If you come from Barcelona or the Costa Brava to the south of Spain by the N-430 road, you could be surprised by this tower skyline so known in Seville. The skyline could be Seville but is impossible because you’re watching a picture of l’Arboç (Baix Penedés). A municipality of Tarragona with around 5.000 inhabitants that has a replica in scale 1:2 of the Giralda tower of Seville. Maybe you’re asking yourself why is here this tiny Giralda, but is not only this… there are more replicas from Andalusia in the same building.

The monument is ubicated in Mossén Jacint Verdaguer Avenue, 35, and it has more than a century of history, in fact, the documents of construction are from the 19th century.

There is a romantic story that talks about a couple from Seville that ordered built a replica of this tower because they missed so much their lands… But was impossible to go back by the business they had settled there. So they ordered to bring their lands in this town. But the reality is really different… because they weren’t from Seville and they didn’t miss their city.

The responsible who ordered to build it were Joan Roquer i Marí and Candelaria Negravernis, both from Catalonia. They wanted to build it in honor of their trip to Andalucía by their first wedding anniversary. In 1886 they received an important inheritance that leaves them to invest in cultural projects and travels around Andalucía. In 1898 they bought a big ground where time after they ordered to build a replica of the monuments they fell in love with in Andalucía: the lions courtyard of the Alhambra Palace, in Granada, a hall covered by a Byzantine dome lined with 30 kg of gold foil, built similar to the Ambassadors Hall of the Reales Alcázares in Seville.

All the decorative elements and the used materials are following the original models from the pictures that were taken during the trips. The works started a year after they bought the ground and were finished in 1907, but the building had some restorations, the most recent were between 2004 and 2008.

Some of the curious use it had was during the Spanish Civil War that was used as barracks for aviation pilots or as a food supplement base. Also, by the cultural interest of the l’Arboç habitants, it was a meeting place for people linked with culture, where were celebrated talking shops and music festivals.

And being a private house is it possible to visit?

Yes! Presently is a private building but still being interesting as a monument so is open to visiting for all publics if you call first the l’Arboç tourist office (http://www.larbocturistic.cat) to date a cultural visit or to host celebrations like weddings or meetings.

We hope you have learned something new with this post, and if you liked it, don’t forget to leave a comment with your opinion.

Information sources:

http://www.larbocturistic.cat 

https://blogs.20minutos.es

https://www.diaridetarragona.com