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Tour of the Cases de l’Aigua's underground tunnel
One of the Memorial de l’Aigua's planned activities is a guided tour of the tunnel that connects the Casa de l'Aigua at Trinitat Vella (Sant Andreu) to the Casa de l'Aigua at Trinitat Nova (Nou Barris).
A year after reopening the distribution and pumping spaces in Sant Andreu and completing the works on the Nou Barris tunnel and the tank, the entire complex has finally been opened with access to the underground tunnel that passes under the Meridiana main road, linking the Casa de l’Aigua in Trinitat Vella with the Casa de l’Aigua in Trinitat Nova.
This is the conclusion of yet another stage the recovery being made by Nou Barris and Sant Andreu, the two districts of this heritage area that MUHBA (Museu d’Història de Barcelona) highlighted in spring 2011, in numerous formats and as part of a city-wide framework which included an exhibition in the Saló del Tinell.
The Casa de l’Aigua tour starts in the Casa de l’Aigua in Trinitat Vella. Entering through the machine room, the tour passes through the distribution room and the underground tunnel that leads to the tank located at the Casa de l’Aigua in Trinitat Nova. This is the exact route the water used to take.
The tours will be offered by the Museu d’Història de Barcelona (MUHBA) as from Sunday, 8 April, and these will have to be booked in advance.
Tunnel tour times:
- Tuesdays, 10 am - 2 pm, for groups and schools.
- Sundays, 10 am - 2 pm, free entry. Admissions are every 30 minutes, with final one at 1 pm. Entry is through the Casa de l’Aigua in Trinitat Vella. The route is one-way only.
Starts: Casa de l’Aigua de Trinitat Vella (Sant Andreu). C/ Torrent de Perera, s/n.
Ends: Casa de l’Aigua de Trinitat Nova (Nou Barris). C/ Garbí, 2.
* We recommend setting aside at least one hour to visit the complex and the exhibition spaces dedicated to “The water revolution in Barcelona”, with its enduring vision, and to “The functions of the Casa de l'Aigua”, the key element of the Aigües de Montcada public water system in Barcelona.
An architectural jewel in the Barcelona water system
Built by the Barcelona public utilities company Aigües de Montcada between 1915 and 1919, the Casa de l'Aigua is an exceptional heritage complex from the history of the city's water supply and the projects to establish and consolidate a public water system in the 20th century.
Water used to be pumped from the neighbourhood of Trinitat Vella up to the tank located in today's Trinitat Nova, where it was chlorinated and fed to the old quarter, including Barceloneta. The original project made provision for supplying the Eixample district through the Alt de Montcada aqueduct but it could not be completed.
Today's use of the Casa de l'Aigua as a museum is innovatively blended with other social and cultural uses at the two ends of the underground gallery that connects the pumping station at Trinitat Vella with the tank at Trinitat Nova.