Carquinyolis, a kind of biscuits, and the llonganissa, a kind of sausage, worth mentioning.
Attractions
With the use of the thermal baths, the urban development of the community began. The Lion Fountain - Font del Lleó - which was built in 1581, has been restored in 1822 and 1927. This is located on the market square, the water always comes in a constant amount from the well and contains chlorine, fluorine, bromine and iodine. It is, inter alia, used for the cure of arthritis and bone fractures. In the marketplace there are also the Roman baths, originating from the 1990s City Hall, the SPA Broquetes and two related museums: Casa Delguer and Thermalia, an architecturally interesting Renaissance building, the former hospital of Santa Susanna. Besides explanations for Thermalism It also contains a collection of works by the Barcelona-born painter and sculptor Manolo Hugue. Through his friendship with Pablo Picasso, the museum also has paintings, sculptures and ceramics by Picasso.
On the edge of the old town is the St. Mary's Church, which was built from 1589 to 1714. Your portal is one of the most beautiful works of art of the Baroque Catalonia. The Solomonic columns are very interesting. They come from the French sculptor Pere Ruppin. The church has only one nave and side chapels twelve. The most important work of art of the church is the wooden sculpture Crist Majesty (, The Holy Majesty '). It looks oriental and came in the middle of the 15th century by gypsies Caldes. It shall be kept only the head than the original, the rest is a copy, because the original was destroyed in 1936. Other attractions include two operated with thermal water washing places and Remei chapel on the northern outskirts, which goes back to a place of worship of pagan times.